“Prayer is not defined explicitly anywhere in the Bible, but its basic meaning is to ask. This is evident in, for example, the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) where in response to a request to “teach us to pray!” from his disciples, Jesus gives them a framework for asking God to act by building his kingdom, promoting his reputation, and forgiving and sustaining them, his servants. Their ‘asking,’ then, is to be shaped by God’s prior action—to put it simply, to pray is to ask God to do what he in his grace has already promised to do.”

– J. Gary Millar