Inappropriate prayers

[re:pit]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

 

[The Midge]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

Jesus taught that anything asked in his name would be given. However, this is not the prayer equivalent of a super market dash where you run round gabbing all you can. A name was far more significant in the ancient world than it is today in the Western culture. It had real meaning and represented the essence of the person. Therefore if you ask what Jesus would do it would be granted you as if Jesus personally commanded it.

Having said that we can pray about anything. Prayer becomes a dialogue or conversation. God wants to hear from us and discuss things that matter to us.

So you may say to God “I want more money”

God answers “Why?”

You may think that it will make you happy. God could point out that material things won’t make you happy. Or that there are better things to do with that money. God might want to show you things that really will make you happy.

There is a great benefit to getting away from seeing prayer as a shopping list. It is a time when we should listen. It is the means by which we grow and are healed. It is being relationship with the creator of the world. I believe that is what we are designed for.

 

[japhy]

I am reminded of a quote (translated from Swedish) by Dag Hammarskjold, who was the U. N. Secretary-General in the late 1950's. "Your cravings as a human animal do not become prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them."

 

[soap]

Jesus taught that anything asked in his name would be given. However, this is not the prayer equivalent of a super market dash where you run round gabbing all you can. A name was far more significant in the ancient world than it is today in the Western culture. It had real meaning and represented the essence of the person. Therefore if you ask what Jesus would do it would be granted you as if Jesus personally commanded it.

Having said that we can pray about anything. Prayer becomes a dialogue or conversation. God wants to hear from us and discuss things that matter to us.

So you may say to God “I want more money”

God answers “Why?”

You may think that it will make you happy. God could point out that material things won’t make you happy. Or that there are better things to do with that money. God might want to show you things that really will make you happy.

There is a great benefit to getting away from seeing prayer as a shopping list. It is a time when we should listen. It is the means by which we grow and are healed. It is being relationship with the creator of the world. I believe that is what we are designed for.

Amen, brother. It is all about relationship.

Pit, dDo you have a relationship with the Lord?

If you need money to buy food for yourself because you have none, it is ok to ask. Just get in there and start talking to Him, and listen, also. He's there to converse with you. This is how you will get to know Him better. Don't stand on pins and needles when you pray. Get to know Him.

Have some time alone with Him. If you have a Bible, begin reading it. This is one of the ways that you can learn to hear His voice.

 

[talitha]

Here is the scripture I thought of when I read the OP:

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (from James 4)

Jesus did say, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22). But he was speaking to disciples.

hmm......

blessings
tal

 

[cobweb]

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be ok to ask that your neighbor be vivisected because his dog pooped on your lawn.

 

[Adstar]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

Hi reit

2 things: God knows a persons reason, their attitude in praying for something. So if one searches themselves and asks themselves why they are praying for something and still feels that they are right to pray, Then pray.

Also Just because we want something and think we are justified in asking for it that does not mean God will grant it. God knows what we need better than we do and if it is His will for ones prayer not to be granted then it will not be. We must trust in God wisdom no matter what.

The most important thing about prayer is the knowledge that God is listening to our prayers even if we do not receive the response we desire. Prayer is a demonstration of trust and belief in God and is beneficial no matter if our prayer is granted or not.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[talitha]

Good post, Adstar. I think that what many people don't understand is that prayer is not about getting God to do things that we want Him to do. It's about relationship.

 

[dvd_holc]

Phil 4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

[ebia]

Prayer isn't just a question of asking, but also of listening for the answer. God doesn't mind us asking the stupid questions (Peter, James and John were all rather good at that) so long as we listen to the response. That's how we learn and grow.

 

[MikeMcK]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

Hi, pit.

There are some people in the church who believe that we can pray anything we like and if we attatch Jesus' name to it, it will be done.

This is based on a misinterpretation of John 14:14, but it's not an accurate reading of that verse.

"In My name" in this verse was never meant to be a mgic mantra by which our prayers must be granted, but is an admonition to pray in the will of God.

That is always the key to prayer: in the will of God. Whenever we pray, we are praying to seek God's will that it may be done, not our will.

 

[Lilly of the Valley]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

Yes...for someone to die...curses....and anything w/ wrong motives.

 

[Robinsegg]

Well, I'd say, no there's nothing you can't talk to God about. The reason being that God already knows what you've thought and felt. Asking him a question like the one you posed wouldn't be necessarily wrong, but would probably come back with a "no" for an answer.

God wants us to talk to Him. He wants us to listen to Him. Prayer is nothing more or less than a conversation between God and His children. Think what you might talk to your father about, or what you might talk to your children about. Nothing's really taboo, though God will help to correct any wrong attitudes in your life, if you let Him.

Rachel

 

[livetodie]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7

I think the more you know God, the deeper the relationship is, the more you will know what to ask for. When we become in tune with God our heart begins to desire the same thing for ourselves as He desires for us. The way we come to know Him more is by reading His word.

 

[WhoeverLovesGod01]

Well, i've heard that before you pray for others to change you should pray for a change to yourself.

 

[japhy]

C. S. Lewis is reported to have said that "prayer doesn't change God, prayer changes me". His point is that, so far as the will of God is concerned, we can't expect to pray for something contrary to His will and receive it. Rather, we should pray for the ability to change things ourselves (within His will) and for the ability to accept that which is not in our power to control. Prayer prepares us and prayer repairs us. (I made that part up just now, and I like it...)

The Lewis quote (which I have only found so far in the movie Shadowlands) is more or less another form of the Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom prayer:
God, grant me Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,Courage to change the things I can,And Wisdom to know the difference.

 

[LuvAslan]

Hello!

I have a question about praying to God.

Is there anything you should not pray about - like anything inappropriate? Are there things you should not ask God for?

I am not sure it is right to pray for selfish reasons - eg to pray for more money so you can go and buy things you do not need for yourself - would God approve of you praying for that? Does it matter if he approves of you asking - afterall, if he does not approve of what you ask he simply won't give it to you, right? Hope that makes sense .

we shouldn't ask God for Materialistic things.

 

[re:pit]

thank you all for your replies - they have helped muchly.

i have another question - maybe i should make a new thread (if no one replies here I will) - regarding God's will. God knows what is going to happen - he knows what you are thinking, what you will choose and do, everything that will happen. Is everything that happens God's will and part of God's plan?

If everything that happens is God's will anyway - I conclude that prayer will not make any difference to what will happen or outcomes of any situation. Example -praying for someone who is sick to get better will not change the fact that they are going to recover or not. But I can also see that prayer is a good way to get closer to God - thus it is not completely useless.

 

[japhy]

God knows what is going to happen - he knows what you are thinking, what you will choose and do, everything that will happen. Is everything that happens God's will and part of God's plan?

God has something in mind for each of us, but that doesn't stop us from using our free will to resist -- and even deny -- God's will. It took Moses quite a while to accept his commission from God, Jonah ran away from God's call, and David committed adultery (certainly not what God wanted in a king, a leader). We can choose to answer God when He calls to us (not just to Christianity, but to some specific vocation). I find Tolkien's The Silmarillion to be the best non-Scriptural source explaining what God's will is and how we move within it:

Mighty are the Ainur [angels], and mightiest among them is Melkor [Satan]; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar [God], those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.​

In other words, God has a will: the salvation of mankind. We can disrupt this however we please (such as the original Fall), but all evil in this world will inevitably produce a good greater than it could have imagined (such as the incarnation of God as man); and we can never stop God's will from reaching fruition. It took countless prophets (each one rejected and/or killed) before the world received its Savior -- perhaps it only needed one. Also see C. S. Lewis's space trilogy (specifically the second book, Perelandra) for more on that.

If everything that happens is God's will anyway - I conclude that prayer will not make any difference to what will happen or outcomes of any situation. Example -praying for someone who is sick to get better will not change the fact that they are going to recover or not. But I can also see that prayer is a good way to get closer to God - thus it is not completely useless.

God's will and our will rarely coincide. Our hearts desire evil from the very start (Genesis 8:21), so when we do good deeds it must be because of our (temporary!) acceptance of God's will; and notice that God's will is being carried out through us in our good deeds. I say that not everything that happens is God's will, but that God's will shall be achieved regardless.

Most people use prayer as an "opportunity" to talk to God and ask Him to do things; prayer is more than that. Prayer is a dialogue between you and God, and it takes more than two monologues to make a dialogue. Prayer requires patience and listening; speak to God, but let Him speak back, and listen when He does. I said earlier in the thread that prayer prepares us and repairs us. It helps us to accept a challenge and it helps us recover after failure.