What IS prayer for?

Pray tell, what good is it to pray if you/I do all the talking??? Is prayer of any real benefit if the pray-er is the only one who talks?? What IS prayer supposed to be? Would it not be better, far more benefit, if GOD spoke? Does it make sense that when the 99% of people who pray pray they hear nothing back and they are the ones doing all the talking?

Am i wrong in this? Does the modern church practice prayer correctly or do we all have it wrong? What are YOUR prayer habits? Do you rise immediately after you are done speaking to//at God, or do you sit in silence listening for some response for a certain length of time after you finish? And if so, DO you receive one? Are we busy talking TO/WITH God, or are we just talking AT Him?

Luke 18:1, "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."

I read this in Daniel 10 this morning, "...do not fear Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words"

What exactly do we want to hear? Do we want to hear as did Moses? Or Daniel? Or some other prophet?

For me, I cling firmly to what it says in James 4:8, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you..."

It does not say we will see, here or feel anything, but if God says He will draw near,then He will draw near.

We have His word for that.

And for me, that's enough.

May I quickly highly recommend PT Forsyth's 'The Soul of Prayer.' I'm sure you can find a copy online that has passed its copyright date / is uncopyrighted.

You will never see prayer the same way again.

QUOTE: "May I quickly highly recommend PT Forsyth's 'The Soul of Prayer.' I'm sure you can find a copy online that has passed its copyright date / is uncopyrighted.You will never see prayer the same way again."==ET101

Why? What is there to recommend it? I have already read George Mueller's "Answers to Prayer". I have read many such books.

QUOTE: "Do we want to hear as did Moses? Or Daniel? Or some other prophet?"==ENID

Well yea, why not?

But thank you for the verses you provided.

I don't know, Trekker. Maybe it's not for you if you're well-read on prayer. It's my first ever book on prayer.

I'm only into the first chapter and for me, it's a God-send. There are so very often spiritual subtleties that I never pick up on; like the act of prayer itself being God's drawing us to Himself, or even how central prayer is to the Christian life. And not for mere petitioning, but that it is our very source of communion with God.

The book is hugely expanding the box in which I had constrictively placed prayer. Prayer is not a 'conversation' with God.

I'm not doing the book service in recommending it to you. And you'll do yourself a disservice if you rely on my recommendations. You owe it to yourself to read a handful of pages from it and make up your own mind on it.

QUOTE: "The book is hugely expanding the box in which I had constrictively placed prayer. Prayer is not a 'conversation' with God."==ET101

ET, what sort of a box or constrictions had you placced prayer in?

See, this is my problem with prayer. I think it SHOULD be a conversation with God. I want it to be. And why not? It was for David. He would ask God, "Should i go up?" and God would ANSWER!

I ask God questions like, "Lord, what would you have me do today, SPECIFICALLY, and where would you have me go, if anywhere?" Or i ask Him, "Should i do (this) or (that)"?
And "Lord God, what ministry should i give to, if any, and if so, how much?"

If one does not receive answers then there is absolutely NO point in asking.

What I should have said is that prayer is not just/merely/only a conversation with God. This also partly answers your first question: the 'box' I had placed prayer in is that I thought it was just a conversation with God. I ask the exact same questions of God. They're good and God answers them. . .He has for me. Prayer is so much more though.

Here's a link to 'Soul of Prayer' by Forsyth:

www.newcreation.org.au/books/pdf/331_SoulPrayer.pdf