To the OP: you asked on a Catholic board, so I’m going to give you what I feel is a Catholic answer to the question you asked, and that is this. You cannot read verses about “Whatever you ask, I’ll give to you” apart from verses like Jesus’ prayer that “Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.” God “giving us what we ask” is not an end, but a means to God’s will being furthered and accomplished. Remember that Christ was speaking to Christians, and the whole of scripture show that Christians are to be seeking the will of God. So do you really think Christ meant to imply that he would grant anything, even if it goes against what God wants?
I think you need to read the verses given to you in the e-mail in light of the Christian faith and experience (and I would argue, the Catholic one). The Christian life is about changing our will to be in accordance with God’s will, precisely so that God can work through us to achieve his desires. Does God care about us, personally? I think that yes, that is part and parcel of the Gospel message. But does that mean that God is going to intervene in human affairs whenever we ask him to? No, and that is not what these verses mean to say. Imagine that God intervened every time a purported Christian asked him to do something, whether out of selfishness or seeming good intent in asking. There’s a movie starring Jim Carey and Morgan Freeman dealing with the impracticality of such a scenario, and it seems to be unworkable. At the very least it violates the concept of free will, because it invalidates all the choices that other folks make in favor of the private petition between one dude and God.
So what did Christ mean in the verses you quoted? Once you change your will to that of the Father, then God can and does intervene in the world through you and others who likewise bend their will to match God’s. But this is a necessary precondition, because God created this universe with free will. He literally created a law that he cannot violate. And He did this because he wanted to. So whenever God gives us something that we ask, it is because we and others bent our own desires to be in line with God’s desires. Remember, God does not exist to make us HAPPY. The Christian faith desires that God’s will be done, not that our lives be easier or more convenient, or full of miracles that contradict the nature of the universe. If God’s will is the thing that we pray for, and the thing to which we bend our wills, then God can and does give us what we ask for–because what we ask for is what he wants. This is how God intervenes in a world where there is free will. He acts through humans, because humans choose Him.
And who are we to demand that it be any different? Catholics do not pretend that God is simply our buddy who exists to give us whatever we want, regardless of whether He feels it’s best for us or humankind. Rather, we exist to do whatever God wants, and to freely choose that, regardless of whether we feel it’s best for us or humankind. So sometimes answered prayers come in the form of “miracle healings” and sometimes answered prayers come in the form of someone becoming a Christian precisely because of how the sick person handles dying and the lack of healing.
I know that Atheists these days accept Richard Dawkins’ argument that all personal experience is to be discounted, unless it’s personal experience in a laboratory. Nonetheless, I’d like to offer some personal experience, from one who gave up Christianity and ended up returning, and ultimately choosing to become Catholic, precisely because of answered prayers. I won’t bore you with all my private “miracles” [answered prayers], but I’ll just say generally that I’ve found my prayers get answered if what I’m asking for is something that God tells us He wants.
Since discovering this concept, when I pray, I try to never pray for “earthly” things that might help me out. Am I perfect at this? No. If I get in a real dangerous situation, does that mean I don’t cry out to God for help? Of course not–I’m human and sometimes find myself helpless, even as a 27 year old white male in America with a law degree and some degree of privilege. It just means that in my normal prayer life, I’m trying not to pray for my own earthly concerns, but to pray for something that God has already told me through his Word, that He wants. Once my desires match God’s desires, my prayers really do seem to be answered, sometimes in a quite miraculous way, and other times in ways I could not have conceived of, when I asked.
So let me be a bit blunt and personal, and forgive me if this offends. In the context of a grandmother dying from cancer, if you’re simply praying that God heal her, perhaps you’re praying for the wrong thing. Humans are going to die, pass away, pass on to the next life, however you want to put it, at some point or another. I’m not aware of anyone living forever on this planet. But if God is who he is, God is going to accomplish his will, regardless of whether you help. And he is going to bring folks to his table, whether that is accomplished through saving her life or not sparing her. Maybe you should be praying that God’s will be done in whatever happens to her, physically, and perhaps He will show you things, or perhaps even accomplish things through you, that you never dreamed of. And those things might make your grandmother happier than one or two more years on this Earth could ever make her.
You’re in my prayers today.
