why do christians pray if they believe god has a plan for everything?

Question

its never been quite clear to me why christians pray.. they believe that their god has a plan, decides all, and that they are powerless on this earth, at least in relation to their god.

so why do christians pray? if youre a christian, do you believe that you can change god's plan? and if so, doesn't that mean that god isn't as powerful, or at least that he doesn't have a plan set out?

i hope people don't take this as an attack on their religion.. i simply have always wondered this

i am not sure if anyone will check back upon this question, but i still, none the less, truly appreciate all of the answers i received.. i was extremely surprised to see all of the responses and stars i received.. i believe that i will continue to ask the questions i have about religion, as it seems that so many people are willing to, and are excited to, share their belief and knowledge of their faith with me and others.. i am extremely blown away by everything i have read from yall, and i, again, appreciate it

to me, it seems impossible to give a 'best answer' to any of the responses, but i will briefly comment upon what i have read..

from what i have read, i now know how strong of beliefs some people have.. and i envy that, because that amount faith in something is not in my life..

also, i now believe i understand that when many christians discuss faith, it is, itself, just that, and that, although many may feel god in their life, his plan is beyond their understanding thx

Answer 1

Believe it or not, you actually explained one of the Ten Big Ones, that Christianity changed for themselves. "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." It's "vanity" which makes a person think that they can "ask God what to do for them." They really think that they are "good enough" to expect God to change the "Big Plan," or perhaps a small part of it for THEM.

They didn't like that commandment, so they started telling everyone that it meant that you should never say "God Dam." That way they could "pray for you," as well, and if that doesn't work, they can gang up on you with one of their "prayer meetings," and downright overwhelm God with their vanity.

Also, saying "God Dam so and so," the person is really doing the same thing as praying, only they are being more straightforward with God. They are commanding God to damn something to hell, instead of just asking, or "praying for." God probably knows that it's really the same thing, because the person who is damning all creation to hell doesn't really expect it either.

Regards,

Chris

Answer 2

Many teachings in Christian preaching seems to contradict what the Old testament says about God being against the diviners, astrologers and horoscope readers but they contradict it by saying that God already has a plan laidout for every individual. What I know about his plan is like a an empty palace where He waits for people to fill it up. However, there are many roads in which to choose to reach the place and those roads are free for people to travel on. There are roads however that may lead you get lose along the way and you just have to search for another way to go the right one. All roads lead only to the palace. How you get there is you own choice. Your path is your journey, your destiny is to reach it whtether it takes you long or without hardhsips.

Answer 3

Apparently you and your friend don't understand (no disrespect intended). God does answer prayers but you must understand. Just because some little boy doesen't want his friend to die dosen't mean God's going to stop the whole plane from crashing. For one that would be intervening with many other lives which God tries to do little of and another thing is that crash could lead to something else (Maybe the world stops wars and world peace is obtained......I know stupid example but still...) God only fufills the prayers which are sincere and to the ones who really need help or want protection for the one's they love but he does it so that it dosen't have some big effect change on there life. It could lead to something but he will never just give someone money if they ask for it. Everything is not pre-destined. God knows the outcomes of the choices we make. It's up to us to choose our choices and hope they are the right ones.

Answer 4

i can only tell you what i know to be true in my walk with God. although the number one reason Christians pray is to develop a relationship with God. i think that's what makes Christianity so different from other religions; that God is personal, not just some distant judge waiting for you to fail so he can Zap you. rather he is a Friend,abounding with mercy and a love you cant find any were else.



by praying i cant Change Gods plans- nor do i want to. however by praying i can know what Gods plan is for me, his perfect plan. i pray to talk to God, i don't understand how life could be worth living without him. no i am not some holly roller on my high horse. i am a sin full human bound for destruction, except Gods gift. the gift of salvation, which the bible says is available for all who ask; but you have to ask. if i just set Back and never said a word to God, i would not be accepting his free gift and still be bound for destruction. i pray because i am not a good man and cant be without him.

so that's it. its true , i am totally dependent on the God who created me, and thats why i pray.

Answer 5

God does have an overall plan and it will be fulfilled simply because he will make it so. However, God also has a plan for each individual should they make the decision to take him up on his offer. Prayer is the connection Christians make with God to receive direction for their lives. This can range from asking that He guide them towards the plan that best suits his will to asking for guidance in making specific life altering decisons. God will not force anyone to do anything. Christianity is strickly voluntary as is obedience to his commands. But in life's decisions, there are very few things that are absolute black and white. It is at a time like this that prayer helps the Christian make good decisions. God wants us to be fulfilled and to have a life of abundant joy but only he knows where we need to be in order for that to happen. Prayer will often lead to God's intervention to turn us one way or another. I know this sounds crazy but I know from experience that it is very true. I hope this answers your question.

Answer 6

First of all, prayer is a means of communicating with God. There are lots of reasons why Christians pray (praying does not necessarily mean that we're asking for something. Hence, in order to have a working relationship with God, we Christians must constantly communicate with him and seek for God's providence. In relation to God's plan, there is no question that GOd has plans for our lives. But it doesn't mean that we don't have control of our lives (that's why God has given us a free will). We just need to ask for his guidance (in terms of prayer requests), thank him with all the blessings, and by faith, act in accordance to his Will (meaning, act and think like a Christian).

To know about the Gospel, you may visit: www.ucg.org or www.verticalthought.org.

Anyways, keep asking! You never know how God will make a way to answer your questions! :)

Answer 7

God wants us to pray not because he needs to be told what to do. It's because He wants to hear from us. What God seeks in our praying is our faith in Him and our compassion for others. God already cares for all of us. When I pray for someone I am telling God how much I care too. That is what He wants from me.

God will take care of those he loves even if nobody is praying for them, so why do it? To stay in communication with God. There is no better way of getting to know Him more than by praying.

As far as God's plan goes, maybe it's part of His plan that people should pray. Then when He answers, that was all part of the plan too.

Answer 8

I believe that God's plans will be carried out regardless but we can't have anything extra until we pray for it. The bible says ask and then you can receive. The point is you must ask first and then God will do all the extra things like miracles or whatever on top of the plans he already has. He is all powerful but he has given us the gift of free will to and he will not violate that gift unless we or someone asks.

Answer 9

The question is like asking, "If you are married, why do you have a relationship with your partner?" Prayer is our relationship with God. If you understand this truly, then you know that prayer is holy, spiritual intercourse (I dread to mention that here).

We are powerless in the sense that we have no power when compared to God's power, but God is All-Power, and if we have a correct, loving relationship with Him, we will listen to Him, and He will listen to us.

Prayer is not all about asking, it is about worshiping, loving, communicating, caring, even doing some business that needs to get done. It is our relationship with God, it is deep, and it is, or can be, very, very intimate.

I am a Christian and I do believe not that you can change God's ultimate plan. While we cannot change them, we can ask God to change His plans, and God may do it, but only to what He agrees with (for instance, our requests must be righteous and not interfere with His ultimate plan).

Some real examples are when Moses interceded for Israel again and again to keep them from being destroyed by God, and as you can see, Israel is still here, and still loved dearly by God. I do not know how or why you would consider listening to someone as a limitation on power, or that changing a plan would mean that another plan did not exist. God's ultimate Will and Plan will not change, but He does change plans because He allows for us to have choices in whether or not we want Him in our lives. In a sense this is like our everyday lives, we have an ultimate plan to do "x", but how we accomplish this might change during the course of day, nevertheless, "x" gets accomplished.

Nothing in God's Word suggests that all of our fates are immutable, set in stone, but at the same time, God knows everything that is going to happen, and it is all written down. That includes from before time, as well as now, as well as all of the future in complete detail. In this sense, history itself is set in stone...it is as if someone watched it all and wrote it all down.

Answer 10

Prayer isn't a thing where you just ask for things. It is communication with God where you can do many things. Some people pray for comfort, to give thanks and to praise God. Sometimes we do ask for things and you are right. We do think God has a plan... but you could think of it this way. We know God planned for us to ask for that certain thing in prayer so we wouldn't want to ruin God's plan. It is kinda like one of those old cartoons where the character thinks, "Hey that happened last time so to fool him i'm gonna go the other way!" but he gets hit in the head by a mouse with a bowling ball anyway (silly kitty).