Prayer, a Timeless Need

Traditionally, Judaism recognizes three aspects of prayer: praise, request and thanks.

Why do we make requests of God? I ask people for things because otherwise they might not know what I want. But God already knows what I want before I ask. Giving me what I want is not always in His plans (it often is, of course), but He does know. He doesn’t need me to inform Him.

I think that asking God for things and asking people for things might be very different. Maybe asking God for things is really an act of gratitude, just like saying thank you. Maybe it’s like saying thank you in advance. Or you can look at it this way: as all parents know, there are nice and not nice ways to ask for things. Not asking at all and just expecting God to read your mind is not a nice way of asking.