Do you think it's okay to pray for anything?

Question

Is it okay to pray for a sick loved one - or would you be asking God to change whatever plan he has for them?
Is it okay to pray for your football team to win?
How about praying to win the lottery? Is that too frivilous a request? Or is any request a good one?

ANY prayer? Wouldn't it be too frivilous if you prayed to God to make your breasts grow or your nose smaller or something like that?

Answer 1

It's okay to pray for anything. There may or may not be laws guiding the universe that will pay you badly for anything badly you wish upon another, or it may just be psychology that will fold upon anyone who wants bad, but nothing is too frivilous, because frivolity, while not "good" per se, is certainly not bad, or bad intentioned. Intention is the top priority.

Answer 2

You can pray for anything, that doesn't mean God will do what you ask. In the case of a sick loved one, I do believe God can intervene and will as long as the healing has a signifigance towards His ultimate plans. Praying for a football team to win is silly... what if the other team prays just as earnestly. The more appropiate prayer is that the members of a football team all play to the best of their potential. Praying to win the lottery, again if it is for selfish gain, God is more interested in things that will give you blessings. Making you rich makes it to easy for you not rely on Him. Like a parent, God will say no to some requests.

Answer 3

it's ok to pray for a sick loved one. the idea of prayer is to talk to god and to get things off your chest. what if god hasnt figured out the plan yet and this illness is a test? Prayer is attempting to communicate with God for the purpose of worshiping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one's thoughts and emotions.
You're not asking Him to change his plans!
What i usually pray for is good health and happiness for my family. I dont ask for lottery winnings and stuff like that. I'd rather have a healthy happy family than money anyway.

Answer 4

You can pray for, or about anything. The rub comes when you pray for something and by so doing "ask amiss". If you pray and ask not amiss then it will come to pass. The problem most have (myself included) is that their prayer is usually something like: Dear Lord, I want _____. Please give it to me, and give it to me NOW!
That kind of prayer rarely if ever works out the way the person wants it to. Another thing is that sometimes people think that God doesn't answer prayers, but sometimes the answer is No, or Not Yet, or even Either way is fine by Me, it's up to you to choose. Not all answers to prayer are Yes.

Answer 5

If you don't really believe in God, it will do you no harm to pray about anything you want to pray about. But if you think of prayer as being something like communication, you would want to make that communication "hearable" to the intended listener. In that way, what you ask God for is a reflection of your own ideas about God. For example, if you pray for healing, then you think of God as a source of healing, but if you only pray to win the Lotto, you tend to think of God as a source of luck.
In terms of actual spiritual energy, any prayer is roughly equivalent to speaking your intentions. A football team can be helped by the support of their fans and the positive attitude of loved ones can be beneficial to a sick person, but intention does nothing to influence the way lotto balls move in the machine. Spiritual intentions affect spiritual things, but only actual actions affect physical reality.
I've left one improperly-spelled word in this answer so you can know I didn't copy and paste.
Pray well.

Answer 6

Even though God has a plan, we are free to let him know we are selfish and want that person to stay here with us; however, we understand that whatever comes to pass will be ultimately to His Glory.

I've heard people, included my pastor, pray for football games; but I don't believe this is something I would bring to God.

The same with the lottery. Feel free to pray for it, but I'm sure God knows if He allowed us to win, we would be corrupted and move away from Him. So, it would be yet another unanswered prayer.

Generally speaking, we are free to ask The Father for anything through His Son's Name, Jesus.

Answer 7

Praying is equivalent to wishing, which doesn't make it
so, nor does it make anything better. If you feel the
need to believe, by all means, go with it, but it won't change
life. Sitting around with your hands together won't fix
a thing. But using those hands to actually make it
happen could. Ever prayed a house would build itself?

Wishing the lawn mowed won't work any more than
praying a football team will win. If the plays are right
and the players do as they plan, unless the opponents
have a better idea, they will win. It isn't an answered
prayer, but many allow themselves to believe such.

Answer 8

I think that you should pray for things that you really NEED in life . For example, someone needs a new job. Of course that person would pray, but what is the point of praying so you can win the lottery? Money is the root of all evil. Why do you need so much money? So, God wouldn't grant that prayer.

Answer 9

i'm atheist, yet i could anticipate a prayer like, case in point, prevailing the lottery does no longer be serviced completely simply by fact why could God answer a prayer of greed; a sin in the bible? There are greater non violent non-direct prayers that are morally greater desirable --does not it say someplace in the bible that God solutions all prayers, inspite of the undeniable fact that? So why no longer pray for something? yet do no longer assume the entire effect.

Answer 10

Of course it's OK to pray, for any reason. For a sick loved one, or for your favorite football team, or for a million dollars, or for a fun time in the sack. It doesn't matter.

Personally, I don't believe praying helps. But there is certainly nothing wrong with doing it if you believe. God probably won't strike you dead, I hope.