What to pray about?

Question

I sometimes pray for material things. I'll pray for a test to go okay, or a football game to go well. I feel upset if my prayers aren't answered, and I know that prayer should be used for others, and that I feel even more upset. Does anyone have tips on how to pray, what to pray about, etc.?

Answer 1

J - Jesus first. Praise Him for being your Saviour and for all the blessings He has given you.
O - Others second. Bring to Him the needs of other people you know.
Y - Yourself last. Bring to Him your requests.

By the time you get to your requests, you will find that your requests are not about what you want Him to do FOR you, but rather what you want Him to do THROUGH you. God bless you!!!

Lovingly,
Virginia

Answer 2

When I was younger, I prayed this way, and as I got older, I changed to more prayer for others. At times, if I am frustrated, I just tell Father God just how I feel. He is listening. I believe He always answers prayer. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and at other times it is wait. I have prayed for some things and gotten what I have asked for, and it wasn't God's best. So we need to be careful that way. He does things for a reason, many times we don't know right away, and later find out. Other times, we may never know why. I encourage you to keep praying. We are to pray by His will, which can be found in studying His word, the Bible.
I will pray for you. E mail me if you like.

†Prayer Warrior At Your Request†

Answer 3

You can pray about anything. Praying for a test to go okay or a football game to go well is fine. Your prayers are always answered. God always answers your prayers by saying either yes, no, or wait. If you ever think your prayers aren't being answered, God is just saying wait. Yes, you should pray for others, but don't get guilt if you don't. Praying is not something you can master, or learn how to do. It's just talking to God. Say what's in your heart.

Answer 4

it's ok to pray for material things, but you should understand that God does listen to your prayers, He may just not answer the way you want (God's ways are not our ways). There's not a limited amount of prayer time, so when ever you pray for something personal, include a prayer of gratitude or a prayer for those less fortunate. Start trying to focus on prayers that hone your mind toward Jesus, away from yourself. This is one reason contempletive, repetative prayer was developed. It helps discipline your prayer life. Try the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father) and also "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner". One last prayer...."Thy will be done". This will help rest your spirit when your disappointed about the results of any particular outcome. Good luck.

Answer 5

Cant really give you any tips. You can pray for anything really. And you have to understand that sometimes our prayers are not answered because we can't get what we always want. There are reasons as to why they dont. We may not see them at first but eventually we will. May be you should pray for praying hehe. I know its sounds funny, but the lord will surely answer that one :) in due time. Good luck!

Answer 6

Prayer doesn't have to be about any one specific thing. You don't even have to be asking God for something to be praying to him. Your prayer should include praise to Him. I talk to God all day long. Like He is one of my best friends. I thank Him when things go right. I got in a minor accident the other day. I thanked Him because it wasn't anything serious. You don't always have to ask God for something. Just talk to Him. It is ok to ask for things to happen a certain way. To avoid the disappointment of what you may think is an unanswered prayer try turning your focus on what His will is rather than what you want to happen. ex. instead of God please let my team win this game... try God please watch over us and help us to do the best we can. keep us safe and free from injury while playing.

Answer 7

What ever you pray for, and honestly i don't think there is anything wrong with asking for what you want, know that god helps those who help themselves and if a pray is not answered in the way you hope it to be then perhaps god has something better in mind and you'll have to wait to find out what that is. Every thing happens for a reason.

Answer 8

Okay sweetey -- I'm 49 and I have prayed all my life -- and yes, a lot of times for material things - like you. We are human beings. The problem is -- God doesn't always answer YES. But there is usually a reason for it -- you'ld be surprised. We go through turmoil and stuff and a lot of it is caused by other human beings....buit remember - what goes around comes around. Right now, I'm praying for a good job as I was laid off. But I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP because something is out there for me. And remember this -- sometimes HE puts us on our backs to make us look up. You'll be fine :)

Answer 9

It is all right to pray to God for material things. He wants you to pray about everything. He says to pray without ceasing, so your life should be a form of prayer, which is to say that the way you live is in response to God's phenomenal love for us.

When you do pray specifically, praise and thank God for your blessings, and pray for people who need prayer. If you pray for material things, leave the final decision up to God. If you had a child and the child asked you permission to put his hand in a flame, what would you say? God will say No if the thing would hurt us or others, and sometimes God says "wait". God ALWAYS answers prayer from a righteous person (someone who has accepted Jesus). If you find yourself getting upset, tell God that you know it's wrong for you to be upset, but you are having trouble with that, and ask Him to help you with it. If you don't want to pray about something but feel you should, tell God, "I don't want to pray about this. You will have to help me want to." I have found that works well.

As for tests, study when you should, and then pray that God will allow you to have a clear mind so that you can answer the questions. He won't let you pass a test you refused to prepare for. As far as football games are concerned, here's my own view. Five years from now, you won't remember how that game went. It may be important to you right now, but it's also important to the people supporting the other team. Football games are for enjoyment. The contest can arouse emotions and excitement. If, when you pray for a football game, your team always wins, what fun would it be? You'd know that your team is going to win. Praying for something that will happen at someone else's expense (and you know this to be the case), might not be God-pleasing.

Some people will pester God incessantly. He's fine with that. Some people, like me, will pray earnestly about something and then turn it over to God and trust that He will deal with it. So there's no "right" way to pray.

Pray for your country, for your leaders, and for our military personnel, who have volunteered to go into a dangerous place to protect us. Pray that the devil will not interfere with the outcome of an election, and that God will give us godly leaders who will make wise decisions. Pray for God to give you insight on the way things should go.

Praying to win the lottery isn't a good idea, in my opinion. Most people who win the lottery find that the money totally messes up their lives, costs them friendships (when they don't hand over money to others, or when your friends are more interested in your money than in you) and if you play the lottery, you are spending money for which you are unlikely to get any kind of return. If you win the lottery, you took a lot of other people's money. Gambling is a sin, and the lottery is gambling. God doesn't cooperate with prayers that will help us sin better.

One more thing: I have found that when God says "no", He has something better in mind, or He wants to teach us a lesson we will value in the future. This has happened to me many times. Also, sometimes God says "no" because He knows that in the future someone will come to you who needs help, and then you can say, "I've been through that!" It will give you insight and make that person receptive to what you have to say.

Study the Lord's Prayer. There are lessons in it. Martin Luther explained the parts of the Lord's Prayer in his Small Catechism, so you might find it helpful to read what he said about it.

I hope this helps.

Answer 10

You can technically pray anywhere, anytime, about anything. God wants us be voice (if not just be conscious of) our wishes.
While you can pray anywhere, whenever Jesus was asked how we should pray, he said we should go into a room and close the door. Likewise, Jesus himself would pray in seclusion. So, take some private time out to pray.
When I pray, I praise God for who he is. I ask for his will to be done. I ask for him to reveal more of himself to me. I ask him to search my heart for things that keep me from him. And I thank him.
That's not some checklist itinerary that I go through, just some things I normally pray about.
ps. sometimes it's alright to pray about material things. "Give us this day, our daily bread."

Answer 11

Erin, for me, prayer is a way of life. It is not about asking for things, it, for me, is conversing with God. This is usually a pouring out of my heart, to Him. I also understand, that when my prayers are not seemingly, being answered, it is a NO! You see, not all prayers are like wishes! We have to seek what is best in our lives, according to His laws. As Christians, and I am assuming you are, since we are discussing prayer, one of our primary goals is to be more Christlike. To do this, we must seek Him through our prayers, through HiS Word and in our lives.

In my case, when I pray, there is a peace which flows over me. I cannot describe this peace; however, my soul recognizes its Maker! Sometimes, tears come, out of nowhere and yet, I know that He is healing me! I want you to know, prayer is simply opening your hearts door and saying, come on in Lord, let's sit and talk!

I am praying for your prayer life and ask God, to nurture this life, in Him.