Why pray?  Many of us ask for prayer, but does it help anything? 

Yes. Let me tell you. YES!

Prayer is mysterious.  We are told an earnest prayer is powerful.  We are told God will hear the prayers of the righteous.  We are told our prayers will move God’s hand.  There is power in prayer we do not understand, yet we are to be obedient and persevere in it, even if our puny minds cannot conceive why.

The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.  ~Proverbs 15:29

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.  ~James 5:16

Finally, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, affectionate, compassionate, and humble.  Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing.  For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep  his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.  And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.  ~1 Peter 3:8-18 

Now He (Jesus) was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart…  ~Luke 18:1

By awesome deeds You answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.  ~Psalms 65:5

From Max Lucado, The Great House of God:

You and I live in a loud world.  To get someone’s attention is no easy task.  He must be willing to set everything aside to listen: turn down the radio, turn away from the monitor [ouch!], turn the corner of the page and set down the book.  When someone is willing to silence everything else so he can hear us clearly, it is a  privilege.  A rare privilege, indeed.

[Your] prayers are honored [in heaven] as precious jewels.  Purified and empoweed, the words rise in a delightful fragrance to our Lord. . . . Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God. . . .

Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven, and “God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.” . . .

Your prayers move God to change the world.  You may not undersand the mystery of prayer.  You don’t need to.  But this much is clear:  Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth.