who's prayer is more powerful?

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Jesus’ prayer is most powerful because He sought the will of the Father in all things. He taught us to do the same in “The Lord’s Prayer.” Consider also the example Jesus gave in the parable of the tax collector:

*Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.”

The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am.”

I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18: 9-20)*

Now compare that final line to Mary’s Magnificat: “He has scattered the proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.” (Luke 1:46-55)

So I say
  1. Jesus
  2. Mary
  3. the prayer of the humble heart.
  • Westy
 
Very often I think that OUR prayer can be very powerful because while it is true He knows before we ask, it is not only important that we DO ask but that we through reflection come to realise what is most important to pray for therby realising our OWN needs.

I was recently praying at Mass. I asked the Lord to help me to do His will in my life. I used more words than I cared to remember and still I was not able to vocalise what it was I was praying for.

It was given to me to stop rabbiting but just to ask God to 'help me to bring my life into obedience to His will! That I felt ‘said it all and all that needed to be said!’ 🙂

Blessings and peace
 
Lilyflower said:
Very often I think that OUR prayer can be very powerful because while it is true He knows before we ask, it is not only important that we DO ask but that we through reflection come to realise what is most important to pray for therby realising our OWN needs.

I was recently praying at Mass. I asked the Lord to help me to do His will in my life. I used more words than I cared to remember and still I was not able to vocalise what it was I was praying for.

It was given to me to stop rabbiting but just to ask God to 'help me to bring my life into obedience to His will! That I felt ‘said it all and all that needed to be said!’ 🙂

Blessings and peace
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So often in Meeting I will begin to “vocalize a prayer”…and before I know it I’m rambling…then I remember and “hear” the Voice which says to “be still and know that I am God”, and more often than not…the Way becomes clear…I just had to Listen instead of talk.
 
Annie_B said:
The most powerful prayer comes from a sincere heart.:gopray2:

Annie
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I would add to that: praying with emotion and passion.

It seems that whenever I really pour my heart soul and tears out to God, whatever it is I am praying for gets done.

Blessings and peace
 
katy_kt said:
When I was a child, I was told that the prayers of children reaches God faster than those of adults.
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Yes, but that’s only because of their humility, not because of their age. I know some children who are far from humble. Our Lady of Guadalupe called Juan Diego the youngest of her children because he was so humble. But Juan Diego was not young in age, and yet Mary called him her little child.

The Virgin Mary is very humble and therefore her prayers are very powerful. A humble person is a righteous person. The prayers of a righteous person are very powerful.
James 5:16 The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

I also believe the prayers of Jesus are very powerful. And so are those of the Holy Spirit. After all, none of us really know how to pray. That is why we should allow the Holy Spirit to pray from our hearts.

Somehow I believe the Virgin Mary has them all beat. For one… If Mary pleads for us to her Son Jesus, He will pray all that much more for us! (That’s not to say that Mary will ask for something for us that she knows is not the will of God). If Mary pleads for us then her spouse the Holy Spirit is right there by her side taking in every word making the prayer of the Holy Spirit that much more powerful. I’m not saying that Mary can “persuade” God about something that is not God’s will. She would know better than to ask for something that is not God’s will. Without Mary, I don’t think anyone’s prayers would be as powerful. So if you want to look at it that way then you can say that Mary’s prayers are the most powerful. She is a humble, obedient and faithful servant that will pray for us until the end of time.

And two… We need Mary so that life can come forth. Mary & the Holy Spirit come together to create us. Just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary to concieve Jesus in her womb, so too do we need her to bring forth life in us. Just think of the Holy Spirit prayer where it says, “Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created” we need a mother for life to come forth. So we really do need Mary in our lives for us to be alive in faith, hope & love. Of course we know this only to be possible by the merits of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising to new life for us.
 
Mannyfit75 said:
All prayers lead to Jesus. They aren’t separated… Just as I ask a fellow Christian to pray for me, it is the same when I ask the saints or Mary to pray for me. All intecessionary prayers always end up with Jesus.
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When Jesus prays he is praying to the Father, not to himself.

How can the prayer of a mere moral be more powerful then that of his maker, God?
 
Lilly, ask God to make me win the lottery.

God says, Daniel you need to buy a ticket before you can win the lottery.

Yes, I am trying to be funny there ( remembering what James taugt ).

It is my opinion that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit would be most powerful because they are God, and they pray God’s perfect will for our lives. We just need to learn to listen to the Spirits guidence in all things.
 
I think we may need to be clearer on the question: prayer is conversation with God; talking and listening (hopefully we listen more than talk). You can pray without saying a word or asking God for anything.

Are we saying, then, “Whose conversations with God are more powerful?” or “Whose prayers of petition are more powerful?”

Just curious.

O+
 
I didn’t know humans could have more power over prayer than other humans? :confused:
 
ChristianKnight said:
I didn’t know humans could have more power over prayer than other humans? :confused:
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This is absolutely true. Read James 5:16.
Someone who asks in vain will certainly not get what they want just because they asked. Someone who is not humble might not get what they want. God listens to those who are humble & obedient to Him. He will also not give you something if it’s not His will.
 
hamba2han said:
And if the Prophets themselves, together with Jesus (pbuh) and his disciples, prayed in such a fashion, then this surely means that any other form of prayer would surely be of a very much lower order in the eyes of the One who they were praying to.
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Hows it going spammy??
Ive got 2 quotes out of the bible for you…
This is how to pray…

5"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
6"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

and…

15"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.😉
 
katy_kt said:
When I was a child, I was told that the prayers of children reaches God faster than those of adults 😃
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ohh I was looking for that on the poll too. I was always taught this. Not only faster but more likely to be granted 🙂
 
I didn’t answer the poll, because there’s no “all of the above.”

Most of the time, I pray directly to Our Lord. When I don’t know what to pray, I turn it over to the Holy Spirit.

I also ask Mary and the saints and angels to pray for me. I find that praying with Mary brings me peace and patience.

St. Peter is my patron, because I share some of his former faults. He sometimes rushed in impulsively, like at the Transfiguration; because he sometimes lost his temper, like when he sliced off the servant’s ear (Jn 18:10); and because he chickened out when he denied Jesus three times. So I pray with him when I’m affected (or could be affected) by these faults.

St. Dymphna is the patron of the mentally ill; not long after I began asking for her intercession with my bipolar, I began treatment that has me much closer to “normal” than I have been for many years.

St. Peter knows better than I do how to overcome those faults. St. Dymphna understands mental illness much better than I do. When I ask them to pray for me, they know much better than I what to pray for.

This is my personal take on why saintly intercession works.

Ruthie
 
Hypothetical problem:

You can pick one of two people to pray for you. Imagine the stakes are high. Who would you choose: an acknowledged living saint, like Padre Pio, or an ordinary lay believer, like me?
 
AlegreFe said:
This is absolutely true. Read James 5:16.
Someone who asks in vain will certainly not get what they want just because they asked. Someone who is not humble might not get what they want. God listens to those who are humble & obedient to Him. He will also not give you something if it’s not His will.
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It does not say that others are weaker, just that a righetous man’s is, and who are we to say who is righetous and who isn’t?:o
 
Layman said:
Hypothetical problem:

You can pick one of two people to pray for you. Imagine the stakes are high. Who would you choose: an acknowledged living saint, like Padre Pio, or an ordinary lay believer, like me?
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I would ask Jesus and the Holy Spirit see Romans 8. And, I would pick a lay believer because when we don’t know how to pray the Holy Spirit steps in.
 
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