Why is it ok not to pray for EVERYTHING?

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If our supplications to God actually have an effect, why is it not incumbant on us to pray for everything good and against everything bad?

In other words, I know that somewhere a child is dying of hunger. If I pray for that child, God may answer my prayer. So it would seem that I have an obligation to pray for him/her. But if I have that obligation, then I’ve got just a bit more responsibility than I can handle (since there is quite a long list of people/things to pray for, after all) :-).

My “way around” this problem is to pray only for God’s will, but then I hear the intentions at each mass, so I figured there must be another way around the problem.

Thanks for your help,

Kieron
kieron_mitchell@mail.com
 
It is ok to pray for everything. One can ask God that His will be done, or that He use His power to fight all the evil in the world. However, specific intentions are better because we are not omniscient beings. Prayers of supplication are more for our own benefit than God’s. That being the case, praying for something specific helps us see a specific answer to our prayers. If I pray for evil to be overcome, God will certainly hear my prayer. But the result of that prayer may not occur until long after my death, when Christ comes again. But if I pray for a specific evil to be overcome, say the sickness of a loved one, and that person is healed, my faith will be strengthened.

Also, being the limited human beings we are, prayer directed for a very specific purpose helps us focus on the fact that prayer is an act, not a thought. If I know that my friend is sick, am I going to feel more like I’ve done something for them by praying to God for all the sick people in the world, or for them specifically?
 
I agree with most of what you said (except that the sickness of a loved one is evil - I guess I can’t know that one way or another), but my question is why DON’T we have to pray?

You answered the question - why DO we pray.

Thanks,

Kieron
 
When I called sickness evil, I was referring to the fact that it is not good. While God may be able to make some good come out of it, illness entered the world through the Original Sin, and therefore is objectively ‘an evil’.

You’re right…I misread your question. Why is it ok not to pray for everything? Christ tells us that “Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask it”. If we trust that promise, we can “let go and let God”, praying only that His will be done. In addition, in this world, prayers take time. Sometimes that time is better spend working for the poor, or visiting the sick, or clothing the naked. Once we reach Heaven, we will have all eternity to pray for everything. So we are all called to pray for everything, but not yet. Right now we are called to service as well.
 
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kieron:
I agree with most of what you said (except that the sickness of a loved one is evil - I guess I can’t know that one way or another), but my question is why DON’T we have to pray?

Kieron
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Why don’t we have to pray for a specific result?

Because if you place the person/ or need in God’s care, we can know for certain that God is Love. God created us all. He created us to achieve His special purpose for each situation we may find our selves in. He can deliver the perfect grace in any situation because He knows what is needed.

What may appear evil to our earthly eyes, may be the very thing needed to bring about the good God intended for all and especially that particular person.He loves them more than we ever could and knows everything about them.

We pray not for our will but Gods Will because His Will is perfect and His understanding is perfect. In that we can always Thank God no matter how it may appear to human understanding. In heaven we shall see the glory and grace of each and every prayer we uttered for those we pray for on earth. To pray for nothing but Gods Will is the most perfect prayer of all.

It has certainly been so for myself at least and I have had many serious needs in my many years of so journey upon this earth. I may not get the answer I would have asked in all situations but I always know I got the perfect answer from God. In that I am blessed and have learned to “Thank God Ahead of Time” for His perfect Will.
God Bless You,
Marie
 
Try praying The Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

-D
 
Dr. Colossus:
Why is it ok not to pray for everything? Christ tells us that “Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask it”. If we trust that promise, we can “let go and let God”, praying only that His will be done. In addition, in this world, prayers take time. Sometimes that time is better spend working for the poor, or visiting the sick, or clothing the naked. Once we reach Heaven, we will have all eternity to pray for everything. So we are all called to pray for everything, but not yet. Right now we are called to service as well.
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Thanks - that does help me. I hadn’t thought of it in that way before.
 
Dr. Colossus:
… But if I pray for a specific evil to be overcome, say the sickness of a loved one, and that person is healed, my faith will be strengthened.

…
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Doesn’t that imply that if the person isn’t healed, my faith (at least in the power of prayer) will be weakened?

Kieron
 
Doesn’t that imply that if the person isn’t healed, my faith (at least in the power of prayer) will be weakened?
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Prayer has no power that does not come from God. Prayer of petition means that we are asking God to do something for us, and that we believe that He can do it. If He chooses not to, our prayer should then be that He might help us understand His will. God answers every prayer, just sometimes not in the way we want. If we keep this in mind, even those petitions which are not granted can lead us to a deeper understanding of faith.
 
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