Perplexed about Prayer

[AngieWebb]

I know that God hears me, I know God wants me to converse with Him and let my needs be known I know there is nothing impossible with God. My dilemma is that I think we have lost the deeper meaning of prayer. I tend to doubt when we (meaning the church i attend and my circle of christian friends) mostly just pray that people get healed from some physical ailment and when they recover(which I believe they would have even without our prayers) we say “what a miracle, God healed them.” Really?? These are my doubts, just being honest . Do we really believe God only did this good thing because we asked? Would He have actually with held good from somebody because we didn’t petition Him on their behalf? I don’t buy it. I think first and foremost prayer is to be private, just me and God, for the sole purpose of making my mind and will come into alignment with his, prayer is about changing me and as that happens the circumstances around me change because now my decision making is based around His will which in turn changes the course of my life. I think when petitioning God on someone else’s behalf, what we should be asking is, Lord give me the wisdom to know what I need to do to BE Jesus for that person right now. I feel like it’s just a cop out or something to just make ourselves feel better by saying “oh we prayed for you.” I think these are the times Jesus was talking about when He said take up your cross and follow me. We don’t care enough to be bothered into action. Prayer is a mystery to me. Looking forward to some input.

 

[Hekuran]

I'm with you halfway.

If you have a headache and I pray and it goes away ... is that a miracle? Probably not, as most headaches go away in an hour or two whether I pray or not. But God is the ultimate source of all goodness and the source of all healing, so it's appropriate to give thanks to him in circumstances such as this.

I agree that a huge part of prayer is that it transforms me inside and out. Yet that's not the only thing that happens. Somehow God chooses us as junior partners in the creation and building of his kingdom, and somehow he is ready to respond to our requests. So I believe that he does change his actions according to our petitions.

God is the all-powerful lord and sustainer of the universe, but he also invites us to relate to him as we would a father.

And if we think about all these things too much, you're likely to overload your brain and end up with a headache again.

 

[PloughBoy]

We as a people down through centuries have lost the true meaning of many biblical words or word changing. The Scriptures gave the meaning to identify the coming Messiah as he would perform “signs and wonders”. A miracle is something that is impossible to happen. Like “Lazarus “ laying dead in a grave and stinking and rotting and Jesus calls him back to life. Not a person dead for about a few minutes. Or a person leg is cut off, then a person pray for them now they got a new leg, now, that is a miracle. A Miracle and a healing could be two different things.

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings,

it may be worthwhile looking at examples, in your Bible, of prayer.

Today we seem to get all 'praying' for stuff and ourselves and what we want or think is a good thing to pray for but often so we can spend it somehow, directly or more subtly, on ourselves, be it the individual or a group.

We also tend to race on in, ask and tell the Lord what we want or what He has to do..... and then we're gone and back into it, whatever we might fill our 'normal' time with.

A quick scan of my memory tells me that prayer often involved the Lord and His response, so do we take time to hear by listening? And when we pray, do we put as much effort into it as we do so many other 'important' things that we do too much of as those who claim to be His and His followers.

Do we expect to be given more than we have proven ourselves worthy stewards of?

I know there are a few things raised here, so please don't get overwhelmed... part of my writing this is to involve others and their input to this important matter you have raised. @AngieWebb

Some profess they are more Christ-like than others and others seem to think they are part of the only few who really know the truth but i do wonder how often they pray and receive directly in response.

Probably the most important part is praying according to the will of God. As Christians, we are able to access that will by obedience and hearing, to know and if we can then pray accordingly, we do so because we are no longer praying as the world does but in the Spirit of the children of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sometimes we ask God to do things He has given us the authority to do, whether in person or not, but in His name, to His glory and praise.

The Lord bless you as you seek to serve Him with a joyful heart of thanksgiving and praise


Bless you ....><>