Why pray?

Prayer. I suppose despite all the books written, all the sermons preached, we each still have our own take on it. Or maybe I'm wrong. I was raised Catholic, and so the prayers I learned were scripted, formulaic. I imagine they were penned by someone whose heart was genuinely seeking God. I also am sure that they are spoken still by both breaking and thankful hearts. To me, even as a girl hungry to know God and openly curious about church history and tradition, they felt empty and dead. (I know why now; the words did not come from my own heart). With this as my experience with prayer I found prayer difficult. I wanted to speak the "right" words. I wanted to know I was heard, and so often I felt like I was mouthing empty phrases I had picked up somewhere else, like a foreigner trying to learn a new language. And as a busy wife and mother finding private time to pray was in and of itself a challenge.
Eventually, and sadly, only in the past few years, I found my own prayer voice. I am a writer, and so I write. Yes, some days I speak aloud, but for me putting pen to paper allows my heart's words to flow. I stay focused, my mind is less likely to wander, as I write to God. When friends call on me to pray I pour out my heart in an email. Unorthodox, perhaps, but for me it works. Maybe it is simply how my mind works, but God created my mind, He gave me these skills, this penchant for the written word, and so I use it to worship and to petition. The greatest blessing in all of this journey was in learning that Father God is quite simply the Daddy who loves me and just wants me to talk to Him, from my heart, not from my mind.

I say all of this in response to a conversation I had earlier today. The subject of prayer came up, and my friend expressed a degree of despair, as he wondered aloud what the point of praying was when the friend for whom he had been praying (along with many others) was not getting better, but was in fact more ill than anyone had known. I expressed my belief that I do believe we can change God's mind, citing both Abraham pleading for Sodom & Gommorah and the Cannanite woman arguing with Jesus for the healing of her daughter. Unfortunately we were interrupted, but I've been thinking about it ever since.

The thing is I don't think the purpose of prayer is to strong arm God into doing what we want. We have, for starters, such a limited view of God's plan. I don't think God wants His children to suffer, but I do know that in my times of suffering I have been drawn closer to God, I have learned more, grown more than I ever did in times of ease. I also believe God knows both what we want and what we need long before we ever think to ask for it, and He has a plan and knows what is best for us (even if we may beg to differ). Prayer is designed to draw is closer to God, to enter into a conversation with Holy Spirit. We are called to give thanks for all He has given, and in praise the blessings we have received come into focus. Beyond that, I truly feel prayer should be a conversation, listening and speaking both. Someone once said prayer changes us. I know that it does. No matter what time of day (personally I like early morning best), no matter the circumstance that brings me to my knees, or has me leaping with joy prayer has always changed my perspective, brought me around to focus on God and not on my circumstances. And isn't that really what it's supposed to be about?
I've only just scratched the surface, and I am sure I will revisit this soon. Keep praying, you just never know what may happen.