Why are we called to pray?

Prayer is communing with God. God wants a personal relationship with His children and the way we develop that relationship is to commune with Him, we call that prayer. It is God’s will for us to get to know Him and in knowing Him, communicate with Him.How do we know Him, spend time building and strengthening our relationship with Him through dedicated prayer.We cannot build or strengthen any relationship without spending time with that person, learning their likes and dislikes. The same is true in getting to know the Lord and building relationship with Him. Why should we pray? What are the benefits of having a prayer life? We pray, first, thank our Heavenly Father for the life He’s given us: second, to ask for forgiveness: third, to build relationship with Him: fourth, to know His heart for our lives: fifth, to hear what He has to say about His desires for us: sixth, tell Him about our needs and desires: seventh, to get closer to Him. To hear His heart and know His perfect will and purpose for our lives. There are many more reasons we can think about why we should pray. James 4:8 tells us to “DRAW NEAR TO GOD AND HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO YOU. CLENSE YOU HANDS, YOU SINNERS; AND PURIFY YOUR HEARTS, YOU DOUBLE MINDED”. When we develop a prayer life we become very conscious of the things that are not right in our lives. That is what the Father does when we seek Him. His desire is for us to be more like Him. Prayer is not about getting everything we need. Getting our needs met is a benefit of seeking Him.Matt. 6:33 makes that very clear “BUT SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU”.