I have been reading a wonderful little book on prayer by Stanley Grenz that rarely gets much attention, but I think it should. It was first published in 1988 and revised in 2005, the same year Grenz died from a massive brain hemorrhage. Here are a couple of excerpts.

“In short, prayer is a crying to God for help, based on an awareness of dependence on God. It is the cry for the kingdom voiced by persons who realize that only the in-breaking of God’s reign can remedy the challenging situations that we face. E.M. Bounds aptly comments:

Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need. It is the voice of a beggar, conscious of his poverty, asking of another the things he needs . . . Not to pray is not only to declare that there is nothing needed, but to admit to a non-realization of that need.

Viewed in this light, prayer resembles faith. Like faith, petition is merely opening our empty hand so that we might received God’s provision. But we must take this connection a step further. Prayer not only expresses the dependence connected to faith; it is also a declaration that we do indeed believe that God is both willing and able to act.

This suggest that a significant relationship also exists between God’s action and human faith. The New Testament repeatedly reminds us that God will not act unless human begins believe that God can do so. Or, to state the point in another way, the New Testament declares that faith brings results (e.g. , James 1:6-8; Luke 7:50; Matt. 9:29; 13:58; 17:20; 21:21). And one meaningful expression of faith in God is petitionary prayer. . . .

Because of its connection to the coming of the kingdom, prayer brings results. As we pray, we are able to perceive the presence of the kingdom in all areas of life. As we pray, we become the instruments of the Spirit in opening the situations we face to receive the in-breaking of God’s rule in the present. And through prayer, we move history toward that day when the kingdom will arrive in its fullness and God’s work in the world will reach its final goal.”

– Stanley Grenz, Prayer: The Cry For The Kingdom