Why is there a need to pray ?
There are several reasons. The first is : God has told us to pray. It is a commandment, and if we love Him we obey His commands.
Second, Jesus prayed. Jesus was not being made more holy by prayer. He was communing with his Father. He was asking for things. He thanked God.
The Bible is full of examples of people doing what they could do and asking God to do what they could not do. In other words, the pattern given to us is both to work and pray. Nehemiah and the people of Israel worked hard to build the wall of Jerusalem but were strenuously opposed by Sanballat and Tobiah, who banded together with Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites to attack. "So we prayed to our God," wrote Nehemiah, "and posted a guard day and night against them" (Neh 4:9).
(Stops & Steps 1075 19IX2009)