Praying about the weather

Sam91 said:

A friend and I have opposite biews on this. Would be interested to hear others opinions.

Click to expand...

In the end prayer requests are all about 'Thy will be done'. Good weather is all part of the general mercies of God for which we should be thankful.

I live in tornado alley and I have prayed for protection from storms, but not necessarily for good weather.

Job 37:13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. If you pray about the weather God uses for those things, include that verse and His will be done. We have forgot why Harvey or Irma and even lava flows come

Sam91 said:

A friend and I have opposite biews on this. Would be interested to hear others opinions.

Click to expand...

The purpose of prayer is to get you up-to-speed on God's
answer to your prayer that He already heard 1000's of
years ago. This will help you see His answer.

Rain and temperate seasons are necessary for crops to grow and people to be fed. And we need protection from natural disasters.

Of course we can pray for such things.

Whether we ought to pray for good weather so we can enjoy going fishing next weekend - well, it's not wrong but there are better things to pray for and is a bit selfish.


Quick story - when I was in elementary school our parents-and-children's group planned a "snow play day" at the park. And we lived in Louisiana. It does snow there - maybe a time or two every decade or so. I know I prayed fervently for snow that day, and I can imagine some of the other children probably did too. Guess what? It actually snowed! And these calendars were set at least 6 weeks in advance, and there was no great weather forecasting back then. Who knows but maybe God decided to indulge the prayers of a group of children.

Sam91 said:

A friend and I have opposite biews on this. Would be interested to hear others opinions.

Click to expand...

Parts of SW Florida had the wettest May on record. I did not pray for the rain to start or stop. If you go to the Sahara desert and pray for rain, you will have less success than if you go to the Amazon Basin to pray for rain. I remember reading Jesus was asleep in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when strong winds started to blow. His disciples woke him and told him the boat might sink. Jesus commanded the wind to stop and it stopped (Mark 4).

I suppose if a hurricane starts moving in this direction, I ought to pray to God for what I should do, otherwise listen to evacuation notices. I ought not think I could send it one way or the other. People bought gasoline, water, flashlight batteries and canned food as hurricanes approached. Gas stations ran out of gas and supermarkets ran out of bottled water.

Sam91 said:

A friend and I have opposite biews on this. Would be interested to hear others opinions.

Click to expand...

I would be more inclined to ask the Lord to help me to cope with the weather.

I would pray for good weather if it was relevant.
Why not?

Sam91 said:

Because other people might want rain for a garden or be sun sensitive and like cloudy days. But really it seems like an unnecessary thing to be asking for. It feels greedy. There are people struggling with many things and to ask for sunshine instead of praying for other things seems like a waste. I just do not think it is in God's will to ask for sunny summer days. Especially to get a suntan (I do not sunbathe, my friend likes a suntan). Her reasoning is that it is so people go out in their gardens, talk to people instead of being in the house watching tv. But really unless those people are going out and finding the Lord, to me it is pointless. Oh I sound judgy now but I do not see any value in it unless it will help us grow in Christ and I do not think it does.

Click to expand...

Well, I would not consider it a big deal if my children asked me for anything. I'd either say yes or no. The are hungry people in the world, but I would not be troubled if my child asked me for a bag of chips while we were in the store. The important thing is that my child can handle the yes or no and that my child is aware of what is going on it the world, but i would not frown upon the request. I'm their father, who else are they supposed to ask?

"11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Sam91 said:

A friend and I have opposite biews on this. Would be interested to hear others opinions.

Click to expand...

If Joshua can pray for the sun to stand still, surely we can pray for a little rain or shine? That said, our purpose in prayer should be God's will, not our own selfish desires. Although this said, children's requests are often selfish.

Joshua 10:12-14 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.

Well, the Bible says "All things are possible if you believe." Elijah prayed, and successfully, in regard to rain.

I think it is a very good thing to pray for mercy when we hear about things like hurricanes and tornadoes, for example. We are certainly never told NOT to pray about the weather, so what can it hurt - and I think it helps.

P.S. If I pray for it to not rain I add 'But please let it rain later wherever it is needed. However, in all things Your will be done."

It was when I came back to Texas and it was in a drought and on fire I leaned something . I saw people where praying for rain but not why it had stopped as in Scriptures, so my journey began in Drought of the Heart. The first prayer , bridge walk I did only 1 person showed up after an entire town was invited... Mind you the lake was drying up and things on fire. After me and this sweet older lady walked and prayed for Spiritual rain, God allowed it to rain 3 days. I was hooked an wanted the world to know WHo makes it rain and stops the rain and to remember Job 37:13He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

Sam91 said:

However, when posong the question I forhot that other places in the world deals with weather far less tame than ours. In the winter it is rarely less than a couple minus degrees C and rarely as high as 30°C. We don't have droughts, tornadoes or torrential rain/snow. So to pray about the weather in general in this country seems frivalous. Especially seeing as we are so blessed.

Click to expand...

You guys are an island in the Gulf Stream, right?

Sam91 said:

I think so! If I remember correctly from geography at school. There is a reason for our hospitable weather at this latitude.

Click to expand...

It probably jumps the gun to say that Laodicean lukewarmness is related...although Montesquieu did make a similar point...