r/TrueChristian • u/Best-Friend7982 • 7d ago
Why do you pray outside of gratitude?
Prayer as an act of worship, to glorify God and to thank God for who he is and for what he's done makes sense to me. Prayer requests make less sense. I've been told since Sunday School that God isn't a genie in a lamp but everybody's behaviour suggests otherwise.
I also believe in predetermination. So it's not that I see a problem with prayer, I'm just confused why people think it determines their outcome when God has your life already written so it was never in your power?? Nothing ever surprises God.
edit: thanks for the downvotes :) if you feel that its wrong to ask questions about the bible and to grow in your faith you might need to reevaluate your relationship with God
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u/Ebizah 7d ago
Omnition ≠ predestination.
God knows what will happen, but we also have free will to choose our decisions. We can ask of God things we want/need.
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u/Best-Friend7982 7d ago
predetermination not predestination
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u/Ebizah 7d ago
Right, so we can still ask of God for things. He knows what we will ask and what he will grant. But we aren’t robots. Just because he knows how it will play out doesn’t mean we don’t need to ask. It’s apart of our relationship. Talking, asking, being grateful, loving our father.
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u/Best-Friend7982 6d ago
"predeterminism is the philosophy that all events of history, past, present and future, have been already decided or are already known" - I personally believe this to be true considering our lives are already written before we're even born
I didn't say we were robots. so your opinion is we do it because its a duty of our relationship
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u/Zestyclose-Secret500 Christian 6d ago
God knows what all of my choices will be in the future, but I still will choose them (free will). Pre-known by God, but not chosen FOR me. He already knows the outcome of my choices and those of everyone else. But I don't know the future. So, I still pray for wisdom to make right choices, that God already knows I will make, or not make. I also pray for God to help others make right choices that affect me, which he already knows I will pray for and their outcomes. I pray for my basic needs, my daily bread. He already knows when he will grant my requests and when he won't, what I need and what I don't, what is good for me and what isn't.
I think... this is one of those concepts that hurts my puny human brain... but I think praying for these things helps us to learn to trust God. When we bring all things to him in prayer, then accept the outcome regardless of whether we understand, we are learning trust. That's how we develop the "peace of God" in Phillipians 4:7.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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u/CaughtTheirEyes_ 7d ago
Our pastor always says that prayer starts with acknowledging God and His work. So it starts like an act of worship like you said. Then you repent for your sins and afterwards you present your prayer requests. You present them, not because God is a genie in a lamp or because we change God’s way, but because the Bible encourages us to bring our burdens to the cross. It tells us to bring our worries to Him and that He will lift us up in due time(1 Peter 5:7).
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u/Best-Friend7982 7d ago
I really appreciate your response and just want to say so you think we're to ask purely out of obedience?
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u/CaughtTheirEyes_ 6d ago
Aww, thanks. Your post got me thinking actually.
I think we pray out of obedience too, but also because we need to vent. I think God understands that humans have a need to talk. It’s why Jesus encourages us to pray and to be in communion (believers coming together in church). So we also have a community of believers around us to help us on this journey, but He also wants us to have that relationship with Him. A relationship where we feel welcome to share our burdens and leave them with Him. God asks repeatedly to be included in our thoughts and reassures us to remain calm while submitting our requests.
I agree with you saying we don’t change God’s will though, but I do believe He wants us to humble ourselves in front of Him in prayer and to know we need Him before unveiling His will. So, He does answer our prayers to show His greatness to us and others.
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u/ducksinaspiral 7d ago
In Genesis 18, God said He would wipe out all of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham plead on behalf of any of the righteous people in the city, asking God that if there were any, that He'd spare the city. God agreed.
In Exodus 32, the Israelites made a golden calf to worship instead of worshipping God, and God told Moses that He would let His anger burn against them and wipe them out. Moses asked God to be merciful, and He agreed.
Multiple times in the New Testament, someone would ask Jesus to heal a sick person, and He would agree. (Sometimes touching the sick, sometimes following their family member to the sick person, or sometimes even instantly healing from afar!)
Outside of that, prayer is just any form of talking to God. It doesn't necessarily always have to be gratitude or asking for things! Sometimes, I just tell Him how I'm feeling, talk about my day, or vent my frustrations. Not because He doesn't know already, but because it's a way to grow closer to Him and you can't build a relationship without conversations.
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u/-TrustJesus- 7d ago edited 7d ago
How will you receive if you don't ask?
James 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
John 16:24 "Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."
Luke 11:13 "So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
King Hezekiah prayed for healing and God granted him fifteen more years of life.
The question is, would he have been healed if he didn't pray for healing?
2 Kings 20:3-6 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”