The Purpose of Prayer

   There was an Amish person with a sign protesting outside a large multinational corporation.  One man stopped his car and told him, "Don’t you know that you can't change them?"  The protestor replied, "I am doing this not to change them, but so that they don[t change me."  By prayer we prevent the world from changing us.
1.  Delight.  God delights when His children come, seek and pray to Him.  "The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Prov. 15:8).  God delights when we expend the effort and energy in prayer.
2.  Displeasure.  Samuel Chadwick, a Wesleyan Methodist preacher of the early 20th century, articulated about the devil, "He laughs at our toil, he mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray."  Satan will do all he can to prevent you from praying, including procrastination.
3.  Development.  There are certain essential disciplines for Christian growth, which include surrender, fellowship, Bible reading and prayer.  Consistency in prayer is the hallmark of a mature believer.  Prayer will drive out the worldliness in us.  
4.  Dependency.  Prayer is the outward sign of an inward dependence upon God.  By prayer we show we depend on the Lord for guidance, wisdom and insight.  Prayer displays our weakness and the need for His strength; our simplicity and the need for His wisdom; our timidity and the need for His boldness; and our frail abilities and the need for His supernatural abilities.  As a child depends on his parents, so we are to depend on our heavenly Father. 
5.  Decree.  Prayer is not a suggestion; it is a divine command (1 Tim. 2:1,2; Phil. 4:6, Acts 6:4).  Prayer must be an active part in everyday living.  His command must be obeyed.