I’ve heard it before, and I’ve even struggled with the thought myself.

“If God knows everything, then why should I pray?”

This reminds me of one part of my journey through Purpose Driven Life when Rick Warren wrote three simple words: Love spells T-I-M-E.

If I claim to love someone, I make it a priority to spend time with that person.

Prayer is time with God.

Asking, thanking, praising, listening, and just feeling His presence in prayer is all time well spent with Him. But it doesn’t stop there.

Whether I pray by myself, with one partner, or in a room full of people, there’s no getting away from time alone with God because His spirit is always with me.

His word says He’ll never leave, you know. And His word is guaranteed.

In fact, His love for us is the most powerful love to ever exist in all of time and eternity.

With a love of that magnitude pointed directly at me, how could I choose not to sow into the relationship? To sincerely engage? To give what I can to make it flourish and grow?

That spiritual growth can’t happen without the communication act of prayer.

Yes God knows everything, even before we think, speak or experience it. He’s almighty and all-knowing.

But He’s also very personal.

And He desires our time through prayer.

by Lisa Birch