Whats the point of Intentions?

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What’s the point of making our requests known to God if the point of prayer is to get closer to God, not necessarily to get what we want? Why should I bother asking God for certain things if I know I that He’s only going to give it to me if and when it is in His will? Isn’t it better to just not spend my time asking for those things?
 
You should ask for things that will help you overcome flaws and help cultivate virtue everything else is kind of a waste. That way you getting closer to Him. Perseverance and faith are vital.
 
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Jesus told us we should ask, so we do.
Asking doesn’t mean we expect to get exactly what we asked for, though.
Asking for things is also part of the normal interaction of a kid dealing with his or her parent. If you ask your dad for things then usually you know that he’s not going to say “yes” all the time, but sometimes he says “yes” and other times he tells you some alternative plan or thing he has in mind, that you may or may not like. That generally doesn’t stop the kid from continuing to ask his dad for things.
 
joyful said:
What’s the point of making our requests known to God if the point of prayer is to get closer to God, not necessarily to get what we want? Why should I bother asking God for certain things if I know I that He’s only going to give it to me if and when it is in His will? Isn’t it better to just not spend my time asking for those things?
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It does not change the fact that we can pray to God asking what we want.

God can do anything so why should not we pray to Him? Same to our parents. Just because sometimes our parents do not give according to what we ask, it does not mean we stop asking them. There are times that they give according to what we ask too but there are also time when they refuse us.
 
I guess this is coming more from someone who is tired of asking after constantly hearing “no”
 
I understand your feelings. At the same time, we get somebody about every other day posting basically the same thing you did.

As a priest was just telling me, you might stop and think whether what you’re asking for is really what God wants for you or wants you to do. If God is saying “no” then he might want you to be going in a different direction and you might think about that.
 
You don’t have to buy into that mentality if it doesn’t help. I don’t think your obliged by dogma or the sorts.
 
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Because Jesus told us too, and that’s good enough for me.
I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of why some people receive concrete “yes” answers to their prayers and others don’t 🙂
 
Spiritual fatigue is a real thing, and the Bible even says that “hope deferred makes the heart sick”.

What works for me when I get to that point is to make sure I’m also getting enough sleep, exercise, nutritious food, journaling, etc.
But also to keep it real with God. It’s okay to tell Him you’re at the end of your rope . It’s okay to sit and simply “be” with Him. It’s okay to get away from it all for a little while to get a fresh perspective on things. Or to seek fellowship with people who have gone through what you going through.
Bottom line, our crosses hurt and sometimes we feel crushed, but you can get through it.
FWIW, lately I’ve been finding inspiration from reading the testimonies of people who have been through things like genocide and the sufferings on the edges of typical human experience, but who came out the other side with their sanity and humanity intact.
It might not be for everybody, but it’s helping me.
:pray:t2::hugs:❤️
 
I’ve prayed for humility so many times but nothing seems to have changed, I’m sure it wouldn’t be against God’s will?
 
It is Divine Providence for man to participate and cooperate in the work of God. If you want to take your line of thought to the extreme: what is the point of waking up and brewing coffee? Couldn’t God brew the coffee instead? Or instead of showering, couldn’t he just make me clean? Or what about feeding the fish? Or taking the kids to school?

God exists in every point in time: our past, present ,and future; it is like looking at a line on a sheet of paper from above and being able to see the entire line, whereas we are moving along the line horizontally and can only see one day at a time.

Our prayers literally impact the world and if we do not prayer, the world and ourselves will suffer for it.

Prayer is considered to be a spiritual work of mercy. It is work.
 
Nelka said:
I’ve prayed for humility so many times but nothing seems to have changed, I’m sure it wouldn’t be against God’s will?
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How do you know nothing change?

Humility is always tested. Praying is asking but asking is also you desire it. By praying for it, that is a good start. Now the actual reality - do you want it? God would put you in a situation where you can exercise your humility. Sometimes it takes time, years, to grow in goodness and humility. Without going through the test, how do you know you are getting it?

We cannot change unless we know why we need to change, otherwise it is
Iike being forced. God or Holy Spirit rather, does not force us; He can only show us and from that onward, it would be entirely being dependant on Him because we may not be able to do it on our own.

Humility involves being dependant. Only when we think we cannot be on our own to achieve want we want to achieve then the spirit of humility will slowly start to take over.

Dependant on God then requires surrendering - to surrender our desire and wants to God so that we acquire God’s will.

It involves die to the self. One begins to decrease and the Lord increases in us until eventually all that is in us is Jesus. Nothing of our self but instead Jesus.

God bless.
 
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