If God already knows what I need, why should I pray?
It is true that God knows what we need before we ask. Jesus himself says so. But prayer is not mainly about giving God information. It is about our relationship with him.
When we pray we turn towards God, admit our dependence on him, and open ourselves to receive what he wants to give. Prayer changes us: it shapes our desires, calms our fears and teaches us to trust. A child who asks a parent for something is also expressing love and confidence, and a good parent delights in that.
Jesus also tells us to ask, to seek and to knock, so asking is part of how God invites us to share in what he is doing. We pray, then, not to persuade an unwilling God but to grow close to a loving one, and to bring our needs to him with trust.
Sources
- Matthew 6:8
- Matthew 7:7-8
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2559
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.