Praying for things

[kbwall]

I realize there are other types of prayers besides asking for something (be it health, wealth, or something else entirely), such as those for thanks and those for worship. What I want to ask about are prayers for things though.

Why do it? I’ve always been told to do it, and I never really thought about it, but now it’s bugging me. I mean, if God wanted you to have it, would he not simply grant it to you without your asking him? Also, asking others to pray for you. Would God deprive you of something because you couldn’t get enough people to pray for you? I don’t mean to blaspheme, but this is just bugging me.

 

[LilyM]

We pray not because it changes God in any way, but because it changes us.

The very act of asking God for things reminds us of our dependence on Him and makes us more humble.

Praying (and being asked to pray or praying together) for things reminds us of others who have the same needs (or more urgent ones) and makes us generous, selfless and community-minded.

It reminds us of the things we have as well as the things we lack, and so makes us thankful, so does having our prayers answered.

 

[Newbie2]

Lily put it well.

If by “things” you mean something like “God, I want a new car every year” or “Please give me a bigger house” or things we clearly don’t need, then one has to examine one’s motivation for asking for “things”.

If you mean the “things” we need, “God, my car is fifteen years old, doesn’t get me to work reliably and I don’t want to get stranded in a bad area of town with my kids in the car and I’d like a more reliable car” is perfectly OK.

God already knows what we need and what we want before we ask it, as has been said. But just like we have the free will to believe and/or follow him or not, he gives us the free will to let him know IF we are following him by our faith that he will grant us what we want or need if it is his will.

Imperfect analogy, but take a boss recognizes an employee’s good work, and is thinking about giving him a raise. He knows the empoyee deserves a raise, but he wants the employee to show some initiative to ask for the raise instead of waiting for the boss to simply give it to him without asking.

Yes, it’s imperfect, we don’t “earn” anything from God by our good performance as “employees”, but you get the idea, no?

 

[Trishie]

To go back to the source…
You remember how the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray?
He taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” [Matthew 6:10-14]

In the prayer, He taught us to call God our Father, to worship God. to pray for the coming of the Kingdom (the salvation of souls), that He taught us to pray for the grace to avoid temptation and to be delivered from sin and evil…and that He also included “Give us this day our daily bread”…our daily needs.

Clearly then, Jesus who is the Second Person of the Trinity of God, taught us to pray for both spiritual and material needs…

“We are quite confident that if we ask Him for anything, and it is in accordance with His will, He will hear us; and knowing that whatever we ask, He hears us, we know that we have already been granted what we asked of Him.” [John 5:14-15]

It is a fact, as you said, “Your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him.” [Matthew 6:9]

Nevertheless, Jesus promises, “Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches, always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake when he asks for a fish? … How much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” [Matthew 7:7-11]

“There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving” [Philippians 4:6]

 

[JaredR]

The most basic reason why you need to ask for things is because that’s what God has asked us to do, but here’s another reason (and probably the one you’re more interested in): if God gave us everything we needed without us asking for it, we would take His providence for granted just as we do with so many other “automatic” things. When I pray for a job, I am putting my faith in Him and trusting Him to take care of me. If I didn’t pray and make that act of faith, I would not realize my dependence on God.