I have been wondering why it is that we pray, and how that relates to God's will and our own free will. If God already knows what we need, why should we ask?

PRAYER. Communication with God through thoughts, words, and gestures whereby we express what we believe about God and our relationship to God and to one another. God intends and initiates this relationship and we accept it. In prayer we express God's activity in and presence to us. In faith we pray believing that God is concerned about and responsive to human need.

Prayer is found in all generations, cultures, and faith traditions. We pray because we long to feel joined to something greater than ourselves and our own limited perspective. We yearn to connect our everyday lives with a purpose and will greater than our own. We seek an answer that brings sense to the senselessness that life sometimes hands us.

Prayer was an integral part of Jesus' life and mission. His prayers form the core of our understanding of prayer. Jesus prayed at his baptism (Luke 3:21-22), before important decisions (Luke 6:12), and throughout his ministry. He spent entire nights in prayer (Mark 6:46; Matt. 14:22-23; John 6: 15) and in acceptance of the will of God (Matt. 11:25-26; Luke 10:21). At his death he prayed for his persecutors (Luke 23:34) and for himself (Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:46), finally surrendering himself to God in prayer (Luke 23:46). ...

In contemporary times we can easily grow cynical about the relevance of prayer. We often look to science and technology rather than God to solve problems of global evil such as war, massive genocide, famine, and disease. We fail to see how prayer can affect the real world. Perhaps God is a divine, immutable being utterly unaffected by anything we do. Prayer may simply be an emotional release in intolerable situations, a cry when we can no longer remain silent. Perhaps it is a way to adapt ourselves to what God has already determined or to express a dependency no longer needed in a culture of self-sufficiency. These understandings are important to many who desire an intense prayer life. Dealing with them -- and therefore with the question of who God is -- is a crucial area of theology.

Prayer is life with a living God, life wholly attentive to the sober truth and reality of God. Our mind and heart open to God so that we may grow in holiness and so give God glory. It is a face-to-face encounter with the God who loves us with the unflinching mercy and self-offering that is grace. We give ourselves to God in return. As our trust in and dependence on God as Father and Mother deepen and intensify, we pray for growth in our relationship as sons and daughters to God and as brothers and sisters to one another. Prayer teaches us patience, compassion, awareness, and simplicity, leading us to an understanding of ourselves as a part of the greater community and connected to all of life.

- Patricia D. Brown
“Prayer”
The Upper Room Dictionary of Christian Spirituality

From The Upper Room Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe. Copyright © 2003 by Upper Room Books. Used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

Julian of Norwich, a late fourteenth-century mystic and spiritual writer, chose to live a solitary life in a cell attached to the Church of Saint Julian in Norwich, England. Because Julian was known for her wisdom, seekers approached the window of her cell to ask her questions about Christian faith and practice.

Learn more about Julian by reading Encounter with God's Love: Selected Writings of Julian of Norwich from Upper Room Books.