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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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What's the Point of Praying if you're going to say: "Your Will Be Done?"
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When things happen people say: It is God's will that this happened. If you pray for something that God doesn't want you to have, and you ask for his will to be done, what's the point in praying. Just walk around saying God's will be done. It's going to be the outcome anyway, right?
I don't see why we pray.
Good strong Biblical answers will help me.
Thanks
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shaun fogarty 03/17/2011 15:05 |
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Ted C
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03/17/2011 16:21 |
To talk to God...?
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Ray
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03/17/2011 18:00 |
You might find helpful the teaching series on prayer called "The Hope of Prayer" located here:
http://www.dailyaudiobible.com/Groups/1000043434/Daily_Audio_Bible/Resources/Resources.aspx
As to the His will, one of the things John says here is that things happen all the time that are not the will of God. The father that is hurting his daughter tonight is not the will of God. We have freedom and our choices matter.
As to why we pray, Eldredge make the point that oneness with God is the point of our lives, not receiving nice things. Prayer is one ways by which we can grow in that. God is committed to our maturity. We must grow up and be set apart for the sake of His kingdom. This is not easy, but he is committed to it. One of the most memorable lines here is, that the hopefulness of prayer is that things can be different, and we have a role in making them so. That is a paraphrase of Dallas Willard.
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Teressa
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03/17/2011 18:08 |
Hi Shaun! I don't have any strong Biblical answers, and am not real sure what that means. However, I know by experience that prayer is fellowship with God. Prayer, to me, also is not about asking so much as it is conversation with God. We are told to be continually praying, and to pray without ceasing. To me that is keeping open communication with God. We can talk to Him any time about anything. But, prayer is also about listening for His wee small voice, as much or more, than us speaking. We should be in an attitude of prayer at all times, giving thanks and sacrifices of praise no matter what we are going through. God wants to communicate with us, and to reveal Himself and His ways to us initimately and personally. The more we get to know Him and His ways, the more we can know His will.
Also, when we are told in scripture that Jesus said, "Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done" we see that it was after he had spent time in deep prayer, to the point that he sweat great drops of blood. We have a beautiful illustration of prayer through this to know and do the will of the Father, no matter what the cost.
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Ray
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03/17/2011 18:12 |
Ted's comment is right on target. He is praying for us. If we seek Him that oneness with Him is approachable.
Rom 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.
If you love someone you spend time with them, right? If you don't pursue them, they get the message about how you really feel. What message to you want to send Him? Again, this isn't easy, but it does get easier. God does not demand our prayer. It's our choice and we have freedom to do whatever.
Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
You have to decide to pursue this, it's your call. It's worth it.
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Ray
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03/17/2011 19:52 |
I love this question, btw. We all have to ask ourselves this everyday. Another important aspect brought out in the teaching series I mentioned is the state of the world. This is important. We live in a world at war. Most don't recognize this. Sure, life is hard, they get that, but the don't realize the real reason that is true, the war of the kingdoms. Your prayer is one of the weapons of war. In Ephesians 6 you have just put on your full armor of this war. The the Lord says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions..." Pray in your armor.
My favorite devotion lately describes it like this:
WHERE THE BATTLE'S LOST AND WON
"If thou wilt return, 0 Israel, saith the Lord. . . ." Jeremiah 4:1
The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God,
never first in the external world. The Spirit of God apprehends me and
I am obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him. Until this is done, I lose every time. The battle may take one minute or a year, that will depend on me, not on God; but it must be wrestled out alone before God, and I must resolutely go through the hell of a renunciation before God. Nothing has any power over the man
who has fought out the battle before God and won there.
If I say, "I will wait till I get into the circumstances and then put God to the test," I shall find I cannot. I must get the thing settled between my self and God in the secret places of my soul where no stranger inter meddles, and then I can go forth with the certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity and disaster and upset are as sure as God's decree. The reason the battle is not won is because I try to win it in the external world first. Get alone with God, fight it out before Him, settle the matter there once and for all.
In dealing with other people, the line to take is to push them to an
issue of will. That is the way abandonment begins. Every now and again,
not often, but sometimes, God brings us to a point of climax. That is
the Great Divide in the life; from that point we either go towards a
more and more dilatory and useless type of Christian life, or we become
more and more ablaze for the glory of God - My Utmost for His Highest.
http://www.myutmost.org/12/1227.html
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Bibleman
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03/17/2011 21:28 |
Hmm! Good question!
I suppose I would say it like this. I want HIS will to be done, because his will is better than mine. However, I do believe that prayer is definitely to your benefit to do even if what you want to happen doesn't happen.
However, what I've given myself up to is that if I am deprived of what I want, it's so that I can receive something better.
And when scripture says "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need"(Matthew 6:33), I believe that the Kingdom of God is everything we need, and when we seek that, we will lack nothing. Likewise, "if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"(Matthew 6:30)
And again, "This is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day."(John 6:39)
So, practically speaking, I WANT God's will to be done in this matter. If his will is done, I benefit the most. However, I am hopeless to live as I should without talking to God on a regular basis, and like a few posters have already mentioned, prayer is most important as a means of talking with God (not to put down the requests, but a fair amount of my prayers and just honest, heart - to - heart communication. And I'm a lot less pious sometimes than I probably sound right now, I think. ).
Anyway, that's my two cents.
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