Is prayer about getting what you want or?

Question

is it bringnig God's presence into the situation?

your thoughts?

Answer 1

both and many other things as well.
the bible says "you have not because you ask not."

if you can imagine a father that is the most loving, kind, and giving man in the world,
He does not compare with God.
prayer is sitting down and talking to him about anything and every thing that you have on your mind,
does it really matter if you don't get what you want?

not really, it is more about communication.
communication is not a one way conversation, it is and should be talking, and listening. the problem is we forget to do the listening part.
and when God say no, He says it in such a way that you totally agree with him that He is right. not in the I am God and you will do what I say, but in a voice that explains ever reason why He is saying no, with just that one word.
but what happens when He say yes, and in His voice He is telling you just how it is going to happen, and you aren't listening to His answer, you can miss it completely and think that He must have said no instead.
I will give you one of many examples,
a friend of mine was given a van, my wife and I had been talking about how we needed a larger vehicle, the 2 of us, and 5 dogs in our ford escort, was just a little crowded, 4 of them are Afghan hounds, the average size is 30 inches at the sholder, so when Chuck said that Joe had given him this van, and he was going to give it to his daughter and son in law, if they wanted it, I said a simple pray, Lord Nan and I could sure use that van, and then i listened, the Spirit said to me, tell Chuck if they don't want it to give it to you.
sound silly doesn't? but I said to chuck," if they don't want it you could always give it to me." we have been driving that van for over a years now. his kids didn't think they would afford to repair it. all it needed was brakes, and I put them on myself.
the parts were less than $50.

Answer 2

Prayer is asking for help, for the things that you can't do yourself, and or for others.

No you don't bring God's presence into a situation, God brings His presence into your situation, even if you didn't pray. It's when you do the right thing at the right time pleasing God that His presence intervenes, for whatever reason it may be, usually to let you know that you pleased Him.

Answer 3

Ok let me be the one who bares all. Prayer is both! Sure we want the presence of God in any and every situation but do we want His presence to make things better or safer for us??? Is there not a level of selfishness in that. Yes there is prayer for others and often people we don't know, but. some of that prayer is about getting what we want.
Intercessory prayer, praying in the Holy Ghost can be considered selfish to some degree. Yes we are praying mysteries to God but do we not have a benefit there.
There is nothing wrong with praying for what you want or wanting to be in the presence of God. I believe God wants us to want to be with Him and to receive of Him, but I think we need to examine our motives that we are not playing a gimme gimme my name is Jimmy game.
When my daughter was little she would come over and climb on my lap, she'd hug & kiss me and cuddle with me---was that selfish, was she getting something she wanted? Oh yeah she was, you bettcha! But I was too...that is what relationship is all about. We are not robots and God doesn't want us to be. We receive from Him and He receives from us.

Answer 4

I believe that prayer is bringing God's presence into the situation. God knows what is best in our lives, and sometimes that is not what we want.

Answer 5

Prayer is a complicated thing; to boil it down to its essential components, it is a discipline, a meditative practice, and a therapeutic mental and emotional tool. Why humans pray is too difficult to say in a few lines: it appears that people have an ingrained need for some form of prayer, although they may not call it such.

In short, prayer is the communicative function of the heart at its most basic level.

Answer 6

Think of a close family member or friend...how often do you talk with them? What would happen if you stopped talking with them, or if you only talked to them when you had an "agenda" to get something from them? What would your relationship be like--how do suppose they would respond?

Prayer is about relationship building with God. It is not the only way to do this, but it is one important means of doing so. It helps us to connect with Him spiritually, and for Him to help us become more attuned to His will for our lives.

God is NOT a genie, and prayers are not like wishing upon a star. You can ask God for something, but He is under no obligation to grant you your request--He is God, we are not--He is sovereign; He may say yes, He may no, or He may say "not now--be patient". Regardless of the answer, the point is that we come to God in prayer because we have the spiritual need and desire to do so--because He is our Father, and it is only natural that we should want to communicate with Him and build a relationship with Him. As Jesus says:

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" ~Matthew 6:33

Hope this helps!
In Christ,
Christine

Answer 7

It is about bringing Him into every situation. Seek Him first, and His righteousness. The more intimate we become with Him, the more we are able to pray according to His will. I have learned in times of trouble or sorrow to ask Him what I should be learning, because I know that as any good Father, He is not willing that I suffer needlessly. He is a Perfect Teacher, but sometimes I learn slowly.

Answer 8

Prayer is not about getting what you want.

"True Prayer" is about giving what you must!
Without the expectation of receiving!

This will accomplish "Miracles".
God is always in our presence. We just need to complete the connection!

Answer 9

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), hten at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not ot change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. "

Answer 10

NO prayer is not all about getting what you want god doesn't want you to only ask him for stuff that you want but he loves to hear your thankfulness of the things you all ready have with out asking for more he doesn't only want you to be a asker and not a giver he loves it when you pray to him he also love prays for other people like say please lord my vary good friend broke his leg and i really pray and ask that you would heal it i don't think he minds that as much i hope i helped