Prayer is our opportunity to partner with G-d

by Rabbi Carol Calise

In part one of our series, Prayer Can Change Your Life, we were encouraged on four purposes of prayer. In this devotional, I want to focus on two of them.

Prayer is the primary way we communicate with G-d. Only when we truly understand our relationship with Him can we communicate honestly and with an expectation of answered prayer. There are two aspects of our relationship that are important to consider.

First, in John 15, Yeshua calls us His friends. Friends are able to speak openly and honestly with one another. Second, Adonai is our heavenly Father. As a loving Father, He delights not only in hearing our prayers, but in answering them. In fact, Luke 11:11–13 uses this imagery when it says, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, would give him a snake? … If you then, though you are imperfect, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give to those who ask Him?”

Do you hear that—how much more! Our Father in heaven wants to give to us.

The other purpose I want to highlight is that prayer is how we cooperate with G-d. Through prayer, we partner with the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and He invites us to participate in what He is doing in the world. Prayer is powerful and unstoppable—not because of who we are, but because of who we are praying to.

He is not a distant G-d, seated on a high and lofty throne, uninterested in the details of our lives. He is a loving Father who desires to move in our world today, establishing His purposes and plans. He is all-powerful. As the prophet Jeremiah declared, “Ah, Adonai G-d! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm; nothing is too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

As we enter 2026 with a renewed focus on prayer, let us expect G-d to act—in our personal lives, in our congregation, in our nation, and in the world. He is waiting for us to partner with Him. Let us not merely talk about prayer, read about prayer, or hear sermons on prayer, but let us put it into practice.