about prayers

[Templum]

Hi,

In the Bible, it says that “Ask and you shall receive”. When I pray for things, sometimes, I don’t get the best thing. I sometimes have to settle for the 2nd best. Please help me channel my prayers so that they’re heard and I get what I want! I don’t want to fail, so I want the best. However, I don’t always get it right away. Can you help me cope with that?

Thanks,
Templum

 

[crystal_waters]

Hi,

In the Bible, it says that “Ask and you shall receive”. When I pray for things, sometimes, I don’t get the best thing. I sometimes have to settle for the 2nd best. Please help me channel my prayers so that they’re heard and I get what I want! I don’t want to fail, so I want the best. However, I don’t always get it right away. Can you help me cope with that?

Thanks,
Templum

try praying to god for the holy souls in purgatory and for their relief and deliverance…and in the same prayer ask god to grant you through their prayers and intercessions what ever favour it is that you require…

the holy souls obtain favours fast because they are so incredibly grateful that we help them…

heres a website to help you…it shows how to pray for the holysouls and also the breathtaking amazing favours that the holy souls are granting in the present to those who help them…

missionbell.homestead.com/Afavourgrantedbytheholysouls.html

 

[JRKH]

Hi,

In the Bible, it says that “Ask and you shall receive”. When I pray for things, sometimes, I don’t get the best thing. I sometimes have to settle for the 2nd best. Please help me channel my prayers so that they’re heard and I get what I want! I don’t want to fail, so I want the best. However, I don’t always get it right away. Can you help me cope with that?

Thanks,
Templum

To properly channel your prayers requires that you have a proper mindset.
Begin with the Lords Prayer. Pray this carefully and often. Contemplate on the order of the praises and petitions and what is asked for.
Then consider if what you “want” lines up with these petitions.

Think back onw hat you asked for and what you received…Did you really get “second best” or did you actually get what you needed instead of what you wanted.

Following on the verse where Jesus says ask and you sahll receive, he says this, "* What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? * (Luke 11:11-12)

Now let’s take this verse and change it just a bit and ask, “What father among you, if his son asks for a serpent will give it to him?” Or what father, if a child asks for a fish (that had spoiled) would give it to him…

Yes we can ask and we shall receive, but we must be both mindful of what we ask for (and why we want it) and also recognize that our Loving Father knows what is best for us, and will try to satisfy our request by giving us what is in our best interests.

Peace
James

 

[EmeraldWings]

(Post 1 of 2)

Hi,

In the Bible, it says that “Ask and you shall receive”. When I pray for things, sometimes, I don’t get the best thing. I sometimes have to settle for the 2nd best. Please help me channel my prayers so that they’re heard and I get what I want! I don’t want to fail, so I want the best. However, I don’t always get it right away. Can you help me cope with that?

Thanks,
Templum

what are you referring to by “2nd best”, what kind of things are you asking for?
you are not always going to get what you “want” though, instead you are going to get what is best according to God, who knows better than any of us what is best.
God really does not give what is “2nd best”, but what is really best, even if it doesn’t seem that way to us, but the reason it may not seem like what’s best to us is because we may be seeing with the eyes of the world rather than the eyes of the soul, or in other-words, we see the things of the world as more valuable than the things of God, which are mainly the virtues.
and when you do ask for something, whether spiritual or temporal, it’s not always going to come right away, but when God sees fit to send it.
and He will never give us something that may be bad for us, but our prayers are never wasted, if your request can’t be granted because it is bad for you, then the prayers will go to some other good,

but what you have to learn first of all, is what prayer is for in the first place, even though God says “ask and you shall receive”, He is not referring to the temporal, but the spiritual, or at the least,if it is temporal, what is useful for our salvation,
not to say He does not grant us temporal things as well, because of course He does, after all, we have temporal needs, but regarding His saying “ask and you shall receive” is referring to the spiritual.
and when we ask for something, we should trust that God knows better, and accept what He does send, because while you think you are getting “2nd best” you may in fact be getting what is best, and had you gotten what you asked for you would have really been getting 2nd or 3rd or even less,
so we must be grateful for what God sends us and use the graces and gifts He gives to the best of our ability.
after all, what do we know about what is best for us? the world is in a terrible state, that is proof enough we don’t know what’s best, and while we seek the pleasures and enjoyments and comforts of this world, Jesus sought mortification, penance, fasting, he followed His cross all the way from birth to Calvary, and so which example will we follow? that of the world, or that of Christ?

what prayer is really for is for growing spiritually, it is for strengthening our relationship with God, and for reaching after perfection, it is “the lifting of our hearts and our minds to God”. and the major part of your prayer should not consist in getting things you want, but in strengthening your relationship with God, to know and love Him better,
and even when praying and working to grow in the spiritual life, you must be patient, just as the reading in the Gospel today says “But that on the good ground are they who in a good and excellent heart, hearing the word, retain it, and bring forth fruit in patience”
we cannot “bring forth fruit” except “in patience”, therefore you must persevere in your prayers and works with patience, and wait for what God wills to send you, and not necessarily what you think is best, because what would you rather have? what you think is best, or what God knows is best? well God always sends what is best, so be grateful of what you get and make the best of it, because it is only when we do not use what God has given us that we fall short.

 

[EmeraldWings]

(Post 2 of 2)

and for “channeling” your prayers, God hears your prayers as long as you are not asking for something sinful, such as taking revenge on your neighbor, or some other bad thing…
when we read in the bible “God doth not hear sinners” that is only referring to one thing - when sinners pray as sinners, or in other-words, when they ask for something to help them in their sin,
but even the most vicious sinner will be heard by God when praying for His own salvation,
so don’t worry about “channeling” your prayers, God hears you.

and the fact of the matter is, you will receive the graces you ask for right away, unless you are somehow blocking them yourself, and what may be blocking those graces are things such as - attachment to the things of this world, inordinate attachment to creatures or creature comforts, inordinate love of self, attachment to any sins, failure to be obedient to the church or your priest or others who are your superior or guardian(obedience in what is good, never in what is sinful), etc etc.
and the blocking of those graces is not necessarily something that just happens, but it is something we choose, for example, God may send you a thought or an inspiration or something similar as a means of obtaining what you need, and it is up to you to accept or reject that grace…

just remember that God loves you more than you love yourself, and He would not send you less than what is best for you, instead He sends you what is best and then some! just as Jesus did not only give Himself as much as was needed in His passion, or even that and more, but He gave all! every last drop of blood for us, and so why would he give less than what is best for you? He wouldn’t, because He loves you, and not only will He grant your requests, but He desires to, He wants to help you and give you what you need much more than you desire to receive what you need or even what you want, He is more anxious to give than you are to receive, but He always has your best interest at heart, even if it means for you to have to suffer…so be grateful no matter what God sends you.

as for receiving temporal things…what i have read on that is, when you request temporal things you should ask continually for them, much more so than you would ask for Gods grace(which is given right away), and if you do not receive the temporal thing you requested after so long, then you must accept that God has not granted it because it would not have been good for you.
or if you are referring to praying for your own spiritual growth in the virtues, then in that case, God does grant you the graces for that, but that is something that happens gradually, it is something that grows in you and something that you learn and practice over time, in which case you must simply learn to be patient, and also learn to trust God in taking care of you…and likewise persevere in the spiritual life continually, since we are told that “those who do not advance go backwards”.
and the best things you can do to advance in holiness are the things the church tells you - frequent the Sacraments, especially confession, pray every day, do penance and mortification, read the lives of the saints and other good Catholic books, seek help and refuge in the Blessed Mother, practice your virtues every day, etc.

well i think i said more than i needed to, but i hope this helps, and if you have any other questions please ask,
take care.