If GOD Knows Everything Why Do People Pray?

now what?i'm an officiaL Engineering student of CPU. Lots of things to be happy about. I'm having a great time thinking and daydreaming about it! But I guess I'll never get away with Math things, which makes me really dizzy (or should I say challenging things.=)
Anyway, a friend of mine told me that I should read the forum post in Crunchyroll which is about "If GOD Knows Everything Why Do People Pray?" Let me post the whole content of the articLe in here:

Omniscience effectively turns God into a machine, since he already knows all actions he himself will take.

An omniscient God who cannot change his mind or make a decision is a God who cannot be affected by the prayers of humans. In other words, the prayers of men cannot affect his thoughts or his behaviors.

Yet, many believers seem to be convinced that their prayers can, in fact, inspire or persuade God to do good things for them. Not only that, but believers seem to also be convinced that the more people they can get to pray for a certain thing, and the more fervently they pray (or beg), the more likely God will be convinced to do what it is they want him to do.

Here's an interesting bit from the New Testament, regarding prayer (one of many interesting bits on the subject):

Quote:
James chapter 5:

16 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.


Those verses claim that praying to God can have an effect on his (God's) will. It insinuates, with the use of the word 'insistent', that being more fervent and unrelenting in prayer will help to yield better results. An example is given about the possible effects you can obtain through 'insistent' praying.

Christians are faced everyday with the reality of prayer (i.e. it does nothing), vs the claims about prayer made in the bible (it does everything).

Of course, what ends up happening? Christians almost invariably say something like, "God isn't a cosmic genie. our prayers must be in accordance with his will" This is the same thing as saying that prayer really doesn't do anything, since the outcome is going to be "God's will" regardless. My question is: why does Jesus and other bible characters go to such lengths to describe the "power" and efficacy of prayer, if it is useless outside of what God wants anyway?

Over and over, and I'd be happy to cite specific examples for anyone who wants them, Jesus uses the phrases "the desires of your heart", and "whatsoever things you ask for", when speaking on the uses of prayer. He offers no restrictions. These are false promises, and deep down, every Christian knows it.

my note: For a number of times, I have already fallen into the chasm and trap of darkness. I told myself over and over again that nothing can ever break my relationship with God. I have read lots of books or any other reading materials which strongly emphasizes how everything which we Christians believe in, are all lies. I believe that God is omniscient, which simply means that He knows everything. So why does God, still need our prayers even if He knows everything that will happen, and that it is usually His will that will be done and not ours?

Let me explain it through an experience. An experience which all of us can see in our daily life. Our parents were always there by our side. They know how we feel, if we're either feeling happy or sad, they know that. It's because they have the vibes which makes them feel that something is not right. But still, there are certain things which they do not know about us. How will they know that we badly need something if we don't say that to them. We need communication, and that's what makes everything easy.


as Christians, prayer is not a request, instead a COMMAND. God answers back through the Bible. The Bible contains thousands of unclaimed promises stored for us. Yes, God answers the desires of our heart, but that is still based on our motives, the reason why there are some things which God does not allow to happen(the things which our heart desires) is because He has more conclusive reasons for it. Jeremiah 11:29 says: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Everything He does is for our own good, He knows what's best because He is our Father. God knows what to do with our lives, but still He wants us to talk to Him and hear everything that we want from our own lips. And besides, praying is not just about supplication, it's also about thanking Him, asking for forgiveness or tell Him the things which we would like to share. Prayer is a means of communicating. We know how communication is important. Since He is our God,our Abba, our Father, don't you think He deserves to hear something from us?
What I'm trying to pinpoint is that, God will be very happy if we talk to Him because it shows that we trust Him. And that is what God wants from us, faith and trust!