Does it really do any good to pray - (serious question)?

Question

For years I have prayed for God to keep my mother healthy and happy in her old age, but in the past year she has become bedridden and doesn't even know who I am. Is it even worth the effort to pray? I have become disillusioned with it.

Most of you have made it seem like I am a very selfish person which I am not. My prayers do not consist of "requests".

Answer 1

If you think it's better to pray then do it, but if you're getting to a point that you think it may not help, perhaps change your prayer so that your mom will be comfortable and when she does pass it'll be a relief for not only her but her family. I understand it's never hard to see a parent leave, but at least she will not be suffering anymore.

Answer 2

Well, that's been a selfish prayer really and probably didn't work. Try just praying for "the best" for your mom, without telling the universe what you think that best will be. Then your energy that follows your thoughts will be used more effectively for the benefit of your mom.

Answer 3

Not everything you pray is going to happen. God knows what's best. He answers your prayers even though it may seem like he hadn't. It may be in a different way than you thought, though because his understanding is different than ours. Praying is simply talking to God. It's not just about requests. Praying can be more than just "give me what I ask." It could also be, "help me in this time of trouble;" "help me cope;" "help me understand;" "give me strength, encouragement, peace," etc. etc.

EDIT:

I wasn't trying to make it sound like you're selfish and I wasn't calling you that either. I was just simply letting you know that it's more than requests; just remember that; keep that in mind.

Answer 4

If your only purpose of praying is to get what you want - then you've missed the whole point of prayer.

Prayer isn't about aligning God's will with ours, it's about aligning our will with God's.

Remember Jesus praying in the Garden - for God to take away the bitter cup (the suffering he would go through), but he ended it with "not my will, but thine be done."

The good thing is - God is a lot smarter than we are. He knows what's best for us (even when it hurts) much better than we do - so in the end wanting things done His way, is always better for us than wanting things done our way.

Answer 5

Of course prayer does a great amount of good. If you allow it to. You forgot the most important part of the prayer..."but not my will but thy will be done".

God can use everything that happens to us. And we will be better for it...IF we allow God to bless us. If we don't. It won't matter what he does.

Try finding out WHY God didn't answer your prayer the way YOU wanted it to be answered. What did God want you to learn. Try asking God for what is Best for your Mother instead of what is best for your or what you think is best for her. IT is ok to say..."this is what I would like...but if you have another plan...I'm open to it."

Answer 6

Prayer is a ritual, and whatever usefulness it may possess benefits only the person doing the praying. So if praying helps you to compose your mind, or focus your energies by all means pray.

It is perhaps unrealistic to think that prayer has any other effect at all.

Answer 7

Prayer is a beautiful thing but it is vitally important that we seek the will of God, not just our own desires. For if we delight in the Lord, He is faithful to give us the true desires of our heart (for our greatest desire will be Him). I remember praying that my grandmother would get better and that God woul supernaturally heal her and take away her pain, I was a bit confused when she died, because I had placed my compleat and total faith in God that He would heal her. Looking back on it now I realize how faithful He is and how He beautiful answered my prayer. Because He took her home to be with Him, never to feel pain or weakness or sorrow again. Sometimes I get focused on the here and now, especially when I have the flu or get sick. It is easy to bemoan the failings of our earthly bodies and easy to get caught up in the pain either emotional or physical and forget that our ultimate destination is not a pleasureable vacation on a Florida beach, our ultimate destination is Heaven. Our Divine Bridegroom is preparing a beautiful home for us, we are simply the Bride who journeys through this life knowing our Prince is coming back to take us back with Him to our forever home. I know that it is painful sometimes to entrust our lives and the lives of our loved ones to God, but remember He loves you and your mother more than you or I can ever possibly comprehend. Keep praying!! Be real with God, David is a fine example of being compleatly honest before God, and he was called a man after Gods own heart even though he many times came unglued and told God all of his feelings... he even asked God to knock his enemies teeth out. God wants us to pray not because He doesn't know whats going on in our lives or hearts but because He knows that we need to unload all of our cares on someone bigger than us.

Answer 8

God always hears and answers our prayers, but since He knows the end and the beginning and He knows what's best in every situation, we need to accept HIS answer , not OURS. In other words, just because our will doesn't match His, doesn't mean He didn't hear & doesn't care.
We just have to trust Him to do what He knows is best.

Answer 9

Yes but our prayers have to be in harmony with God's will and live in harmony with his principles and you have to remember too that we will not all be spared from illness, pain and death as was not Job a very faithful man:
Job 1:1-There happened to be a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man proved to be blameless and upright, and fearing God and turning aside from bad.

Answer 10

YES!!! Just because you didn't get what you wanted doesn't mean He has left you. God never leaves you . People just tend to tune Him out. You should pray that His Will be done. It is all according to His plan. Stay with Him, He will lead you to the light.