Ceaseless prayer

So the children of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines." – 1 Samuel 7v8

I was talking with the family the other day about the power of prayer. We discovered, as I am sure a multitude of believers have since the very beginning, that a full understanding of prayer is impossible. It is simply beyond our human understanding. How does prayer work with the sovereignty, omniscience, and immutability of God? I simply don’t know.

But I do know this – God wants His people to pray. Later Samuel will talk about the sin of ceasing to pray for the people. We read about praying without ceasing. We read that men ‘men ought always to pray.’ We are told that no matter what the situation we are not to worry, but ‘in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.’

I wish, in my human mind that I had an answer. How do we reconcile God’s perfect knowledge and immutability with His desire for us to pray? That is one of those things I think we may have to wait until we get to heaven for understand.

In the meantime may we, with Samuel, ‘cease not to cry unto the Lord.’