Chapter 2

What is the Purpose of Prayer?

The purpose of prayer is to enable mankind to effectively govern the planet earth.

The Bible says, “God gave them his blessing and said: Have a lot of children.

Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.” (Gen 1:28) (CEV)

Rule the planet!

What an awesome task to give to humans.

That’s why it was absolutely critical that Adam maintain a consistent dialog with God; to get the knowledge he needed to effectively rule the planet.

Did Adam do this successfully – No, he failed. This is what began the mess we’re in today.

Ask yourself this question. Did God know the devil was about to deceive Eve?

Of course He did, He’s omniscient – He knows ALL things.

Did He want to warn Adam so he could avoid the deception? Yes, He did, the Bible declares - “God is love!” And a loving God would want to warn His children away from danger.

Then why didn’t He? 

Why didn’t God warn Adam about the devil’s plan and show him how to avoid the trap that was set for him and Eve?

It’s because there was a communication breakdown between God and man and it wasn’t God’s fault.

From the time God said to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the earth”

He established a principle that governs the human race up to today, God effectively removed Himself from the day-to-day running of the earth’s business, allowing Adam to be the Steward of the operation while He (God) remained The Overseer.

He also allowed humans the ability to use their free will to act contrary to His will… if they chose.

Does this mean that God no longer had ALL power?

Of course not!

It simply meant He chose to delegate His authority to run the day-to-day affairs of the planet over to Adam and his descendants.

God was and still is in control of how things ultimately turn out but He chose not to directly exercise His authority over the day-to-day administration of the affairs of the earth contrary to the will of man.

The Bible says, “The LORD has kept the heavens for himself, but he has given the earth to us humans.” (Ps. 115:16) (CEV)

He chooses instead to work in partnership with Mankind as we allow Him to.

Through the process of prayer, which is basically open communication between us and God and vice-versa He is able to consistently direct our paths giving us insight into things we can’t normally understand.

For instance, a circling helicopter can direct a motorist through busy city streets to avoid bumper-to-bumper traffic or an accident, because the person in the helicopter can see things from the air the driver on the ground cannot.

The person in the sky has a bird’s eye view so he can direct the driver to avoid problems the driver can’t foresee.

Similarly, God has an eternal perspective on things – He can see the past, the present and the future all at the same time – So, He can direct us into safety and away from danger, but only if we allow Him to.

All we need to do is ask Him for directions and be humble enough to follow His lead.

After God set the precedent by establishing communication with man and gave him authority to rule the earth He then expected Adam to seek His counsel on how to govern the planet.

He expected Adam to initiate communication with Him to receive the instructions he needed to effectively administrate earth’s affairs.

Remember, Adam was now the Steward – He was now in charge! He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the company called, Earth, Inc. while God remained the Owner.

This is the purpose of prayer - To effectively administrate the day-to-day affairs of the earth according to the measure of authority given to each us...