Have you ever been really, desperately thirsty? In those times, only fresh water will quench your thirst—nothing else will do. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the psalmist used the metaphor of thirst to describe our longing for God. In our lives, water is not a luxury, but a necessity. We need God to live the way that our bodies need water. Nothing else will do. How, though, do we quench this spiritual thirst for God? Prayer serves as a primary pathway for spending time with the living God and meeting that thirst. So, one of the first answers to our question, “Why pray?” is that prayer satisfies our longing for God.

The psalm also affirms that God is living and therefore our relationship with God lives. Like all living things, this relationship grows and changes over time. Spending time together and sharing life together keeps the relationship strong and healthy. And, like all friendships, spending too much time apart can lead to a break or distance in the relationship. Prayer prevents that kind of distance.

Honesty also prevents distance in relationships. We feel closest to people when we can truly be ourselves, not hiding or putting on a good act or feeling pressured to impress the other or walk on eggshells around them. Instead, close friends create a safe place where we can be comfortable revealing and exploring all aspects of ourselves. We pray to practice this honesty with God, expressing all ranges of emotions. Listen to the words the psalmist uses: heart-break, joy, anger, despair. In prayer, God creates a safe place to release our emotions, often dissipating them so that they do not harm ourselves or others. In the process, we experience the amazing love and grace of God who patiently and empathetically listens, and we discover more about ourselves, enabling us to live with more integrity.

Prayer also creates a safe haven from the chaos of our lives, according to the psalmist who describes life as a tumultuous raging sea. Remembering God’s goodness and kindness at times such as these helps us remember God’s priorities and brings us peace. Do you ever feel as if you are just existing and not really living, running from one thing to the next without stopping for breath? Sometimes when our lives get this chaotic, we falsely believe that we have no time for prayer. We don’t realize that when we take the time to pray, all of those other activities fall into perspective. We begin to see things from God’s point of view, from an eternal perspective, which reduces our stress and focuses our thoughts on what is really important in all of that frenetic activity.

Sometimes we pray because in the midst of the chaos, God’s beauty breaks through, whether in a beautiful sunrise or starry sky, or the kind and healing and encouraging words of a friend, spoken just at the right time. When we find ourselves caught up in these moments, we simply want to express the joy and delight we are feeling by thanking and praising God. The sense of awe we experience calls forth some sort of response and it seems natural to voice our gratitude and wonder. God uses these moments to demonstrate unfailing love, reminding us that divine faithfulness rivals the sun that shows up every morning.

Experiencing that love makes the struggle of prayer worth the effort. Where can you go to get that sense of belonging and unconditional love? The psalmist reminds us of this belonging by using personal pronouns for God—my rock, my God, my Savior. We pray to go to that place where God knows us fully and loves us completely, to experience that pouring out of unfailing love.

That love, in turn, urges us to seek others out. The psalmist describes the joy of being in great crowds of worshipers, celebrating God’s love. Prayer, then, connects us to each other, reminding us that not only do we belong to God, but we also belong to each other. It strengthens our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with each other. Maybe that is the short answer to why we pray: relationships. Join us as we journey to discover this way of life.

1—Read Psalm 42 out loud and pause after every phrase. Turn each phrase into a question from God or to God and use it to dialogue with God about your longing for that ultimate relationship. As an alternative, rewrite the psalm in your own words as a way to make it real for you. Journal about this experience as you answer the question: Why do I pray? Why do I want to pray?

2—What gets in the way of prayer for you? What makes it hard or just not very appealing to you? Talk with God about these barriers and see what you discover.

3—How do you experience God’s presence most vividly? How do you feel the love pouring out on you? Do you have a hard time accepting God’s love? What would convince you of that love? Talk with God about your thoughts and journal about them.

4—How did the Holy Spirit speak to you in worship today?

For next week: Read Isaiah 40:15-31. What happens when you pray? What happens when we pray together? What does Isaiah 40:15-31 say about prayer?

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