Through prayer, God invites us into partnership with Him in carrying out His will in the earth.  Since God has designated us to be His representatives, He will not arbitrarily go over our heads to get things done. He is dependent on us to pray.

The promises to those who pray are staggering. 

In Mathew 18:18-19 Jesus said, "Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."

Our younger son was about 4 or 5 when he and the little girl next door started gathering stones from the creek behind our home, planning to build a house.  I was so intrigued with their project, I left my office early one day, bought a sack of concrete and hurried home to help them.  But as soon as I became involved in their work, they lost interest.  Needless to say, without their participation I had little incentive to continue helping them. 

Prayer is in some degree that way.  Since God has chosen to work in cooperation with us, His children, we are invited into the business of carrying out His will in the earth.  God loves to help us with our problems and projects, but when we leave God out of the picture through prayerlessness, he has no incentive to continue His involvement.  By keeping God in the equation through prayer, we become active partners with Him.