Isnt prayer a selfish act? Isnt it trying to bend God (Jehova) s will to your own?

Answer 1

Real prayer is not selfish and seeks to fulfill God's will, "Thy will be done,"

Prayer is the elevation of the mind and heart to God:
+ In praise of his glory
+ In petition for some desired good
+ In thanksgiving for a good received
+ In intercession for others before God

Through prayer the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church.

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." (St. John Damascene)

But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1)

He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

God answers to NO ONE!!! You cannot bend anything that has to do with God. If you even tried to LOOK at God, you would die faster than instantly! With that part out of the way, you don't TELL the Creator of the Universe and everything within it to GET you something and make it quick! He could turn you inside out so that all your bones sag off of your arteries, veins, tendons and ligaments while all 30 feet of your small intestine unraveled everywhere and so on and all He had to do was not even sniffle to make it happen. If you ask nicely enough, yeah you may get what you ask for but it also has to agree with His will. Will he give you money for a new bass amp for your car? Not likely at all. Will he answer your prayer about getting your family home safely through a blizzard, even to the point of being a miracle because it pretty much just defied the laws of physics? Yep, see that kind of stuff all the time. It says right in the Bible, you don't have because you don't ask. God COULD turn you inside out. But He loves you way to much to do so. He wants to give you gifts...start asking!

Answer 3

Prayer is an act of worship.
Although petitions are given to God on a regular basis every righteous man, and woman give praise and glory to God before anything else. The praying worshipper will also petition for the welfare of others before any personal wants are spoken of.
Prayer is and act of worship. Anything less than worship is not heard by God.

Answer 4

Prayer can both be a selfish and an unselfish act. It's selfish if you try to have God bend to your will. It doesn't work this way. But it becomes unselfish if you say to Him "Your will be done."

Selfishness is actually an attitude. It's perfectly possible to ask God what we want or need, or what we think should happen (as long as it is righteous,) but we mustn't force it on Him.

Answer 5

To answer Bryan above, yes, you would be. Your mother is only going to the store because you want her to go. She wouldn't be going otherwise so yeah, you're bending her to your will.

I'm really not trying to argue with you, Bryan. Just stating that upfront. And I still say yes, it is selfish of you to ask your mother to go to the store for you. It is selfless of her to go, and yes, she does it because she loves you. I just think your example isn't a good one for the point you're trying to make. Now the cancer one, no, that's an example of a prayer that is unselfish. But as I said before, I'd wager that most prayers are to benefit the one praying and not to benefit others. I base this opinion on 15 years of very active church experience as well as my past experience as a women's pastor. It's just my observation from what I've actually seen and heard.

Anyway, to answer the question...I know of a lot of people who pray for others and do not ask for anything for themselves (or at least they claim they do). But I would say that the majority of prayers are selfish ones.

Answer 6

It can either be a selfish or unselfish act. Selfish in the sense that you are propitiating God for material gain, so in a sense you do what you do to please Him so that He helps you. You scratch His back, He scratches yours. The other unselfish way is praying purely as a means of glorifying Him. That's hard to find nowadays, everyone does a little bit of selfish prayer.

Answer 7

I think you must be doing it wrong, and if you think you can bend God's will to your own, I think you are in for a rude awakening.
Prayer isn't just asking for something, it is conversation with God, and anyone who truly believes in God, can't be selfish, if they are true to what God stands for, ie unconditional love and compassion of your fellow beings.

Answer 8

When you ask your mother to get you some cough medicine at the store, because you have a cold, are you trying to bend your mother's will to your own in a selfish act?

Glitter Kitty - But is it in a selfish act, or is it because your mother loves you, and wants you to feel better becuase you are sick? God isn't going to do everything we tell him to do, but if we are praying for the right reasons, he may grant that to us. If I'm praying for my friend to get better because he has cancer, is that such a selfish act?

Answer 9

Prayer is not begging for physical profits, although God gives physical, intellectual and spiritual profits to all mankind even before they knew how to ask.
The believers pray for thousands of reasons and they thankfully accept His divine Will which nobody can bend with tears or with empty pledges. They pray for guidance, for advancement, for perseverance, for forgiveness, for serenity...for themselves and also for other people in this world as well as in other world. Prayer is not lazy begging, it is intense efforts to serve efficiently the ever-loving God and His creatures.

Answer 10

Prayer is communication with God. I spend the majority of time in prayer thanking God for who he is and what he has and is doing for those who accept him by faith. If all you are looking for is a wish list that is not prayer.

Be not deceived ,.God is not mocked For whatsoever a man soweth. That also shall he reap.

Answer 11

A human can perform a selfish act which he calls "prayer", but such a "prayer" is not heard by God. It is proper (and unselfish) to pray about anything which affects one's service to and relationship with Jehovah God.

(Psalm 119:145-146) I have called with my whole heart. Answer me, O Jehovah. Your regulations I will observe. I have called upon you. O save me! And I will keep your reminders.