God is infinitely Perfect. Being perfect Love, perfect Humility, perfect Kindness, etc. If God is perfectly generous, would it not take just one prayer asking Him to free the souls from purgatory for Him to be generous enough to do so?? How could He not be that generous?
God has a perfect will, and He only wills what is best. God is also unchanging. My brother, who still believes in God, does not believe in prayer because he recognizes only an imperfect entity could change His mind. He’s left the Church over this. Many atheists consider the contradiction in the idea that prayer is effective to be an argument against God’s existance. For if God has a perfect will, why would He ever do anything other than He intended. How could He possibly be swayed by our petitions when our will and understanding of life is so imperfect.
Both my brother and the atheists have a valid point. It is a contradiction to believe in an entity that has a perfect will to have His will changed. The only logical response to why prayer is a part of our faith, then, is answered in the fact that WE change.
While the bible does sometimes depict God as changing His mind, this is only by appearance.
The power of prayer lies not in our ability to change God’s will to our own, but the power of prayer to change us. When people asked Jesus to heal them or their loved ones, he always said “It is your faith that has saved you.” Perhaps there is a bit of withholding of grace until the moment we pray as well. Perhaps its a matter of the puzzle pieces. Our act of prayer changes us and adds one puzzle peice and then God responds by adding the other that wouldn’t be as effective without our puzzle peice. I’m not sure, but that would still make sense in allowing Him to have a perfect will.
But its important to understand that God’s will is perfect. Ours is not. Its “Thy will be done”, not “Thy will be done.” The Our Father, the Psalms and prayers given to us by the Church are often great guides in how to pray. In distress the Psalms guide us to bring all our insecurities to God, to make our complaint and then to declare our hope and trust in God and then to praise Him with great confidence.
Our own personal impulse to prayer is to beg God without much faith or confidence. “Please, please, please, please” we say. We might make the same request over and over in multiple words as if the freqency of our words will change His will. But Christ warned us about vain repetition. Its not “Please, please, please please, do this. I’m desperate. If you don’t, most horrible things will happen.” Its “Lord I am struggling and hurting. I set all my worries and concerns before you. I place before you my love for this person I am asking to be healed. Please pour down your grace. Look kindly upon us. I know you are good. I know you can do this if it is Your will. I trust You no matter what happens, because I know your will is perfect. Praise be to You in your goodness.” etc. etc. Its: Our concerns, being honest with our struggles, and then our leap of faith in trust by praising him. The praise is not bribery. Its not buttering God up. It has to be sincere, not manipulation. It has to be faith.
Your trust is thus not conditioned on any change, but simply dispositions you to offer your sufferings concerns and fidelty to God. A prayer is an offering more than a petition. It is an act of surrender and trust.
I totally agree with you that God has more than shown us His generosity through Christ’s passion, taking up the cross of all our sins, & dying for us all; including those who refuse his love through the free will that God gave them. However, my question is more about imagination. If I can imagine a God that is generous enough to free all current souls from purgatory from one single prayer by just one single sinner’s prayer. If I can imagine that much generosity, as a human/a creation. How much more generous is He who created my & your imaginations?? I believe we underestimate greatly the mercy, generosity, & love of God Almighty. What are your thoughts doormouse73?
It was helpful to realize that the prayers help to change me into a soul (hopefully) more like Christ. thank you for the help 