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Questions & Answers

Prayer

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship › Prayer

The question

Why do we pray?

The answer

  • Prayer is our way of communicating with God. It is talking to God and getting closer to Him. While on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, prayed to God the Father giving us an example to follow. When His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, the Lord taught them the Lord's Prayer "Our Father Who art in Heaven..."


  • Prayer is a means of expressing our love to God.. We call Him our Father, we praise Him, we glorify Him, and we thank Him for everything He has given us. Prayer makes us acknowledge God's existence, love, and care.


  • Prayer is a means of humbling  ourselves before God, remembering our sins, and confessing them before the Lord. A sincere prayer is a heart felt prayer.


  • Prayer is the means through which we put forward our requests for the fulfillment of our physical needs "Give us this day our daily bread" as well as  our spiritual needs "forgive us our sins", and the need for protection from the evil one.
Although God knows our heart, He wants us to spend time with Him talking to Him like a child talking to his Father. He wants to hear us ask for our needs "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Mt 7:7). He told us "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Mt 7:11)

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 427 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.