If ever there was a generation that needed what people once felt they got from prayer, it is ours. Anxiety, fear, suicides, drugs, and a thousand similar problems indicate our need of help beyond ourselves. With the need of prayer so great, why don’t more people pray more?
Some people don’t pray because they believe that life and the universe are too mechanical. They believe that the universe is a closed system governed by natural laws that cannot be interrupted. Yet when we look at the world in humility we realize two things. There are many invasions into our causal system and there is nothing illogical about the idea that God is superior to what we call natural law. If God can’t invade our universe, then prayer would be a psychological self-delusion. If he can, however, it is altogether logical.
Other people don’t pray because they think God is too mechanical. They reason, if God is God and his will is done, why pray? If a thing is "according to his will" then it will be done. If not, it won’t be. However, God’s will is not always done because we have free will to choose. God is personal. He is not a machine.
Others reason that if God always knows our needs, why tell him in prayer? We tell him because of our relationship to him as a person. A wise husband expresses his love to his wife in spite of the fact that she already has heard the same avowal before. This is not silly. It is merely a part of what it means to live together on a truly personal level.
God can and does invade the universe to do supernatural work. He told us in his Word that we should call on him for help. Therefore it is logical and reasonable that we should pray. Have you done so today?