The Purpose of Prayer (found on net)

We can talk to God about anything through prayers.
Philippians 4:6-7:Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Depending on the contents, it could either be a prayer for ourselves or a prayer for others (intercessory).
I. Pray for self
There are many purposes to pray for ourselves; the most important is to draw closer to God, as follows:
1. Draw near to God; Grow in your relationship with God.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” The secret for a close relationship with God is to pray to him often. Do you have a regular time to pray and read God’s Word? Spending time with God nurtures a vital relationship. It equips us to meet life’s challenges and struggles.
Romans 8:26-27:Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
2. Give praise and thanksgiving.3. Understand God’s will and have desire to do God’s will.4. Ask for guidance: present problems and ask for help.5. Ask for strength, grace, and comfort to deal with life difficulties.6. Confess and repent.7. Overcome temptation.8. Overcome worry, guilt, disappointment, weariness, and anger (all negative feelings).9. Increase faith.10. Ask for health.11. Request for daily needs.12. Receive power to do good things, power to love, and power to obey God’s commandments.
As our faith in God increases, God increases the power available in us to do good things. Develop the discipline of spending time alone with God – it will help you to grow spirituality and become more and more like Christ
II. Pray for others - intercessory
1. Pray for our loved ones: our children, spouse, parents, friends, and relatives.How do we pray for our beloved ones and fellow believers?
Colossians 1:3-4, 9-11:3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.
Be thankful for their faith and changed lives (vv. 3-4)
Ask God to help them to know what He wants them to do (v.9)
Ask God to give them deep spiritual understanding (v.9)
Ask God to help them to live for Him (v.10)
Ask God to give them more knowledge of Him (v.10)
Ask God to give them strength for perseverance (v.11)
Ask God to fill them with joy, strength, and thankfulness (v.11)
2. For people who are in need, who are physically or spiritually weak, or who are in tribulation.
3. For enemies (it is hard!).Do you pray for those who try to hurt you? Or do you seek revenge, asking God to help you to get even? Those who have a deep relationship with God can remain firm under pressure and pray for their attackers (like Moses). It is not the child’s job to discipline a sibling, but the parents’. In the same way, it is not our job to seek revenge against those who wronged us. God will make certain that, in the end, justice is carried out.
4. For the church and God’s holy work.Church has one central purpose – that is to build up the congregation and to glorify God. Unity and maturity are the two goals of building up the church. Prayer is important for evangelism.
Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.(Luke 10:2)
Jesus’ saying above suggested that before praying for the unsaved people, we should pray that more people will be concerned and participated in the evangelical works. The evangelical works include reaching out to preach the gospel and following up. Follow up is a task that requires long term commitment. It is not a task of one-time preaching or minimal contact. It may take years to help a truth seeker to grow into a true believer.