Understanding the Purpose and Power of PrayerSýnishorn

The Genesis of Prayer 

The account of the creation of mankind shows us that God never desired or intended to rule the earth by Himself. Why? It is because “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), and love doesn’t think in those terms. A selfish person wants all the glory, all the credit, all the power, all the authority, all the rights, and all the privileges. But a person of love wants others to share in what he has. It is crucial for us to understand that the relationship of love that God established with mankind is not separate from the purpose God has for mankind. Rather, the relationship is foundational to the purpose—and both are essential keys to prayer.

When God created mankind to share His authority, it was in the context of humanity’s relationship to Him as His offspring. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule [“have dominion” NKJV]” (Genesis 1:26). We also read in the Scriptures, “You made [man] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet” (Psalm 8:6) and “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man” (Psalm 115:16).

God didn’t create men and women to be servants, but to be sons and daughters who are wholeheartedly involved in running the family business. This was His plan from the beginning. He has always wanted His children to help Him fulfill His purposes. This means that God doesn’t want man to work for Him, but rather with Him. The Bible says that we are “God’s fellow workers” (2 Corinthians 6:1) or “workers together with Him” (NKJV). In the original Greek, “fellow workers” means those who “cooperate,” who “help with,” who “work together.” We should always think of humanity’s dominion in the context of a joint purpose with God based on mutual love and of the relationship of sons and daughters to their heavenly Father.

The Nature of Prayer

We know that tragedy came to mankind when Adam and Eve turned their backs on God and desired their own wills apart from His will. As a response to the Fall, Christ became the Second Adam and redeemed mankind so that humanity might be fully restored to a relationship of love with God and participation in His purposes for the earth. 

Some people think prayer originated because we were separated from God by our sin, and we needed a means by which to reconnect with Him. That is one use for prayer; however, it is not the heart of prayer. To understand its essence, we must realize that prayer began with the creation of mankind. It was not instituted after the Fall but before it. Prayer existed from the beginning of God’s relationship with man.

Who prayed the first prayer? I would say that it was Adam, since he was created first and was the one to whom God first spoke concerning how to tend the garden of Eden and the parameters of mankind’s authority on earth (see Genesis 2:15–17). The Bible implies that God made a practice of walking and talking with Adam in the cool of the day (see Genesis 3:8–9). The fellowship between God and Adam, and Adam’s agreement with God’s purposes, formed the essence of the first prayer.

Therefore, the true nature of prayer can be understood only in the context of God’s plans for humanity. The essence of prayer is twofold. Prayer is:

• an expression of mankind’s unity and relationship of love with God.
• an expression of mankind’s affirmation of and participation in God’s purposes for the earth.

Communion with God

To pray means to commune with God, to become one with God. It means union with Him—unity and singleness of purpose, thought, desire, will, reason, motive, objective, and feelings. Therefore, prayer is man’s vehicle of the soul and spirit by which he communes with the invisible God. It is also the medium through which the human spirit affects and is affected by the will and purpose of the divine Creator.

Our need for prayer is a result of the way God arranged dominion and authority for the earth. God made the world. Then He made men and women and gave them dominion over all the works of His hands. Humanity was given full authority in the earthly realm, and God will not supersede that authority.

This means that when God said, “Let them rule…over all the earth,” He was ordering the dominion of the world in such a way as to make the rule of humans essential for the accomplishment of His purposes. He causes things to happen on earth when men and women are in agreement with His will. Prayer, therefore, is essential for God’s will to be done in the earth. Since God never breaks His Word concerning how things are to work, prayer is mandatory, not optional, for spiritual progress and victory in our individual lives and in the world at large.

God’s plan is for us to desire what He desires, to will what He wills, and to ask Him to accomplish His purposes in the world so that goodness and truth may reign on the earth rather than evil and darkness. In this sense, prayer is man giving God the “freedom” to intervene in earth’s affairs.

Purpose Is the Raw Material of Prayer

Praying does not mean convincing God to do your will, but doing His will through your will. Therefore, the key to effective prayer is understanding God’s purpose for your life, His reason for your existence—as a human being in general and as an individual specifically. This is an especially important truth to remember: Once you understand your purpose, it becomes the “raw material,” the foundational matter, for your prayer life. God’s will is the authority of your prayers. Prayer is calling forth what God has already purposed and predestined—continuing His work of creation and the establishment of His plans for the earth.