Why bother to pray?

Many years ago I read Philip Yancey's book Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Yancey is the type of author that explores a subject thoroughly from every angle. I mean thoroughly and I mean every angle! One thing stood out to me from the book. After Yancey discusses all the seeming contradictions from the Bible about prayer, and shares disappointment from unanswered prayer, he makes the statement that despite all that, he prays because Jesus did it.

Brad Stine, a Christian Comedian, said in a skit "If Hitler did it, it probably isn't a good idea for us to do it!." Funny and true. Can we not say the opposite about Jesus? If He did it, we probably should do it! After all, if I am a Christ-follower, I will do what Christ did, right?

In our verse for this week (Mark 11:24), Jesus says:

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Most people will focus on the getting what we want part. For this blog, I want to point out that by saying what He said, Jesus is assuming we will be praying. In Luke 11:2 He says "When you pray," and He goes on to give His disciples a template for prayer.

There is so much to say about prayer. Here is a good resource from Focus on the Family:
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/faith-in-life/prayer/prayer

But for now, let's just start praying because Jesus did.