Does prayer change things?
The subject of prayer is one that at first comes easily to new believers. Like a child before the Father ( Luke 18:17 ), upon coming to faith in Christ, we realize not only that we have needs, but that the Lord is the best and only provider for our needs. For this reason, we quickly and willingly go to the Lord in prayer, laying all our cares before Him, knowing that He cares for us ( 1 Peter 5:7 ). But then something happens to our childlike simplicity as we study the Bible more: we come to a greater understanding of the nature of God, that He is all-knowing ( Ps. 145:17 ; John 16:30 ) and that His will cannot be frustrated by any creature or circumstance ( Ps. 46:10 ; Prov. 19:21 ). These truths can affect our view of prayer. Why pray, after all, if God already knows what we need? Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that God already knows our prayers before we even ask ( Matt. 6:8 ), and He knows our circumstances so well that even the hairs on our heads are numbered (10:3...