Some pray to change the future; "If I pray, my grandpa will get better."  Some pray because they want to be changed: "Lord," they might pray, "help me accept my grandpa's dying."  Some pray simply as a way to share their thoughts and cares with a power greater than themselves; some pray out of habit.  Some use pre-written prayers, while some prefer spontaneous outpourings.  Some seek silence and solitude, while some prefer to pray outloud or in groups. 

     None are wrong, and whatever method works for you, use it.  But there still remains the question: why pray at all? 

     Every relationship is strengthened by conversation; prayer is at its heart a conversation with God.  Listening and speaking (not simply foisting a list of demands on God) is how that relationship grows in depth and maturity.  Your true and best friends are those with whom you can share everything, from that for which you are thankful to the worst of your fears and failings, knowing that your real friends will love you anyway.  So it is with God, who welcomes our sharing everything.  And God already knows the worst in us, and has chosen to love us anyway, so there's no need to hold back.

     All this is a longish way to say that prayer is at its heart an invitation from God to be friends, the real and best kind of friends that, if we are blessed, we will find in at least a few more people.  The difference; God will never graduate and move away, never lose our address, never forget us, and never tire of calling us friends.  Now does that mean God will keep your grandpa from getting sick?  Not necessarily, although sometimes prayer seems to work that way.  More importantly, prayer is a reminder that even when the worst comes our way, we have a hope and a friend that nothing can take from us.  Ever.  So happy praying, and remember this campus ministry in your prayers, please.