Explain Why I Should Still Pray for a Thing, If God Is Already Going to Do It Regardless of Wether I Pray or Not?
1) Direct Answer
You should pray because God made prayer the appointed path by which His will comes to pass in your life. He not only determines the outcome—He commands the asking. Many things He intends for you will not be manifested until you ask; and even where God’s purpose is certain, prayer prepares you, protects you, and gives you your portion and reward in that very thing.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- “You have not, because you ask not” (James 4:2). That is not “regardless”—that is conditional.
- “I will yet for this be enquired of… to do it for them” (Ezekiel 36:37). Promise first; prayer required.
- Daniel read God’s fixed number of years, then “set [his] face… to seek by prayer” (Daniel 9:2–3). The decree drove the prayer; the prayer brought the fulfillment into view.
- God said He would send rain, yet Elijah travailed in prayer until it appeared (1 Kings 18:1, 42–45). James says this is how prayer avails much (James 5:16–18).
- The Lord knows our needs, yet commands, “After this manner therefore pray… Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:8–10). He wills it; we pray it down.
- The church prayed, and Peter was delivered (Acts 12:5–11). When they didn’t pray for James, he was killed (Acts 12:2). Prayer matters.
- “Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Prayer changes whether you fall or stand.
- “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer… the peace of God… shall keep your hearts” (Philippians 4:6–7). Prayer brings God’s peace now.
- “Then said he unto me… from the first day… thy words were heard” (Daniel 10:12). Heaven moves at the believer’s prayer.
- Hezekiah prayed, and God added fifteen years (2 Kings 20:1–6). God’s answer came through prayer.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If it were truly “regardless,” why does God say, “You have not, because you ask not”? The Bible ties many fulfillments to asking.
- God ordains the end and the means. Refusing to pray is refusing God’s means.
- Even when God’s purpose is fixed (like the coming Kingdom), prayer is how it comes into our earth and into our lives—“Thy kingdom come.”
- Prayer shapes your part: God rewards secret prayer (Matthew 6:6). No prayer, no reward. Prayer aligns your heart, resists the enemy, and opens the door for the promise to manifest to you.
- God’s Spirit stirs you to pray because He intends to perform it (Romans 8:26–27). The call in your heart and the answer in His heart meet in prayer.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So don’t argue with the promise—pray it. Hold God to His Word. Ask, seek, knock. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” That’s partnership. That’s how His will in heaven becomes His will in you on earth.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
God hiding Himself in simplicity
63-0412E §128
That's it. Stay right with it. Just keep praying if you really mean it, if you really mean it. Amen. If you really mean it, stay right there. He's standing by you. Stay right with it. "I'm here, Lord. I ain't going to move. I'm going to believe You. You promised it. I'm not going to take an imagination. I want the real Holy Spirit on me. I want You to fill me right now. I'm here waiting." Don't stop. Just keep praying. Don't pay any attention to the music. Just keep praying. That's the trouble with us today. We lis...
The reaction to an action
59-0810 §4
And I want to say this: that God will never hear your prayer as long as you hide iniquity in your heart. He will not do it. God will... The Bible said over in, I believe in I John 3, "If our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidence in God," that is if we don't have no condemnation in our heart. I just went through an experience of that a few days ago. And I might just stop here to tell you about it, for we never want to be in any hurry. That's what one of the great ruins of our American heritage today, is we'...
A True Sign that's overlooked
61-1112 §38
God wants His people to pray. And when Israel got so taxed in such a condition that they could not go any farther, their time was fulfilled and their burdens was laid farther than what they thought, then they began to pray. And when the people began to pray, then God began to hear. It was time for God's Word to be fulfilled. And so when Amram and Jochebed saw that it was time for the Word to be fulfilled, they went to prayer to God. And it's usually those who pray is the one who's got the burden, the one who gets s...
The infallible Word of God
56-0404 §26
When I go down in Mexico... The other day I brought the wife a little old present, wasn't over about fifteen cents in American money. My, I seen those eyes sparkle and a big smile come across her face, and she put her arms around me. My, that was worth more than any fifteen cents, see. Why? I love her, I want her to... I want her to feel that way about me. That's the way I feel about her. That's the same thing it is, but only a million times greater before God. I want to do something. Like I walk up in His face and...
God keeps His Word, part 2
57-0307 §4
Now, we cannot base salvation upon prayer. As good as it may be, we cannot base salvation on prayer. For if that be so, the Mohammedans are saved; the Buddhists are saved; the heathens are saved. So it cannot be based on prayer, and neither can it be based upon experience. Salvation is not based on experience, because people can have any kind of an experience. The Mohammedans have experiences. The Buddhist has an experience, and every different religion has experiences. And neither can salvation be based upon fasti...