Why Pray? (part 2)

Last week, we explored the question of why Christians should pray. We said we should pray because God has commanded it. This week we will look at another reason we ought to pray.
We should pray because God has ordained prayer as the means to accomplish his will. God is sovereign; that is, he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants to do it. Nobody can stop him or question him. Daniel 4:35 says, "He [God] doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
God will accomplish his will. He will complete his plan. But that's not all. It is not a matter of "God will get what he wants in the end." God is completely sovereign: he not only ordains the ends (the outcome), but he also ordains the means (the way it will happen).
Think about this: let's say you want a car. You don't care how you get it, what kind of car it is, or even if it runs (well, maybe you care about that), you just want a car. The car would be the end. Somebody could give it to you, sell it to you (for the right price), whatever. You are probably not in a place where you can determine the means. Someone with some money, however, could say, "I'm going to take $50,000 out of this bank account and go to this dealership and buy this model car." They (to a limited extent) can determine both the ends and the means.
This is a very limited analogy, but God determines both the ends and the means to accomplish his will. We can think of Bible stories where God delivered his people, but by amazing ways (think Moses and the Red Sea, Esther and Mordecai, Ruth and Boaz, Samson, etc.). God wasn't caught off guard, saying, "Boy, I would have never guessed that would have happened, but I'm sure glad it all worked out for the best!"
God has a plan for our lives, but he has ordained that he will accomplish that plan through prayer, for one thing. For example, James 5:15 says, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." God says he will heal sick people (if it is his will), and he will do it in answer to prayers offered in faith. Paul asked for prayer regarding his situation in prison. "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:19). He wanted to be released (that's what the word salvation refers to in this verse), and he said God would do it through the prayers of the Philippian believers. In 1 Kings 17, God held back the rain for three and a half years because Elijah prayed. The book of James says that Elijah "prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months" (5:17).
God has ordained prayer as the means by which he will accomplish his plan. We should pray because prayer is the means by which God has chosen to do his sovereign will.