Power

It's not that I'm praying that's so important, it's that God is listening.

"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry." Psalm 34:15

God, the Source of ALL power, ALL authority, ALL creativity, ALL beauty, ALL love, ALL justice, ALL virtue and righteous judgment, ALL goodness and everything our hearts desire...

Selah.

...desires to partner with His children to do His work in the world.

...and has thus commanded us to pray. Commanded us (because we are unwilling? distracted? unbelieving? busy? fearful?) to come boldly before His throne of grace for help in time of need, to ask for things in Jesus' name, to give us our daily bread and make His will be done on earth as readily and cheerfully and worshipfully as it is in heaven, to intercede for kings, nations, and our brothers. To pour out our hearts before Him, our refuge.

It's not that God is unwilling, unable, or too busy to act unless I pray. It's that I am readied for His work through prayer. So often I have to make my kids "ask nicely" before I can give them what they want. "For the Lord waits expectantly and longs to be gracious to you; and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you, for the Lord is a God of justice..." Isaiah 30:18.

"Our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases." He doesn't need our prayers in order to act. But He invites us--He actually sent us a formal invitation in the Person of His Son and the indwelling of His Spirit--to be "fellow workers" (I Corinthians 3:9) with Him in His redemptive work in the world, the calling of all things back to their Creator, the making of all things new. A formal invitation to the party He has every day in His Own character, in being Who He is, and in all the transforming power that radiates out of this Trinitarian synergy.

And I'm too tired to get out of bed in the morning to fall on my knees?