What Should We Pray For?

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mainstream christianity has taught us to pray for things we want or need in our lives: a healthy newborn; a kidney transplant and many other important issues in our lives… this has been a common practice for thousands of years… however, i believe that prayer as taught in the bible and prayer as practiced since the ascension of christ into heaven have become 2 different approaches to asking for something from god… we often pray for material benefits for ourselves and others: a job, a date, winning the lottery… i am not a student of the bible, and if i am wrong, i will surely hear about it and will withdraw my discussion…

i believe that god, thru jesus and the prophets, originally taught us to pray for abstract goals: strength to deal with present and imminent crises and for accepting god’s will… we can pray that others will gain strength to deal with their burdens and that god will help them to set a proper agenda for living their lives, but to pray that a law student will pass his bar exam on the first try is not, i believe, the best approach in defining the objective… i am not criticizing anyone for praying to receive specific gains… millions would say their prayers were answered and i have no argument with them… anyone who believes their prayers for a material benefit were answered has my encouragement…

i believe that god is not “santa claus”… he is not making a list of those who are deserving of his favors and those who are not… notwhithstanding those who pray for disaster victims to receive aid or a child to be rescued from an abusive home, biblical prayer does not, i think, advocate these objectivers… biblical prayer would offer prayers for the child to have the strength and will to survive the abuse, and the abuser to see the mistakes that were made and to stop harming the victim immediately… a similar prayer would be offered for disaster victims… god isn’t sending bandages , or vaccines or fresh water, that’s man’s job… it is god’s role, i think, to offer strength and the will to help others over oneself… there are a multitude of situations where one could say that a material request is consistent with a spiritual goal: paying that god will guide a surgeon’s hand in removing a cancer; a prayer that god will aid a pilot in landing a disabled aircraft… im just saying there is a difference between biblical prayer and prayer as presented to god since christ’s return to heaven… i have prayed since a child for specific things, and i doubt there are many who have prayed differently… the distinction here might only be of interest to a theologian and if prayers in the bible were offered as requests to god for material benefits, my post is a total fallacy…

however, that does not blur the distinction between prayer which appeals to god for strength to handle one’s burdens and prayer which contains a list of things for god to do before he calls it a day… the former is prayer for our soul; the latter is prayer for our bodies… the former is preparation for the hereafter; the latter is for making our way comfortable in the here and now…

but, i could be wrong!
 
That every Roman rite parish in the entire world has a Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass. 👍
 
What we should pray for is totally encompassed in the prayer which Our Lord gave us:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

As St. Louis de Montfort says:
“The Our Father contains all the duties we owe to God, the acts of all the virtues and the petitions for all our spiritual and corporal needs… by it we praise Him in the very best way.”
 
Remoat - You have an interesting idea but I think a lot of it is just a matter of choice of words… just taking one example,
pray for disaster victims to receive aid or a child to be rescued from an abusive home, biblical prayer does not, i think, advocate these objectivers… biblical prayer would offer prayers for the child to have the strength and will to survive the abuse, and the abuser to see the mistakes that were made and to stop harming the victim immediately
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Basically I think it is not up to us to tell God “how” to help, I think we just need to raise our intention to God and God will help as he sees fit, possibly by doing what you described in the second part of that paragraph. I think that ultimately the following prayers are all equivalent -
-“God, please help / look after this abused child”
-“God, please have this child rescued from his abusive home”
-“God, please give this child the strength to resist… etc”
In every case we are raising pretty much the same intention or hope to God, we want the child helped out in some way, and God will act on it as he sees fit. Basically I don’t think the words we use are so important but the intention that’s in our hearts. Still, I could be wrong. Note also that I think we still have to pray in some way… we have to raise the intention to God by either speaking out loud or praying in our minds, simply to have the intention in heart I don’t think counts as praying. But when you do decide to raise it up then “any words will do”.
 
I would think that any prayer for the well-being and safety of another is always appropriate.

It is prayer for ones’ self and personal needs and wants is where things get sticky.

Recall prayers like the “Hail Mary”. It says “Pray for US sinners, now and at the hour of OUR death…”

Praying for the safety and well-being of others (including the souls in Purgatory), it’s hard to go wrong.
 
The Our Father is our model prayer and is found in Matthew Chapter 6. Also within the same chapter is a reinforcement of the structure of the prayer, the crux being seek ye first the Kingdom of God:

31 Be not solicitous therefore, saying: What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? 32 For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. 33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.

Another neat thing you can do is a study on prayer. When I was a Protestent Sunday School Teacher, I did a study on prayer from the book of James. Not a book that you normally would associate with prayer. But with the Lord’s guidance, it turned out what I thought to be pretty good.

Another topic I have thought about is doing a study of the "Verily, verily"s that Jesus spoke. I think that could turn into a great model of what we we should desire and pray for.

Finally, I leave you with this: When you pray think of yourself being in a position similiar to that of a sprinter in the starting blocks. Prayer, is the energy you need to jump out of the starting blocks and race toward the finish line. Another way to describe this is God, through prayer, gives us the strength to go forward.

Peace.
 
ethelzguy said:
I would think that any prayer for the well-being and safety of another is always appropriate.

It is prayer for ones’ self and personal needs and wants is where things get sticky.

Recall prayers like the “Hail Mary”. It says “Pray for US sinners, now and at the hour of OUR death…”

Praying for the safety and well-being of others (including the souls in Purgatory), it’s hard to go wrong.
Click to expand...
Praying for our needs is fine. The Our Father, taught by Our Lord Himself, says “give us this day our daily bread.” The “us” obviously includes ourselves.
As for our wants that depends. We can do so if the thing we want is morally OK, but in doing so we need to be mindful that God may very well tell us “no” if the thing is not compatible with His will.
 
What Should We Pray For?

As the Our Father teaches us: that God’s Name be held HOLY, that His kingdom come and that we do the will of God … . All else follows that. “Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done …”

This is the perfect prayer that Jesus Himself has taught us.
 
I would totally agree that the Our Father is the model prayer. After all it was taught by Jesus.

Now in the scriptures there are many instances of people directly “praying” to Jesus for healing or help for someone else. For example the centurion, the Roman official, the men who let the paralytic down through the roof, numerous lepers, and those possessed by demons and on and on. Jesus did say, “Ask anything in my name…” Hence, I have a hard time grasping why prayer for our material needs or another’s material needs would not be biblical. Hopefully our habits of prayer go far beyond the material. :confused:
 
remoat said:
mainstream christianity has taught us to pray for things we want or need in our lives: a healthy newborn; a kidney transplant and many other important issues in our lives… this has been a common practice for thousands of years… however, i believe that prayer as taught in the bible and prayer as practiced since the ascension of christ into heaven have become 2 different approaches to asking for something from god… we often pray for material benefits for ourselves and others: a job, a date, winning the lottery… i am not a student of the bible, and if i am wrong, i will surely hear about it and will withdraw my discussion…

i believe that god, thru jesus and the prophets, originally taught us to pray for abstract goals: strength to deal with present and imminent crises and for accepting god’s will… we can pray that others will gain strength to deal with their burdens and that god will help them to set a proper agenda for living their lives, but to pray that a law student will pass his bar exam on the first try is not, i believe, the best approach in defining the objective… i am not criticizing anyone for praying to receive specific gains… millions would say their prayers were answered and i have no argument with them… anyone who believes their prayers for a material benefit were answered has my encouragement…

i believe that god is not “santa claus”… he is not making a list of those who are deserving of his favors and those who are not… notwhithstanding those who pray for disaster victims to receive aid or a child to be rescued from an abusive home, biblical prayer does not, i think, advocate these objectivers… biblical prayer would offer prayers for the child to have the strength and will to survive the abuse, and the abuser to see the mistakes that were made and to stop harming the victim immediately… a similar prayer would be offered for disaster victims… god isn’t sending bandages , or vaccines or fresh water, that’s man’s job… it is god’s role, i think, to offer strength and the will to help others over oneself… there are a multitude of situations where one could say that a material request is consistent with a spiritual goal: paying that god will guide a surgeon’s hand in removing a cancer; a prayer that god will aid a pilot in landing a disabled aircraft… im just saying there is a difference between biblical prayer and prayer as presented to god since christ’s return to heaven… i have prayed since a child for specific things, and i doubt there are many who have prayed differently… the distinction here might only be of interest to a theologian and if prayers in the bible were offered as requests to god for material benefits, my post is a total fallacy…

however, that does not blur the distinction between prayer which appeals to god for strength to handle one’s burdens and prayer which contains a list of things for god to do before he calls it a day… the former is prayer for our soul; the latter is prayer for our bodies… the former is preparation for the hereafter; the latter is for making our way comfortable in the here and now…

but, i could be wrong!
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So — if a child approached you and told you of his/her abuse-- would you send the child back to the abuser and pray that the child “survives” the abuse–which many children do not. What would you tell the child —go back and submit yourself to the abuser until such time (if it happens) that the abuser sees his/her mistake.
 
We should pray for what is necessary for salvation (for example, the grace of perseverance) and we should do so often.

If we are not sure whether or not something will be conducive to our sanctification (for example, a physical healing) it’s always good to use the prayer of Christ and say, “not my will, but thine.”

St. Alphonsus Liguori has a great book on this subject called “Prayer: the Great Means of Salvation and Perfection” or something to that effect. 👍
 
This very question was put to St. Therese of Liseiux (by one of the novices she taught?) who said that we shouldn’t limit God by defining what to pray for - the only thing to watch for was not what we prayed for but how we prayed - if we were praying completely sincerely and with love!
 
QUOTE: “So — if a child approached you and told you of his/her abuse-- would you send the child back to the abuser and pray that the child “survives” the abuse–which many children do not. What would you tell the child —go back and submit yourself to the abuser until such time (if it happens) that the abuser sees his/her mistake.”

you are misconstruing my post to exaggerate your argument… you are supposing i would substitute prayer for direct assistance in exigent circumstances, which is certainly false… of course, anyone in imminent danger should receive help over prayer… prayer is used when circumstances prevent direct assistance: geographic distance prevents direct assistence for victims in the chinese earthquake, the midwest tornadoes or tsunami disasters… prayer is useful for those who wish to offer it for those children beyond physical reach of the praying person, also when the numbers of the afflicted are beyond personal intervention: children victimized by kiddie porn, asian children forced into prostitution, etc… any natural or premediitated tragedy which is beyond personal intervention is certainly a situation calling for prayer…

also, you may have by-passed the fact that i am not advising on a course of action by citing the bible or any christian ideology… im just expressing my opinion on what might be a description of a spiritual truth… im not telling anyone how things are, or what people should do when faced with a set of circumstances… im speaking my mind on what could be the framework established by god as the medium for petitioning for his care, and the best way to ask for his guidance… okay?
 
Hi Remoat.

Perhaps we should pray for more humility on CAF. 🙂

I think the Lords Prayer is a prayer basically in worship to God and asking for his presence and being ready when it comes.

I agree with you 100% about God not being a Santa Claus. I think that is the modern caricature in our media.

I think the word prayer is originally from Greek and means ‘to tune in’ and i think this is the main part of prayer. To ‘tune in’ to the reality of God. Everything follows from that.

I think it is good to pray for help for ourselves and other people but if we do it honestly then we can’t fail after a while to see that we should also be helping others in our daily lives.

If we want God to help others because it is the loving thing to do and God is love, and we also want to do God’s will, then we kind of work out pretty quickly that we also should be helping.

It’s like prayer is a boomerang and our ‘honest tuning in’ is also a lesson to us.

My 2c worth anyway. 🙂
 
Genesis315 said:
We should pray for what is necessary for salvation (for example, the grace of perseverance) and we should do so often.

If we are not sure whether or not something will be conducive to our sanctification (for example, a physical healing) it’s always good to use the prayer of Christ and say, “not my will, but thine.”

St. Alphonsus Liguori has a great book on this subject called “Prayer: the Great Means of Salvation and Perfection” or something to that effect. 👍
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I’ll second that 👍 It’s “The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection”, volume 3 of the Complete Ascetical Works of St Alphonsus De Liguori.

I was going to post a link where it can be bought for 2.00, but I see in the last few days it has sold out. eBay sellers are buying these from non profit apostolates, and of course, selling them for profit :mad:

Anyhow, three other volumes can be purchased here at 2.00 each, before they run out …
olrl.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=O&Category_Code=mBK
 
What Should We Pray For ?

My top five…

The salvation of souls.

An end to abortion.

Pope BXVI.

For the Clergy.

For peace.

:crossrc:
 
I_Believe said:
What Should We Pray For ?

My top five…

The salvation of souls.

An end to abortion.

Pope BXVI.

For the Clergy.

For peace.

:crossrc:
Click to expand...
All of these (and many more) are encompassed in the prayer that God’s will be done.
 
remoat said:
QUOTE: “So — if a child approached you and told you of his/her abuse-- would you send the child back to the abuser and pray that the child “survives” the abuse–which many children do not. What would you tell the child —go back and submit yourself to the abuser until such time (if it happens) that the abuser sees his/her mistake.”

you are misconstruing my post to exaggerate your argument… you are supposing i would substitute prayer for direct assistance in exigent circumstances, which is certainly false… of course, anyone in imminent danger should receive help over prayer… prayer is used when circumstances prevent direct assistance: geographic distance prevents direct assistence for victims in the chinese earthquake, the midwest tornadoes or tsunami disasters… prayer is useful for those who wish to offer it for those children beyond physical reach of the praying person, also when the numbers of the afflicted are beyond personal intervention: children victimized by kiddie porn, asian children forced into prostitution, etc… any natural or premediitated tragedy which is beyond personal intervention is certainly a situation calling for prayer…

also, you may have by-passed the fact that i am not advising on a course of action by citing the bible or any christian ideology… im just expressing my opinion on what might be a description of a spiritual truth… im not telling anyone how things are, or what people should do when faced with a set of circumstances… im speaking my mind on what could be the framework established by god as the medium for petitioning for his care, and the best way to ask for his guidance… okay?
Click to expand...

Quote=remoat
i believe that god is not “santa claus”… he is not making a list of those who are deserving of his favors and those who are not… notwhithstanding those who pray for disaster victims to receive aid or a child to be rescued from an abusive home, biblical prayer does not, i think, advocate these objectivers… biblical prayer would offer prayers for the child to have the strength and will to survive the abuse, and the abuser to see the mistakes that were made and to stop harming the victim immediately… a similar prayer would be offered for disaster victims…​

I made an observation based on your statements. You say biblical prayer does not advocate praying for a child to be rescued from an abusive home. If we were to be made aware of a situation where a child is being abused --it is thru God that the abuse is being exposed —that He wants us to take action to bring a stop to it. When we are not in a position to offer direct assistance to help one who is experiencing horrendous suffering at the hands of another – we pray someone will be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to what is necessary to stop it. In truth — we should always pray for the rescue of anyone who is suffering at the hands of another — especially children who cannot defend themselves.

Not praying for the rescue of those who are suffering abuse --is like sending them back to be tortured.
 
“…not my will, but thine, be done.”

Seems to cover just about everything. Personally though, I find the Magnificat a beautiful way of glorifying our Lord in my personal prayer life.
 
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