Praying for what someone wants - period

"Whatsoever you ask in my will...: maybe??

 

Sounds like the "Word of Faith" doctrine.
I think C4K is right.

It sure seems to conflict with Jesus prayer, "..not my will, but Thine be done..".

 

This is a fascinating topic.

First, what prayer is not. It is not a method of pursuading God to do something he doesn't intend to do. Prayer is not for God's benefit. We do not need to inform him of what we want because he wouldn't know otherwise.

It is proper to ask God for something, "if it is his will."

But it is also proper to ask God for what you want, without the qualifier.

Remember Blind Bartemaeus? Jesus knew, in fact intended to give Bartemaeus his sight. But he made him ask for it. Bartemaeus asked, without qualification, for his sight.

Prayer is for us because it acknowledges our total dependence on God.

This is different from the WoF idea of commanding God to do something by simply speaking the words of a "prayer.'. It is asking God for something, knowing that God's will shall be done anyway, and knowing that God knows what is bst for us, even if it means he will say no.

 

Why ever ask for anything then? He already knows your problems and what you need. If God intends to do something about it, he will. If he doesn't, he won't.

Does prayer change God's will? If not, then do you think it makes him act on his own will? If you believe that something is already his will (which you must if you say "if it's your will" in a prayer), and he will act on his own will, then what exactly does asking for things while praying change?

On more serious manners, do people think they're reminding God of something? Like "hey, don't forget about my cancer". Would God be like "DUH, my bad, almost forgot".

I've thought about this alot. I hear alot of prayers that are heavy on the "please give me's" and light on the "thank you for's" and I can't help but wonder these things. Sometimes I think that surely God hears some of these prayers and thinks wow what a bunch of whiners. :laugh:

 

James 4:3 "Ye ask, and recieve not, because ye ask amiss..."

Sometimes our desires are not in line with God's will.

Rom. 8:28 and 29 say that all things work together to conform us to His image. God uses the good and the bad, even the consequences of our choices, to conform us to the image of Christ. Sometimes it's easy to loose sight of the big picture when all you feel is pain.

When the reason for the prayer request comes from pain caused by poor choices, I would rather pray that God would help the person to see their mistakes, to learn to walk in truth, and keep their focus on Him, rather than their circumstances. And that the lesson would be learned, so it doesn't have to be repeated. And if God chooses to answer their request the way they want Him to, to God be the glory!

I have prayed this in my own life many times!

 

This is a very important thing to note about prayer!

 

And Jesus when He taught them to pray "like this" He
said "....Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"

We are to pray for God's will to be done on earth.

No matter what we're asking God for, His will needs to be
driving it and we need to be seeking it.

 

I believe this thread stems from one on the prayer forum...

http://www.baptistboard.com/showpost.php?p=1044244&postcount=68

The issue there is for reconciliation between a divorced man and woman. You can read this thread to see the issue at hand...

 

Amen!

Correct. See above.

Prayer does not change God's perfect will, though it can change His revealed will, however that change in his revealed will would have been preordained in His perfect will.

Most definitely.

 

I think we would all agree that praying that God would save someone is something we should do.

So, if you're a Calvinist, what would you say in your prayer?

If you're a non-Calvinist, what would you say in your prayer?

 

Because God is our Father and He wants us to talk to Him?

I bake cookies for my grandchildren, but I still want them to ask before I give them some...

Children must ask their earthly father for things, but when the request is repeated over and over, it becomes whining and begging. We don't have to beg God for something that is His will.

We need to bring our desires in line with God's will. Then our petitions will be answered.

 

I have to agree with Sue.

It's great to ask God for our wants (I want to win Publisher's clearinghouse's $20,000,000 sweepstakes, btw). But after we've asked and asked and asked there comes a time when we have to accept that the answer to that prayer isn't going to come the way we want it to come. At that point, we have to ask that our wants be put in line with what God wants and that we'll recognize the answer when we see it.

Personally, I think such issues as these are part of the maturing process that Christians go through on the way to perfection.