serious question about prayer?

Question

last night a family member had a life threatening situation occur.(she had brain surgury in the night and is hanging on)
i am really struggeling because my mom keeps telling me to PRAY! "you have to pray...its all we can do!" so, ive instructed my kids to pray for her, but i am so numb...because i dont know how prayer works anymore.its seems like we are just begging god to change his mind, or, if we get enough people to sign the petition( praying) that maybe we can have an effect.or...we could pray that god's will be done. does praying that give god the permission he was looking for to make a decision?
i just dont get it. i wish i had faith like a child, but, i dont.

if you respond, please be nice. thanks.

thanks you for your input. you really are helping me sort through this a bit better.i appreciate your kindness.

Answer 1

I think that is where the need for us to have a relationship with God comes in. He isnt our 'magic jenie' who just gives us everything we want.... we have to know Him and come to Him in good times and bad, and we have to trust that He will do what is best, even tho we don't know what that 'best' is.

God wants intimate relationships with us, He wants to know our hearts by us telling Him, even tho He already knows our needs.

There is power in prayer, i have seen it change many things for good!

Answer 2

Hi.
i hope that all is well with your family member.

dali, to be able to pray you have to have a relationship with God. otherwise it would be like asking someone else's father to do something for you.

God already knows the outcome, but He is a God of mercy. it isn't that He prevents bad things from happening, but He will be beside us when they do.

the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.(james 5:16) in other words prayer can and does change things, but the person praying has to be a Christian.

your faith may not be that of a child, but if you have just a tad...just a tiny little bit of faith start praying. tell God all about everything. tell Him about how hard this is and how difficult it is to pray and ask Him to give you the faith of a little child. He is righteous and just and He wants you to call on Him.

you can do it right now - wherever you are, whatever the situation may be. simply start talking like you would to an old friend.

please keep us updated on your family member.

Answer 3

The power of prayer comes from faith and we pray with expectancy. The spoken word has the power to do many things in the spiritual realm. The Bible states it is like a 2 edged sword. The word of God is described as a sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus when he returns. I say all that to simply give you hope in prayer. Without hope what do we have.

Answer 4

if its their time to leave this earth, then its their time and there's nothing you can do about whether they live or die.

"we've tried to pray more saints out of heaven than we have sinners out of hell"
-unknown

don't pray necessarily that they will live but God do his will and to help you see why it happened. Pray that your family will stick together and endure through this.

why do you want to pray for them to live? cause you will miss them of course. but, do you think you have the right to try and deprive them of heaven. would you rather stay here and suffer or go to heaven?

Im not saying the person should die, but God's will is above all and even if we don't understand why something happens, it turns our for the best. maybe they will have an incredible recovery. maybe God is not through with them. I don't know and I guess you don't either. But God knows and who are we to question him?

it may be a year from now, or even until you see them again, that you understand why this happened when it did. but, trust in God and it will turn out for the best.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

btw, the word good doesn't mean happiness, it means holiness.

Answer 5

First, I am sorry to hear about your family member.

If you read the Bible, as soon as the very first chapter of it, you will see that God has given some of the responsibility of what happens on the earth to man. (See Genesis 1:28-30 where he tells man to have "dominion" or control over the earth). Even Jesus taught us that we have to pray for God's kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So as Christians, we have some say in whether God is permitted to move in stiuations or not. It is all tied into the "free will" issue. God works for us only if we want him to do it. So when we pray, we are giving him permission to act in that situation. That way his actions do not violate our "free will".

Whenever we pray, God always answers. Just that sometimes we forget that "no" is an answer also. Unlike us, God can see the entire future, and knows that best way to answer our request. Sometimes it is with healing in this life, and sometimes with healing in the next life. Prayer not only gives God permission to act, but should also prepare our hearts to hear his answer. I often think prayer is more for your benefit then his. We need to acknowledge his presence, to give ourselves to him, to state our permission fo his to move, and to learn his will and plan in the situation. We do that through prayer.

Can prayer change the mind of God? It did in more that one Bible situation. I think of a king that Isaiah told was going to die. That king turned his face to the wall and refused to stop praying until God agreed to heal him. Isaiah soon found himself back before the king telling him that God had decided to grant him several more years of life. So we can go to God and ask for the life of another.

I will remember you today in my prayers, that God give you strength and comfort for whatever lies ahead. As Jesus told Peter, I will also pray "that your faith fail not".

Answer 6

Meditate and search for the light within you think of nothing say nothing for even before you open your mouth God knows what you are to say simply focus your mind on God's merciful qualities and that will be more powerful than praying and making your mind wonder aimlessly.wait till you hear the sound of the Holy Spirit that will give you the power.

Answer 7

God is sovereign - this suggests he already is familiar with if and while and what's going to take place on your brother's maximum cancers. the quantity of prayers, or if all and sundry prays on your brother in any respect won't substitute what God's will is. Prayer is robust at each time, yet God's will or plan isn't contigent on any works with the aid of his creations.

Answer 8

I always pray his will be done. If its God's will for her to make it she will. I also pray that God will help the family as well. I am sure this is hard on them.

Answer 9

We all need to remember that prayer does not change God's will. God will always do what He wills to do. We are only told to pray, and we leave the out come to HIM!!!

Answer 10

Faith is not something that just happens, like anything else it has to grow. Anything that you really believe in you believe in because you understand it. If you don't understand faith, it's because you have not taken the time to.

Prayer is something that God listens to always. It doesn't matter how high or low your faith is in him. You are his child. Like a true father he listens to his children, from the simplest request to the loudest whine. He hears them all and answers them in his time, not ours. But he always answers them. Sometimes we just don't want to accept his answer.

Pray for your family member with your heart and not your mind and it's amazing what can happen.

Answer 11

Prayer is the key that unlocks the door to God. And God changed His mind many time in the Bible.