Prayer & Purpose

[Sandy234]

Not sure if I’m in the right category but:
Does praying really change God’s mind? Or is it only something that benefits me? Doesn’t his plan unfold anyway? Why pray “your will be done”, if it’s going to be anyway?

Ok, praying brings me closer to God. What do I need to get close to God for, if He’s watching over me anyway? And if He has a plan for my life?

And if He’s got a plan for everyone’s life, what do I need to help others for? God doesn’t need me to help him, he’ll have his plan unfold anyway. Doing good to others benefits mostly me, if someone else could do it anyway. So I’m being selfish?

And since no one really needs me for said reasons, and neither does God, why am I here? Just to reap the benefits of doing good? And why am I naturally inclined to search for my purpose and meaning, if I ultimately have none?

 

[Beryllos]

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forums!

Wow, so many questions! If you are trying to understand your own life and how to live it, I am not sure if your best option is to ask an online forum. That’s what I call crowd-sourcing your religion. Forum members have diverse backgrounds and life experiences, and varying degrees of familiarity with scripture and church teachings, so you are likely to get answers that are all over the philosophical/theological map. Some answers may even be unsound.

I think you might find it more helpful to address these questions to a trusted, knowledgeable person in your church, school, or community. A priest in your parish might be a good resource, or he might be able to help you find a good spiritual mentor.

You are in my prayers. May the Holy Spirit assist and guide you always toward a life of wisdom, virtue, and love.

 

[Lasting_faith]

Welcome!
To pray is to stay in “touch” with God. If we don’t pray we lose contact with Him. A prayer is our way to have a dialogue with God. We do say, or should at least, that may God’s will happen. Most of all prayers are those where we ask for something, but there are also those we pray to honor God, and they are most likely be the right ones.

 

[Sandy234]

I posted my questions in “Ask an Apologist” and never got an answer…

 

[ventura2323]

Not sure if I’m in the right category but:
Does praying really change God’s mind? Or is it only something that benefits me? Doesn’t his plan unfold anyway? Why pray “your will be done”, if it’s going to be anyway?

Ok, praying brings me closer to God. What do I need to get close to God for, if He’s watching over me anyway? And if He has a plan for my life?

And if He’s got a plan for everyone’s life, what do I need to help others for? God doesn’t need me to help him, he’ll have his plan unfold anyway. Doing good to others benefits mostly me, if someone else could do it anyway. So I’m being selfish?

And since no one really needs me for said reasons, and neither does God, why am I here? Just to reap the benefits of doing good? And why am I naturally inclined to search for my purpose and meaning, if I ultimately have none?

You are right on some questions. Yes His plan unfolds anyway.
Yes Praying brings us into a closer relationship to God so you can receive words from the living God, not just verse and chapter.

You are here to have a relationship with God. You are here to overcome sin. This is the purpose of God, to show you your sinful thoughts that satan puts into minds to cause you to doubt., or else we may die in our hidden sins that many are not even aware of. He is the giver of insights, revelations, and understanding.

You are inclined to search for purpose and meaning but, Not just intellectually, but, spiritually.
You are questioning because you have a doubting mind.
You are questioning your need of God because something is putting these questions into your mind to cause you to doubt God, and it is evil that is the culprit.
Louise

 

[Aloysium]

Not sure if I’m in the right category but:
Does praying really change God’s mind? Or is it only something that benefits me? Doesn’t his plan unfold anyway? Why pray “your will be done”, if it’s going to be anyway?

Ok, praying brings me closer to God. What do I need to get close to God for, if He’s watching over me anyway? And if He has a plan for my life?

And if He’s got a plan for everyone’s life, what do I need to help others for? God doesn’t need me to help him, he’ll have his plan unfold anyway. Doing good to others benefits mostly me, if someone else could do it anyway. So I’m being selfish?

And since no one really needs me for said reasons, and neither does God, why am I here? Just to reap the benefits of doing good? And why am I naturally inclined to search for my purpose and meaning, if I ultimately have none?

I think we should first remember that God is in the room.

If I were to post,

“Sandy234 asks a lot of questions trying to make sense of existence and our relationship to God. I think it might be worthwhile to address her approach.”

That would be rather rude; it is better to acknowledge and speak to the person.

Perhaps then, we should rephrase your questions as a prayer:

Heavenly Father, help us in our search for meaning, purpose and understanding.
Please grant us the grace to know your will, that we may do our part to bring about Your Kingdom here on earth.
May we grow in love and get ever closer to you.

Actually praying while exploring the church’s teaching is very helpful.
You will find that as you formulate the question, it reveals the answer.

 

[fred_conty]

Not sure if I’m in the right category but:
Does praying really change God’s mind? Or is it only something that benefits me? Doesn’t his plan unfold anyway? Why pray “your will be done”, if it’s going to be anyway?

Ok, praying brings me closer to God. What do I need to get close to God for, if He’s watching over me anyway? And if He has a plan for my life?

And if He’s got a plan for everyone’s life, what do I need to help others for? God doesn’t need me to help him, he’ll have his plan unfold anyway. Doing good to others benefits mostly me, if someone else could do it anyway. So I’m being selfish?

And since no one really needs me for said reasons, and neither does God, why am I here? Just to reap the benefits of doing good? And why am I naturally inclined to search for my purpose and meaning, if I ultimately have none?

In answer to the first question, prayer does not change God’s mind, because if it did, then God would be changable and not the same thruout all eternity. But God is just ONE thought of all things, simplicity itself. So he does not and cannot change because of his nature. The mistake is to attach events in creation as a part of the unchangable God himself. Everything has it’s own existence but can be divinely influenced in it’s direction.

However he can change events in our lives since he has control over all things being the creator and upholder of every being’s existence at every moment. Change in our lives does not equate to a change in the life of God, who is permanent.

Now we know that Jesus(God) has told us to pray and even gave examples of what prayer can do. So that means that God will/does change events in our lives because we ask thru prayer, or it means that God has told us a lie, which is inconceivable since he is all truth.

We pray that God’s will be done because God only wills what is best for us. So when we pray in that fashion we are actually praying in the best possible way for ourselves, even tho it may not seem that way at the time we pray. God’s eye knows all, and our eye knows very little.

We also know that his will is not always done because we sin, that is, exorcise our feedom in the wrong way. And thru this disobedience to his direction towards our good, we get hurt. So we also pray that we never sin which means that we follow his direction for our best good, which is his will. In that, God never diviates, although we may ask him to because we are ignorant of what we are asking.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.