a response to the why pray commenter. (see comment in Pet Peeves comments)....I understand the point you are trying to make, and I think there is some validity to it. Your thinking reveals a little bit of where you stand on the belief of predestination and the omniscience of God. But put those aside and look at the type of being we believe God is. God is relational and desires for us to talk to and spend time with Him. He's given us a choice to serve Him and ultimately by choosing to do that, we are responding to His grace, which we don't deserve. If you think of prayer as just asking for what you want, then yes, we are insulting who God is. Prayer is much more than a selfish wish list. It's taking time to be with the one who made us and loves us. As far as taking things into my own hands, how destructive would that be for me, especially considering that the author of my story is the only one who knows how it's supposed to play out. Yes, I truly believe that my life is in God's hands, but for me to just sit back and let things happen would be refusing to discover what God really wants out of my life. Without prayer and Scripture reading, how am I to discover what it is that God wants for my life?
That warm feeling that you talk about is focused on "me". If I am simply living for "me" then I will be sadly disappointed to find that my life falls short and I am never satisfied. This is a hard subject to converse back and forth on in a blog comment box, but I hope it sheds a little light on why I pray. Thanks KB for your comment. And thank you "Why Pray Commenter" for asking the questions that Christians don't ask themselves. I appreciate your words. (Some Scripture passages about prayer - Luke 18:1-8, Matthew 6:6, John 15:7, Philippians 4:6-7)
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2 comments:
Good answer. Not just a heady response but a heart response.
Great question and responses! In addition to the relational aspects of prayer, which I agree are so important, I believe that scripture reveals another "reason" for coming to God and even asking for things in prayer.
Essentially, God has given us authority on this earth for this time. But we must submit our kingdom to his ultimate Kingdom. By doing this and "filling the bowls" to overflowing with our prayers of intervention/intercession (see Revelation), we are resubmitting to Him and releasing more of his power and light into this world. It may sound strange, but essentially the asking itself is acknowledging his sovereignty. I mean, would you ask someone for something if they had no authority in the situation?
That is the very short version, but a point I just wanted to add...
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