Is prayer ever a waste of time?

[Godlovesmetwo]

Or should I say, attempts at prayer?
Is God ever "I'm not listening to this guy, until he walks the talk."
or
"Oh I'm sick of this guy complaining to me about his life all the time. Come back when you've gained some gratitude."
I just think shallow prayer, where we aren't really being sincere (and unaware of it), may be just hot air. A waste of time for God and participant. Delusional moments for misguided sinners who are just talking to themselves.

 

[Tree of Life]

Or should I say, attempts at prayer?
Is God ever "I'm not listening to this guy, until he walks the talk."
or
"Oh I'm sick of this guy complaining to me about his life all the time. Come back when you've gained some gratitude."
I just think shallow prayer, where we aren't really being sincere (and unaware of it), may be just hot air. A waste of time for God and participant. Delusional moments for misguided sinners who are just talking to themselves.

Good question. God does say in several places that if we stop hearing him he will stop hearing us. In other words, if we know his words yet refuse to obey them then our prayers are probably doing more harm then good. We need to address those "elephants in the room" with God before we do anything else.

 

[Dave-W]

1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.

 

[FireHeart]

first we must understand that there is more than one kind of prayer life, the one you are refering to asking for things the other is having day to day conversations with him. But in answering your fist question no it's never a waste of time he is always listening and hears us.

something very important to understand is that when we ask for things we don't always know what we're asking for even with the purest intentions sometimes we don't know the difference between what we want and what we need.

He answers either yes wait or no and sometimes the best answer we could receive from him is no. Sometimes we think he isn't answering or listening but who is to say he isn't answering? We want here and now we want in five minutes or less we want an answer now not later but sometimes as a test of patience and trust he will delay.
if you don't believe me ask Abraham

 

[Goatee]

Prayer can 'seem' like a waste of time i guess. Lifes problems, personal problems, nothing getting sorted, no prayers seemingly answered. One can feel this way about prayer.

Obviously, Prayer is never a waste of time!

 

[Goatee]

Obviously i pray every day. I am sure God is looking at me saying

"Buddy, you are far from my Kingdom!"

 

[Soyeong]

Or should I say, attempts at prayer?
Is God ever "I'm not listening to this guy, until he walks the talk."
or
"Oh I'm sick of this guy complaining to me about his life all the time. Come back when you've gained some gratitude."
I just think shallow prayer, where we aren't really being sincere (and unaware of it), may be just hot air. A waste of time for God and participant. Delusional moments for misguided sinners who are just talking to themselves.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Obviously, Prayer is never a waste of time!

I hope you're right.

God does say in several places that if we stop hearing him he will stop hearing us. In other words, if we know his words yet refuse to obey them then our prayers are probably doing more harm then good. We need to address those "elephants in the room" with God before we do anything else.

I agree. I think we need to listen in prayer more than speak.

first we must understand that there is more than one kind of prayer life, the one you are refering to asking for things the other is having day to day conversations with him. But in answering your fist question no it's never a waste of time he is always listening and hears us.

something very important to understand is that when we ask for things we don't always know what we're asking for even with the purest intentions sometimes we don't know the difference between what we want and what we need.

He answers either yes wait or no and sometimes the best answer we could receive from him is no. Sometimes we think he isn't answering or listening but who is to say he isn't answering? We want here and now we want in five minutes or less we want an answer now not later but sometimes as a test of patience and trust he will delay.
if you don't believe me ask Abraham

Good point about patience.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

I enjoyed this talk by Francis Chan. He covered pretty much everything I mentioned about prayer plus more about reading the bible and making up your own mind. I think it is good for us catholics to occasionally watch a Protestant speaker/pastor. They inject so much energy and enthusiasm. Priests can be a little bit understated and reserved. I think there is a place for old-fashioned Fulton Sheen type priests who give dramatic sermons or homilies. Gone off topic I know, but thought I'd like to mention this.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

But as someone mentioned, hypocrisy is the biggest one for me, when praying. If we pray, then spend the rest of our day looking to massage our own ego in different ways, then we are hypocrites. Childish point-scoring through arguing with others might be an example. Having a competitive win, win, win attitude is hardly in sync with quality prayer time with God. I think our prayer is more effective if we are sincerely trying to live the rest of our day in humility and obedience to God. Walking the talk.

 

[FireHeart]

Obviously i pray every day. I am sure God is looking at me saying

"Buddy, you are far from my Kingdom!"

If that is what you think he says I would say your seeing through the wrong eyes.Do you have any idea how happy it makes him to hear from his children? How his heart leaps from joy when a child of his reaches out him from sadness or from feeling weary and tired? How his heart just melts when a child of his expresses their love for him?

Our communicating with him means the world to him even if it's in anger because he treasures a heart that is honest with him. when you pray to him he says buddy you are in the heart of my kingdom

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Do you have any idea how happy it makes him to hear from his children? How his heart leaps from joy when a child of his reaches out him from sadness or from feeling weary and tired? How his heart just melts when a child of his expresses their love for him?

No I don't. It would be like saying I know everything about God as if I am His personal secretary. I think much of God will remain a mystery to us.

 

[Galatea]

No, not if you are a Christian. But, if you ask for something that God does not want for you, the answer may be "No". I heard a pastor one time say that God is our Father. Sometimes little kids want to eat a whole bag of M&Ms. The kid knows the candy tastes good, and does not see why he just can't have the candy. The kid's father may tell the kid that he can't have the candy because it will make him sick. God is a good father. Sometimes, when we ask Him for things we think are good for us, God says "No" because He sees the bigger picture and He wants what is best for His children.

 

[FireHeart]

No I don't. It would be like saying I know everything about God as if I am His personal secretary. I think much of God will remain a mystery to us.

All of what I said I know of because I know him I know his nature I know his way of seeing his way of thinking not to say I know everything about him but i can say with 100% certainty this is exactly how he is with you.

when you develop a very deep very close very personal bond relationship and love with him your heart and his heart make a divine connection and you begin to see as he sees you begin to think as he thinks his very nature and heart becomes your own and you even can begin to know his thoughts his way of thinking what he feels about you and about others.

Prayer is far more than asking for things it's about a connection of the hearts it's about building enriching and deepening the love between god and his children. The reason you don't know this is because you need to deepen your bond with him you have to make that deep and intimate connection of the hearts with him and prayer is one of the best ways to do this.

If I may give you a suggestion start seeing prayer as a way to grow closer to him not to receive answers start talking to him as if he is your best friend whom you can always talk to as if he is your personal diary ask things about himself get to know him and express your thoughts and feelings doubts and worries to him.

he is very eager to hear from you

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Sometimes, when we ask Him for things we think are good for us, God says "No" because He sees the bigger picture and He wants what is best for His children.

Of course I agree. He sees what we need over what we want.

 

[Galatea]

I don't think we should ever think talking to God is pointless- even if we babble incoherently to Him. He's our Father, and good fathers love having their children talk to them.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

but i can say with 100% certainty

language like this worries me in matters of faith

 

[FireHeart]

language like this worries me in matters of faith

Perhaps there is a reason for that? Faith is not about being uncertain faith is believing and trusting in what cannot be seen. I say 100% because I have confidence in him, my claim of knowing him is not was not and never will be my own doing I only know what he has shown me and what he has spoken to me

 

[JackRT]

During the late 1940's and well into the 1950's Charles Templeton was one of the leading evangelists in North America. He was a contemporary and close friend of Billy Graham and at the time might have been a greater evangelist than Graham himself. In 1957, just following his greatest crusade ever, and after a long period of soul searching, he turned his back on his ministry and walked away from it. He said to himself, in effect, how can I stand here and preach passionately to these people when I know that I am not preaching the truth.


Charles Templeton wrote in “Farewell to God” --- According to Christian theology, God is omniscient and exists apart from time. Being omniscient he knows the end from the beginning. But if true, would this not mean that all temporal life is predetermined? If God knows the end from the beginning then nothing is subject to change --- otherwise it would not have been known from the beginning. This being so, prayer cannot possibly change anything and there is no point to it. Apart from its function as worship, prayer is based on the premise that God can be talked into running the universe according to the wishes of a devout person on his knees. But, again, try to imagine the chaos if every devout person's prayers were answered! Belief in the efficacy of prayer is a form of self-delusion. Our real prayers are not what we say while on our knees --- the facile words whispered during a prayer. They are the aspirations, attitudes, and desires that motivate our daily lives. It is easy to prime the pump and have the words gush forth in a torrent of pious phrases but the proof of what we really want, regardless of what we say we want, is evident in the way we live.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I don't think we should ever think talking to God is pointless- even if we babble incoherently to Him. He's our Father, and good fathers love having their children talk to them.

Romans 8 says the believer cries 'Abba, Father' by the indwelling Spirit, if we are born of Him.