Ive been thinking about this a lot. Im not sure about praying at all. I mean I get told to pray and God will answer my prayers but if he doesn’t its Gods will…..but he’s still listening….. Or im told if I have enough faith, If I truly believe my prayers will be answered…. So Im thinking well wait… when I was in trouble and asked for Gods help …. And something bad happened …does that mean God was…well what…was it just Gods will that I just have to suffer... Or I didn’t ask hard enough or believe..…or was it that God heard but decided he wasn’t going to intervene or couldn’t intervene. So what was the point of praying because if its god will and so…well what is he going to be like…well I was going to let you suffer but since you asked for help then fine…I will.
And then I get angry when people say they will pray for me or I hear lots will pray for me …and I get frustrated because its like…well what are you all telling me – If I ask God and he says no then..Ok he says no but then maybe if you pray for me or ask…or lots pray for me…then maybe he’ll change his mind and be like..Ok well when Zoii asked I wasn’t going to but since all u lot asked….. Why does lots praying make a difference – If its gods will then not even one person asking will change it so why would two or three etc.
I know this sounds maybe disrespectful but im not meaning to be….
I don't think it's disrespectful at all. I think it's a difficult topic and it's right to ask questions.
My prayer life is far from good and I still have a lot to learn. One thing I have been trying to remember though is that prayer is not primarily about asking for, and "getting" things. We seem to have the idea that we pray for something and if we get it, then our prayers have been answered and God heard us. Personally I believe that God always answers prayer, it's just that sometimes the answer might be "not yet" or even "no". This is difficult for some Christians to understand and you may hear the teaching that God always wants to say "yes" and bless us; we just have to ask in the right way. But I don't see God as some celestial Father Christmas, nor is he a machine where you have to push buttons to get various items.
The other thing that I try to hold on to, though it isn't easy, is that we may not always see how our prayers are being answered. We pray for people to know Christ, and it seems as though they're not. But we may never know how many individuals are challenged, have a chance to hear the Gospel, are converted, go out on to the mission field etc etc just because someone has prayed.
When it comes to personal prayers for healing, that is more difficult. There are people who say that when you pray you should expect Jesus to heal - instantly. And if he doesn't, then you don't have enough faith. But that makes it all about the sufferer and having to DO things to earn God's favour and get him to listen. Some people are healed instantly when they pray; I don't know why that is, other than that's how God chooses to act in that situation. I had M.E for 18 years, went to many healing services, read books and had discussions, mostly on these forums, about healing. Yet one day someone said to me "God wants to heal you", and that was it! Did he "leave me ill" for 18 years to teach me things? I don't know - although that is what happened, and they were things I would not have learned without the illness. God's ways are not our ways, and his timing, though always right, is different than ours too.
In itself, though, prayer is simply coming to our heavenly Father and saying "I'm worried about this, I know you can solve/help with it, please will you do so?" It's talking to God, telling him what's on our minds/in our hearts, asking him to act, or bring strength and healing and trusting that he will do just that. Prayer also involves listening and thanking God for, or recording, his answers.
