There is an article on this link re prayer

Is prayer something we do to make ourselves feel good? Is prayer something we do to be and sound religious? Why do we pray?Do we really expect God to answer our prayers?By praying does it give us some feeling that we are in control?

For myself, prayer comes out of a very real and dynamic 2 way relationship with our Living God. Jesus himself said “Ask and you will recieve” But is prayer just to be used, when we want things?

Does God truly hear our prayers? I for one believe he hears them all.
Why is it that some seem to be answered and some don’t? Is it because we lack the ingredient of faith? Is it because we ask amiss? Perhaps it is because we give up praying, and who knows we may have recieved what we asked for if we percivered a little longer?
Is it right to ask for material things in todays world? Is it right to ask and expect healing today? Is it right to ask for and expect God to give us “Spiritual Gifts” Is it right for us to ask God for the salvation of our neighbours, friends, family etc.

What does it really mean to ask in Jesus name? Does it mean we say some words, and tag “in Jesus name” on the end of these words?

Or does praying in Jesus name come out of a real relationship with God, where we are constantly in a conversation with him, and listening to him?

How big is our God, do we pay lip service and say “Our God is capable of all things” but deep in our hearts have doubt and unbelief in what our God can truly do, and indeed is willing to do?

I Love the Scripture from Ephesians “To him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (think), according to his power that is at work within us”
In the light of our mission, Do we truly believe God is able to bring it about? or do you think that if God wants to bring it about, he is soveriegn let him do what he want’s - he doesn’t need nor want our prayer.

I for one love being in conversation with my Father in heaven, and one thing I love more than prayer is “Getting answers to prayer” but of course to get answers, we first must of prayed!

craig...Jesus said “I tell you the TRUTH (we need to take note when Jesus say’s this) If any one says to this mountain, be uprooted and cast into the sea, and doubts not in their heart, it shall be”

Craig,

Not sure I can provide my views all of your questions, but here are a few:

Is prayer something we do to make ourselves feel good? Is prayer something we do to be and sound religious?

I certainly hope not: vain repetitions and proud praying [vis-a-vis the Pharisee and Tax Collector] are certainly condemned.

Why do we pray?Do we really expect God to answer our prayers?

I don’t expect to roll out fleece like Gideon, but I believe our prayers are heard and I think we can expect them to be answered - bear in mind the answer may be No.  There is no point praying for a BMW if a Toyota will do just as fine.

I also think we need to be proactive: straddle the line between “God helps those who help themself” and “Live and let God”.  Be aware God may move in earthly ways, and we may have to do a bit of it too.  I’m reminded of a story:

“A man was on a ship that sunk.  He managed to tread water and keep alive, and a rowboat drew near.

God replies, “I sent you a rowboat and a liner!?!?  What more did you want?’

By praying does it give us some feeling that we are in control?

Not sure what you mean by that.  Praying makes me realise God is in control - and I come to him, a helpless creature, seeking his help and guidance.

What does it really mean to ask in Jesus name? Does it mean we say some words, and tag “in Jesus name” on the end of these words?

Or does praying in Jesus name come out of a real relationship with God, where we are constantly in a conversation with him, and listening to him?

That was one thing which annoyed me at prayer time at my old church - “In Jesus’ name” was tacked on every prayer as if it was some kind of magic incantation - a kind of magic formula that guaranteed an audience with God and woe-betide you if you left it off.

To me, praying in Jesus’ name means asking for things according to His will and His character.  Remembering that in OT and NT times, someone’s name summed up who they were; what they stood for; etc. [e.g. Abraham - Father of many; Israel - He struggles with God; Immanuel - God with Us] I read praying in Jesus’ name as praying for things we know are in accordance with His will and character. 

Praying for untold riches that will lead us to destruction is not in accordance with His will.  Praying for help for a friend in need is.

How big is our God, do we pay lip service and say “Our God is capable of all things” but deep in our hearts have doubt and unbelief in what our God can truly do, and indeed is willing to do?

Doubt is a tricky character.  As Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.” [NIV]

I don’t think Jesus wants us to be moving earth for the sake of it; if we have the faith, any problem - even one that to us seems as daunting and impenetrable as a mountain - can be surmounted and conquered.

I believe God knows the spirit in which our prayers are offered like incense before the Throne.  God knows our limitation and our doubts.  But I think we need to be sure - as sure as we can be - when we pray.  We must have some faith - why would we pray otherwise.

“Lord, I believe!  Help my unbelief!”

Interesting topic, Craig.  I look forward to others’ opinions.
Ian.

Ian, thanks for your reply. You certainly put some thought into your answers, and from them it is obvious you have thought and reflected on prayer.

Ian wrote

Quote:

By praying does it give us some feeling that we are in control? 

Not sure what you mean by that. Praying makes me realise God is in control - and I come to him, a helpless creature, seeking his help and guidance.

What I mean by this is, do we come to God with a big list of requests, say God I want this this and this, do this change this, with even perhaps not being self conscious of telling God what to do in an attitude of giving God orders.

(I mean this differently from intercession where the Spirit of God may cause us to boldly ask in faith or to command a situation to stop.)

Some time ago(when we first got married) my wife was cleaning the premises of a medium, and every Thursday night when she got home we would have a horrific arguement out of no where. This happened for many weeks. One day during this arguement, I was praying deeply inside for help and this Holy Spirit boldness came over me, and I said “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you evil arguementive spirit that has followed my wife home, be gone with you in Jesus name.”

The arguement stopped in midstride and we both said what was that over. I was a new Christian then of about 9 months, and over the next few weeks a prayed before my wife came home that any demon would stay there and not come into my household, and we never argued again when she came home, and a few weeks later I prayed that her eyes would be opened to the spiritual darkness she was working in and she came home saying that she had been very spooked while cleaning the conference room, and left soon after.

As someone who comes from more of a bells and whistles type of church atmosphere, (sorry if I’m wrong), what type of prayer suites you more in both public and personal prayer time?

As prayer is a topic that I am very interested in, and I believe something we can all grow in faith and learn how to pray more fruitfully and effectivly, I wonder if different prayers styles and church styles suite different personalities more so then others?

Another thing that has struck me is our silience regarding prayer, is it something that we don’t really like to talk about, is it a subject that needs more preaching teaching about, are we embarresed to say God answers my prayers or do we think of people who share of God answering there prayers as being prideful and arrogant?, and that a humble person would not share how od answers their prayers or the way we pray?

craig…

[quote author="Craig Bennett"]As someone who comes from more of a bells and whistles type of church atmosphere, (sorry if I’m wrong), what type of prayer suites you more in both public and personal prayer time?

As prayer is a topic that I am very interested in, and I believe something we can all grow in faith and learn how to pray more fruitfully and effectivly, I wonder if different prayers styles and church styles suite different personalities more so then others?

I think they do: some people love spontaneous prayer in church, where everyone can pray for whatever is on their mind; others prefer prayers from the Prayer Book which, I, find useful.

For me, private prayer is often via some liturgical source [at the moment I am going through an Orthodox Prayer Book I was given by an Orthodox church - especially the Compline and Midnight Prayer sections].  As well as what is written, one particular line may strike my attention and I shall pray further on that [e.g. there is a prayer to protect our armed forces; at this time I dwelled for a while on that].  As someone who finds praying difficult, discipling myself to read through “The Hours” services is useful and helpful.  I do pray ad-hoc (for want of a better term!) as well during the day, if something hits me.

In church I prefer prayers that have been composed before-hand: not necessarily from 1662; those the priest / pray-er may have written earlier are fine.  I am not too keen on “spontaneous” or “open” prayer times, as in my experience they have often degenerated into people saying something simply for the sake of it, or sentences punctuated with “God”, “just”, etc… every 5 words, e.g. “God, um, we just want to, um, we just want to pray, God,"…

My opinion.

[quote author="Craig Bennett"]
Another thing that has struck me is our silience regarding prayer, is it something that we don’t really like to talk about, is it a subject that needs more preaching teaching about, are we embarresed to say God answers my prayers or do we think of people who share of God answering there prayers as being prideful and arrogant?, and that a humble person would not share how od answers their prayers or the way we pray?
craig…

I think prayer is an important topic, and a great many people have told me they find it difficult to pray

I believe having close friends we can both confide in and ask them to pray for us is important.  Knowing we have people praying for us is a great strength in itself.

Perhaps people are embarrassed as they struggle with prayer, and how to determine what God wants?  A few close friends of mine have expressed this struggle, and I too identify with it.  In that case, more explanation and discussion of prayer within church would be useful.

I’m off-line for a month from today, so you probably shouldn’t expect any more answers from me for a while… ;-)

Ian.

is prayer rational

Some good thoughts are being shared in this thread. Thank you everyone.

“Rational” means “endowed with reason” and it is the opposite of speculative. Prayer is, therefore, perfectly rational provided we believe that it is a process of communication. I suspect that many people, mainly non-believers, but perhaps some Christians too, do not think of prayer in this way. They think of it as being akin to the proverbial finger-crossing, just an expression of wishing for the best, or hoping against all hope. That sort of “prayer” is nothing more than speculation.

As Christians, however, we believe that prayer is communication with the living God. It is a means by which we get in touch with His mind. As my forum name suggests I do not believe we can claim to be able to read God’s mind in the sense that we cannot claim to know specifically every thought that He has about the goings on of this world. We see dimly, walking by faith not by sight. But the teaching of the Bible and the testimony of the faithful over two millenia is that prayer brings us into closer touch with our Lord. Not just repeating words for their own sake, but thoughtful, persistent prayer, informed by scripture reading and meditation upon what has been revealed.

I hope, for instance, that the suggestions I made in another forum topic about praying in relation to the War reflect the outcome of meditating upon the character of God, the teachings of scripture and the facts of the situation as we know them. We do not know the details of why God has allowed this particular episode of human history to unfold. Praying as if we did know such things would be wrong. We do know that He is sovereign Lord, that He controls all things (as Bishop Piper has affirmed today) and that His purpose ultimately is found in the building of the body of Jesus Christ.  We can pray for the war with that context in mind. We do know that God loves the world and sent His Son to save all who believe, so we must pray that the outcome of the war will serve that purpose.

Prayer is, therefore, a very rational exercise. It is, of course, much more than that. The sort of prayer I am talking about involves our emotions, our minds and our spirits. It is an expression of the loving relationship we have with God. It involves our entire being, including all of our vulnerabilities and uncertainties. It involves us being entirely open with our Heavenly Father.

The thing that makes prayer seem irrational is that it is irrational for us sinful human beings to be able to have a loving relationship with God. The question really is, “is God’s grace rational?” I don’t really know how to answer that, but I do know that His grace is abundant and that I am abundantly glad for it!

Have a good holiday Ian. May God’s grace uphold and refresh you.