Understanding Prayer

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Greg_McPherran

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Hello,

I can understand prayer for communion with God and meditation/contemplation.

I don’t understand prayer for requests. For example, why would we pray for someone to do well on an exam? Wouldn’t God want to help them anyway? I would not think that God would base His help for someone on whether they or someone else prayed.

Thank You,
Greg
 
Seeing as how no one else has answered this, I guess I’ll go ahead and give it a shot.
For example, why would we pray for someone to do well on an exam? Wouldn’t God want to help them anyway?
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That kind of attitude seems a bit presumptious…from what I’ve read in the Gospels, Jesus emphasized the importance of not only asking the Lord for his help…He encourages us to be persistent! I believe Jesus talked about this in Luke, Chapter 11. First he taught them the Lord’s prayer, and then he told a parable. In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, there are the words “Give us day by day our daily bread” which is a request to provide for us.

But, anyway, read Luke 11, you’ll understand.

Anyway, that’s the best I can do at explaining it I guess…anyone else?
 
Our Lord has abundant mercy and love for us, just waiting to be showered upon us, but we must ask for it.

He gave us free will, so we can choose to include Him in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, or we can choose to exclude Him.

By praying for our needs and the needs of others, we show God that we are dependant upon Him, that we need Him in our lives, that we trust Him to do what is best for our friends and family, that we know He is infinitely Good and Merciful and Loving.

In the asking, we learn this dependance upon Him. In the trusting, we learn faithfullness to Him. We also learn to look outside of ourselves and our own selfish needs and desires and to put others’ needs first.
 
Yes God always knows what our needs are; .I pray when taking an exam, or when my son played football he was the tail back, I prayed for him to do well, I never said God let us win the game. I pray for my sister who has cancer. But all of our life should be filled with prayer, even if it is simply talking to Christ. Prayer can move mountains, I have seen it and I believe it.

But in reading more on contemplation and meditation God wants us to bring everything to him, to share everything with him, like we would a trusted friend.

If you chose to pray the rosary you are asking Mary to intercede and would a son refuse his mother. Also novenas to the saints can be very powerful.

So yes I would pray if I needed it or someone else asked me. My kids for years would say is there ever a conversation with you that does not have God in it, and I would say no because God is in everything…:clapping:
 
Hello,

I appreciate the wonderful responses.

Do we have the ability to influence God?
 
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Greg_McPherran:
Hello,

I appreciate the wonderful responses.

Do we have the ability to influence God?
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It is not that we have the ability to influence God in the sense that we push Him into doing something for us. God does not need our prayers, but we do. The situation is more like that of an “if” “then” set of events. Depending on the situation and God’s plan for us, He will grant us something “if” we ask for it. Our prayer, worship, supplication, and intercessions as described in scripture bring us into a closer relationship with God and help to conform our hearts and will to that of our Creator.

We are told in scripture in many places to pray, to ask, and to worship. Yes, God already knows what’s in our hearts but He wants us to express it. We even see this in the necessity of asking for forgiveness. In the garden of Eden when God knew what Adam and Eve had done, He still asked them because He wanted them to say what needed to be said and to confess their sin. This is repeated with Cain after he kills Able and God asks Cain “where is Able, your brother ?” God already knew what had happened, but He wanted to hear it from Cain. It is all about growing in our relationship to God.
 
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Pax:
It is all about growing in our relationship to God.
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Finally, someone said something that makes sense to me. 😃

However, if that’s true then we need to do a much better job explaining that because I think many who pray to God don’t understand this. I think that many think that God responds and affects the outcome due to prayer.

It sounds to me like the only thing we should ever ask God for is that His will be done. Because if we pray for something else, we may not be sure if this is what He even wants us to pray for.
 
Greg,

I think you’ve hit on something important and it is reflected in the Lord’s Prayer. If we respond to God’s grace and love God as directed in the first of the two great commandments, then we will want to conform ourselves to the Lord. Praying for that closeness, conformity, and love for God will always be answered. God will also provide for our physical needs. We make a mistake, however, when we pray for “stuff” as if God is some sort of vending machine. I use the terminology of “vending machine”, however crass, because treating God as a “sugar daddy” is terribly crass, irreverent, and unholy.
 
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Greg_McPherran:
Do we have the ability to influence God?
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We have the ability (free will) to choose to let God work in our lives or to turn away from him and keep him out.

This is a gift from God to every sentient being (human, angels) and we can use it to choose to love (which is an act arising from our free will).
 
Hello and thank you all for the wonderful responses.

Returning to my example of praying for someone to do well on an exam, I am concluding this:

Instead of:

“God, please help Joe do well on his exam.”

It would be better to say:

“God, help us to do your will.”

Is it safe to say that we should never pray for anything particular beyond seeking God’s will? In the case of the exam, one would not pray for this in particular because one can not be sure that it is even God’s will for Joe to take the exam?

In other words, why pray for anything in particular because you can not be sure that it is God’s will to begin with?

I think when Jesus taught us to pray, including “thy will be done”, He may indeed mean not to be more particular than that. I think we could express care to God for a person such as Joe regarding his exam but still can go no further than “thy will be done” in terms of asking. I think this also relates to dying to self.

Greg
 
Two strange examples that help me understand the matter better—just bear with me.

Sometime before World War II General Patton’s wife caught him kneeling in prayer (he was an Episcopalian, btw) prior to a polo game he was going to participate in. When he finished she asked, “Did you pray to win?” He responded, “No [expletive deleted] ! I prayed to do my best!”

An important distinction.

Now, over a decade ago, my adoptive father was fatally ill. He had four children by his first wife, and their relations were not always that great. He was a gruff, often unpleasant man.

When he fell ill, though, and realized he didn’t have long to live, I could tell he became deeply contemplative and philosophical. There were clearly things he wished he’d done differently, mistakes he wished he could rectify.

One day his eldest son was visiting and the two men were trying to discuss their feelings for one another, but were having difficulty doing so, since both had been raised to believe that’s not what men do. Eventually his son rather awkwardly admitted, “Well, you know we love you—even if we don’t say it.”

My father said, “Yeah, I know. But it helps to actually hear it now and then, you know?”

I sort of think of prayer like that. God obviously knows what we want and need already, but it helps for us to actually say it.
 
That is also helpful - thank you. I think we need to convey these concepts of prayer to many Catholics who may think we ask God for particulars and can influence Him.

Except, the story of the Widow and the judge on surface seems to imply that we can influence God. How are we to understand this?
 
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Greg_McPherran:
That is also helpful - thank you. I think we need to convey these concepts of prayer to many Catholics who may think we ask God for particulars and can influence Him.

Except, the story of the Widow and the judge on surface seems to imply that we can influence God. How are we to understand this?
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Just reapply the “If” “Then” concept. The nagging widow is not influencing God; she is merely doing what is necessary in God’s eyes. God may test our faith and desire for something by not answering the prayer immediately, and it may be necessary for us to pray continuously before our prayers are answered. If it were not this way, people would more easily fall into the trap of thinking that God somehow acts like a vending machine. This may also explain why we are told in 1 Timothy 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men,” God isn’t influenced to change his mind by the number of people praying on behalf of others. Instead, God wants people to pray for one another and He will answer their prayers when they do so. All of these things work for good and the greater honor and glory of God.
 
Thank You Pax. I am finding that there is mystery to our relationship with God. Your points are great signposts on the road of the mystery!
 
Hi Greg:
You said a “very” important thing. “it is a mystery”. All written above is good, however, if one gets too technical, there is always a danger. We can and should pray about everything. One begins with praise and adoration. This reminds us of Who God Is and who we are. He knows Who He IS, we seem to have a little problem with remembering who we are. Prayer puts things in proper perspective. Certainly one can pray for a person to do well on an exam but (smile) one would hope that before that one has also prayed that the person is able to “study” well.
No, we do not move God’s Will. He knows you would or would not pray. He knew your grandmother would pray. He knows that your great, great, great grandchildren will pray or your flock, if you are a Priest, etc… There is “nothing” too small or too big to pray about/for.
Peace on earth to men of good will.
LaVada
 
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