Prayer is Expectation

People pray because they expect something to happen. If we believed other wise than why would we pray? We believe in God and we know that God is powerful. He made us and the universe in which we live. Therefore, we pray to God that God would help us. We need help because there are things over which we have no control. Something over which we definitely have no control is the future. So, when we pray we are praying into the future. We want something good to happen to us or to others in the future. We ask God to make that happen. To pray requires faith. People today may not like the word "faith" but all people who hope and all people who pray have faith. Admittedly, some people may not be able to identify the "someone" in whom they have faith. But hope is future oriented and it is dependent on someone in the future who is able to accomplish that for which we hope. We are not people who hope in some THING. There is no mere THING that is able to effect the future - only someone can do that for us. The one who can is God and Christians believe that the God of the Bible is the father of Jesus and in Jesus we are encouraged to pray for that which we hope. Now, it is true, sadly, that often times it appears that our prayers are not answered. But the Bible tells us that our father in heaven cares for us in the same way that we earthly fathers care for our own children. Just as we do not flippantly deny our children what is good for them, God does not deny us. It may take time, but we can be sure that our heavenly father, through Jesus, His son and our brother, will answer our prayer and give to us that which most beneficially accomplishes the things for which we pray.