Reasons to Pray

Psalm 86:1-17 is said to be "a prayer of David."  As we look at this prayer of David, we are able to see several reasons to pray.  We need to pray because:

1. We are poor and needy (see Ps. 86:1).  Most likely, David is speaking about his spiritual poverty and his need for grace.    Even if he were speaking solely of his physical or material poverty, it could still be applied to his spiritual condition.
2. We are devoted to the Lord (see Ps. 86:2a).  The Lord has set us apart for his own purposes.  We are his prized possession.
3. We are his trusting servants (see Ps. 86:2b-3).  We continually cry out to the Lord, because we know him to be the kind of God who hears his people, and responds to them.  Perseverance in prayer is the result of an abiding trust in God.
4. We want to experience a greater joy (see Ps. 86:4).  The Lord is the source of our joy.
5. He is forgiving, good, and abounding in love (see Ps. 86:5).  These three attributes overlap each other.  God's forgiveness is available because he is abounding in love and good.
6. He will answer (see Ps. 86:6-7).  God delights in answering the prayers of his saints.  He desires to bring about his purposes in their lives.  
7. There is no god like him (see Ps. 86:8).  God continually reminds his people, through his prophets, that  all other gods are false idols.  They are worthless because they cannot see, speak, act, hear, etc.
8. We want to see God glorified (see Ps. 86:9-10).  One of the central desires in all our prayers should be the glory of God.  We were placed here to reflect God's glory.  We should desire to make his name known among the nations.
9. That we may learn to fear him (see Ps. 86:11).  David asks the Lord to teach so that he may walk in his truth.  This request is parallel to the request for a unified heart.  Fear of the Lord is reverential living that seeks to honor God through obedience.
10. He has delivered us, in love, from death  (see Ps. 86:12-13).  God delivered us from the wages of sin, by punishing our sin in Christ Jesus upon the cross.  God delivers us from death, through Christ, because he loves us.
11. We are under attack (see Ps. 86:14).  David is writing about wicked men who are seeking to destroy him, but our war is not against flesh and blood.  We are under attack from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
12. He is who he is (see Ps. 86:15).  Reflecting on the Lord's revelation to Moses, David reminds us of who God truly is.  He is the merciful and gracious one, who is slow to anger and abounding in love.  Prayer is the natural response to God's nature.
13. For the strength to serve (see Ps. 86:16).  We need the Lord's enabling if we are accomplish the tasks he has set out for us.
14. That we would be vindicated (see Ps. 86:17).  The goal of David's request was for a humbling of his enemies.  Without humility they stand in jeopardy, because "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

So here is a list of reasons you should pray.  If you don't pray, can you honestly say you've got one good reason not to?  What other reasons to pray can you think of?