Why do we pray at all?

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PLAT

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I found a question for myself difficult to answer. Why do we pray for “this and that” if God is all knowing, powerful and merciful? For example, when we ask for God’s comfort for the sick, or his hope for the prosecuted Christians, do we assume that God knows and will bless these people whether we pray or not? What is the need of these kind of “asking for something” prayers?

I don’t hate praying and whatnot, in fact, I would like to get better at praying, but perhaps I can get a better understanding of prayer here in this forum.

Sorry if my question is poorly phrased.
 
Your question concerns prayer; you are asking the Pope how he prays. And I thank you. Perhaps it is worth starting with Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans. The apostle comes to the heart of the matter when he writes: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (cf. Rom 8:26).
What is prayer? It is commonly held to be a conversation. In a conversation there are always an “I” and a “thou” or “you.” In this case the “Thou” is with a capital T. If at first the “I” seems to be the most important element in prayer, prayer teaches that the situation is actually different. The “Thou” is more important, because our prayer begins with God. In his Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul teaches precisely this. According to the apostle, prayer reflects all created reality; it is in a certain sense a cosmic function.
Man is the priest of all creation; he speaks in its name, but only insofar as he is guided by the Spirit. In order to understand profoundly the meaning of prayer, one should meditate for a long time on the following passage from the Letter to the Romans: “For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved” (Rom 8:19-24). And here again we come across the apostle’s words: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (cf. Rom 8:26).
In prayer, then, the true protagonist is God. The protagonist is Christ, who constantly frees creation from slavery to corruption and leads it toward liberty, for the glory of the children of God. The protagonist is the Holy Spirit, who “comes to the aid of our weakness.” We begin to pray, believing that it is our own initiative that compels us to do so. Instead, we learn that it is always God’s initiative within us, just as Saint Paul has written. This initiative restores in us our true humanity; it restores in us our unique dignity. Yes, we are brought into the higher dignity of the children of God, the children of God who are the hope of all creation.

Crossing the Threshold of
Hope

Blessed John Paul II Pope

Peace
 
I think when we pray we feel closer to God. Even though God knows his plan for us, it keeps us close to him.
 
PLAT said:
I found a question for myself difficult to answer. Why do we pray for “this and that” if God is all knowing, powerful and merciful? For example, when we ask for God’s comfort for the sick, or his hope for the prosecuted Christians, do we assume that God knows and will bless these people whether we pray or not? What is the need of these kind of “asking for something” prayers?

I don’t hate praying and whatnot, in fact, I would like to get better at praying, but perhaps I can get a better understanding of prayer here in this forum.

Sorry if my question is poorly phrased.
Click to expand...
For me prayer is more about asking God for “things” to help me accept his will. All those “things” we prayer for are not outside of his will so all we can do is pray that we can accept it and find out how it makes us more of who he wants us to be.

Prayer should also be praise and thanksgiving. There is no way I could ever sufficiently praise him and thank him for all that he has blessed me with.
 
Why do we tell our spouse, children, or parents that we love them?

Because we love them.

Why do we pray to God?

Because we love Him.

However, there is a distinct aspect, I think, to be considered. Namely, that of Awe of the Lord, and of respect to the Creator.

God is not our servant, not our slave.

His omniscence and benevolence does not mean He is at our service. We are right to expect such a loving Father to provide for all our needs, but it would be sad if we saw our service as God’s duty. Never forget that God does not need us. All He does for us, from creation to redemption to salvation, is purely a gift of love. Never a fulfillment of a duty.

Therefore it is also respectful to make our needs known to Him, rather than cross our arms and just expect Him to do what He’s supposed to do, that is, grant us all we believe we need.

Finally, prayer has an essential aspect: that of establishing a two-way communication with the Lord. Prayer is not a monologue, whereby I let my servant know what I need. In that case, indeed, I need not speak if my servant is omniscent.

Prayer is a dialogue. I express my needs and concerns to my Creator, and He answers. He answers in countless ways, and we are most often unable to hear or discern the answers. So we must keep our prayer, mental, vocal, contemplative…until we begin to more clearly hear His voice.

Because most often, what we ask for is not good for us. Even if it looks so.

Indeed, our spiritual masters have taught us that it is more perfect to not prefer…that God alone suffices…that we should not want…that the only thing we ought to long for in this existence is, in fact, a greater share of the Cross - which is probably the opposite of what we end asking for.

Prayer allows the Lord, who is the most patient of all fathers, to reveal to us the vanity of the world and to lead us unto Him. It allows Him to reveal to us the ways in which our prayers will be answered (for there is no request that goes unanswered, as per the Lord’s unfailing promise). It allows Him to instruct us, so that we will not grow frustrated and be tempted to doubt when either we perceive no response to our prayer, or something perhaps diametrically opposite seems to happen.

But most important, it allows us to look into His eyes, and Him to look back at us and smile. Take not this grace for granted, for the supremely pure seraphim cannot withstand His look, and yet His eyes are so often looking on us with great love, but especially when us, His little children, talk to Him in prayer with childful confidence.
 
Because God likes us to grovel…that’s the cynical answer. Another answer is that God respects our free will, and won’t help us unless we ask. That way when we freely love him, when we choose Him, it is meaningful.
PLAT said:
I found a question for myself difficult to answer. Why do we pray for “this and that” if God is all knowing, powerful and merciful? For example, when we ask for God’s comfort for the sick, or his hope for the prosecuted Christians, do we assume that God knows and will bless these people whether we pray or not? What is the need of these kind of “asking for something” prayers?

I don’t hate praying and whatnot, in fact, I would like to get better at praying, but perhaps I can get a better understanding of prayer here in this forum.

Sorry if my question is poorly phrased.
Click to expand...
 
hi, my disclaimer is that perhaps this is not the best media, nor place to ask and answer to such an open question; to close it a bit; should we pray? yes; then, it follows why spend some time with the Lord? in pretext, a good sacramental life makes a good prayer life…then built upon that humility; pride takes a turn, down turns, learns to bow a bit lower…weakness is a flood in prayer (sometimes); not a nice feeling, not a pretty sight; but foundations and pillars are made, which contradicts weakness of ground, human and hurting/feeling/telling itself it is alive by hurt/then needs change-to a deeper conversion…a trend…human weakness met with kindness-God is good…thanks patrick
(we pray because God is good)
 
A couple things that I’ve learned over the last year, when I feel I prayed more than I had my entire life put together:

Praying: although often times it is of a request of some sort, it helps to remember it’s also time of thanksgiving, of acknowledgment. It’s of conversation. We are opening our hearts to the Lord in prayer, specifically to talk to Him and to hear Him. It isn’t a one way conversation at all. How are we to know the answers if we haven’t asked the question? I’ve received answers, amazing answers, that I wouldn’t have realized were from God, unless I’d already asked Him.

You need ‘something’. You wonder how to get it, and try to get it, and then, maybe one day, you get it. Cool! or… You need ‘something’, so you pray to God about it. You still work to get it in the same way as before. You get it. You realize that God gave it to you. Or you realize why God didn’t give it to you. For me, it helps me to see God more often in all things good. He may or may not answer you in the same way He does me, because we don’t both think and act the same way. Our answers are unique to us.

I’ve made simple requests, prayers, and sometimes, God has answered them within seconds, either by action or by His response in my heart. Sometimes He leaves the answer in my heart, waiting for it to be found, when He knows I’m ready.

Perhaps part of prayer is realizing what we need, and don’t need. Is God waiting for us to ask Him for something (be it material or conceptual)? Praying is realizing that we are not unto ourselves; that we ‘need’ things that no one on the earth can give us, or do for us; that we need Him. Is that humility, in prayer?

I’ve prayed for patience, and have been put in situations where I had to learn it. Other times I prayed for patience, and was put in situations where I didn’t need it (or maybe had learned it already and didn’t realize my patience was being tried). I’ve prayed for humility, and am put in situations to practice it. If I didn’t pray, when I was in those situations, I could have become frustrated, or hurt; instead, the Grace to be humbled was truly awe-inspiring. I could see God more clearly while I was in those situations. Now, I’m not saying that praying will get you what you want; it will however, give you what you need; :whistle: sometimes, you will get what you want even if you don’t ‘need’ it.

If we don’t pray, how will we speak to God? How will He hear us? How will WE hear Him?

If there is no other reason to pray to God, then we should pray because Jesus told us to.
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 trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.
 
PLAT said:
I found a question for myself difficult to answer. Why do we pray for “this and that” if God is all knowing, powerful and merciful? For example, when we ask for God’s comfort for the sick, or his hope for the prosecuted Christians, do we assume that God knows and will bless these people whether we pray or not? What is the need of these kind of “asking for something” prayers?

I don’t hate praying and whatnot, in fact, I would like to get better at praying, but perhaps I can get a better understanding of prayer here in this forum.

Sorry if my question is poorly phrased.
Click to expand...
John 6;55
“For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood LIVES IN ME and I LIVE IN HIM.”

Jesus own divine life lives on in our souls and is nourished by his divine food from heaven.
Jesus dwelling in us is our divine guest. As other Marthas and Marys, the sisters of Lazarus, we too have him in our home and sit with him to be his close friends, keeping him company. And sometimes words are used and sometimes not.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
 
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