Why do we pray?

James 4:3 (KJV)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

 

Then "ask and you shall receive" is negated.

 

Are you arguing with Scripture?

 

No, I think it's impossible to argue with scripture. I present scenarios that can be difficult to explain for the practice in confronting them.

 

He will meet our needs, but not our desires. We who have our trust in God, will never go hungry. Sometimes we may have to settle for soup beans and cornbread(yummy!), or maybe a piece or two of bread. But we will never go hungry.

 

Difficult to escape the "praying God's will" issue, huh? :laugh:

 

Jesus Himself, God incarnate, had to pray and submit to the Will of His heavenly Father, so we would we be exempted by praying in the "Will of the Father?"

Not unless we are 'word of faith" folks , into heretical teachings, who would say that God Will is that we always be healthy wealthy and wise!
They say its the Will of God for us to experience all of that, so sin to even ask "if it be your Will!"

 

Is it God's will that everyone be saved?-- all 7 billion +/- in the world now. So pray that all will be saved by tonight, 10 p.m. EST. If you then find out anyone ain't saved, then why would that be?

 

Perhaps you have answered your own question...

I've always read that God elects those whom He choses to save.

 

because its in the ultimate sense fully in the Will and Plan/purposes of God, in that He will elected and chose out a people unto His own name?

 

Does prayer then really come down to just smalltalk with God? He has His will, and prayer wont' change it; we can ask for something and it won't be given unless He had already so decided, so the prayer didn't matter.

This example should be as valid as any:
"Hey, Lord, how's it goin? You know how it's goin' with me, so I don't need to tell ya. This is a rotten day you made for us, but we'll survive in it unless you've already decided we won't-- so we don't ask to. I'd sure like to see my friend, Clay's, cousin, healed of that cancer he reported today [this is a true report], but I leave that to you, and from my experience in the past you probably won't; so then there's sure nuthin I can do. Well, all this I say as if you needed to hear it from me-- but you don't-- but you said you wanted to. So here it is. Amen."