Why do we pray to God when He knows what we actually need?

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anhphan

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Is it unecessary to pray to God? Or praying is the way we change God’s will? (because He knows what we want)
Thank you!
 
I used to always wonder this, too. The whole “ask and you shall receive” way of thinking. As I have aged, I have learned I am a much happier person when my prayer is “Please give me the grace to accept what comes my way.” Or “Please give so-and-so the grace to accept what comes their way” (in the event I am praying for someone else). In addition to acceptance, I pray for strength, too, to manage whatever comes my way. Of course, I don’t know if it is helpful but I know I usually feel stronger. Of course, strength is something we have a lot of control over (eating right, sleeping right, having a positive attitude) so who knows…maybe I am just “getting my head in the game” by saying my prayers. But somehow I feel like there is supernatural intervention on some level at times.

I think we get help if we ask. I think we also get help at times when we don’t ask.
 
On several occasions, Jesus urged us to pray, including by teaching us a prayer (the Lord’s Prayer. When I return to my PC tomorrow I can give your several quotes from Jesus regarding prayer.
If Jesus directs us to pray, then there is no higher incentive and affirmation for the need and importance of prayer.
 
Because there are many good options God provide for those who believe Him. Ask which one you prefer/ wish to have/ do
 
Funny to ask, because in today’s gospel Jesus essentially says, nag me enough and I’ll give you what you want. 🙂

God wants us to learn to depend on him, to trust in him, and to communicate our wants and needs and problems to him. I think the Prodigal Son’s brother also comes into this. Did he not know that all he had to do was ask, and that everything that the father had was his?

I think answered prayers are also God’s way of saying, “Yes, I really am here for you.”
 
As my Bishop recently said, Prayer leads to Charity, to physical action. It is one of the fruits of prayer.
 
The essence of prayer isn’t asking for something or other, though that may be part of it. The essence is simply to turn to God in humility and sincerity. It is this turning-to-God that “activates” God’s work in your life. Without prayer, God’s Will for us is mostly “on hold”, as it were, and we are just coasting along without Him, perhaps comfortably, perhaps miserably. So we pray, not in order to sway God’s Will, but to invite His Will into our lives, so that He may “operate” on us and slowly turn us into saints.
 
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anhphan said:
Is it unecessary to pray to God? Or praying is the way we change God’s will? (because He knows what we want)
Thank you!
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You have absolute free-will. No angel, saint or even God will interfere in your life unless you specifically request it.
 
anhphan said:
Is it unecessary to pray to God? Or praying is the way we change God’s will? (because He knows what we want)
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God invites into a conversation. This often begins, in childhood, with “give me this, please” and “give me that, please.” But as we grow, the plan is for our part of the conversation to grow also, toward seeking our true good. God wants this. He wants us to grow, to mature, to seek and to pray for the true good - the eternal good. If we are paying attention, we eventually learn that our true good is precisely His will. And in prayer, that’s a home run!
 
Because God likes us to ask him.

A loving father knows what his kid needs or wants before the kid asks for it, but he still likes to be asked. It’s part of building a relationship.
 
QwertyGirl said:
I think we get help if we ask. I think we also get help at times when we don’t ask.
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This is true, but our relationship with God is not solely or even majorly about us “getting help”. It’s about us having a deep relationship with God.
If we are talking to God all day anyway, which is what we should be doing, then asking is a natural part of our conversation.
 
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