God, according to the definition I’ve heard throughout most of my life, is omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (all present), and omniscient (all knowing). If this is the case then God knows the outcome of all situations at all times. So why do we pray?
Many people pray in a way that treats God like a sort of cosmic Santa Clause. They only do it when they want or need something. But they rarely, if ever, approach God in a truth seeking, communing way. For instance someone may see that their neighbor gets a new car and they start to notice their 5 year old automobile isn’t looking as pretty as it did five years, so they start to pray that they will get a new car. In this case they are attempting to use God for personal gain. So is this why we pray, simply to gain material possessions? I have a hard time seeing a God that fits our original definition as being someone’s cosmic sugar daddy (or sugar momma if you prefer).
What about people who pray for the sick to be healed? This seems like a more noble cause than the previously mentioned one. But if God already knows the outcome of all situations is there a point? God, by definition, knows when and where we will all die and death is something that is common to all of us. So even if the prayers are answered isn’t it really just delaying the inevitable? And if this is the case did things really change?
So why should we pray? Is possible that prayer doesn’t change God nor does it change the future. It also does not get us more objects so that we can keep up with the Jones’s. Maybe it’s possible that what prayer is changing, is us. Through honest prayer we feel a connection with the eternal. Then through that connection we can find comfort, enlightenment, wisdom, love, and so many of the other by-products that are discovered through a connection with the divine. And then, just maybe, these things will fill that need for new stuff so that we no longer want to pray to God for more material possessions. But instead we will pray because we are aware that the change that occurs is good.
4 comments:
I went through this very vein of thought once. I read C.S. Lewis' essay on prayer [I'll have to find the title] and he said some pretty good things.
I pray because the Bible tells me to, several places. Sometimes we receive not because we ask not. If we need financial provision but refuse to ask God's help, we may still flounder, even though He knows what we need before we need it. Effectively, our lack of prayer in this case tells God, "I don't need You to fix this - I got this myself". So we receive not.
I tend to agree with Mrs. V. I'm also not convinced God doesn't change things with God. In Moses day God wanted to kill the Israelites because they worshiped another God. Moses begged God not to and He didn't. Now maybe this was a test, but it reads like what Moses said changed the outcome. God does know the outcome but some how that doesn't affect my free will.
These responses have led me to question whether or not I communicated my ideas properly. I was not so much implying that prayer doesn't change things. But more so that prayer changes more than we think it will. If prayer is "answered" then that is perceived as one kind of change. If prayer is not "answered" then it is perceived that there is no "change". My argument was meant to say...in both instances we experience change because we are connecting with the divine. So when there is an "answer" you essentially get two types of change. When you get no "answer" you still get one kind of change.
Also I'm attempting to sum up a very deep and nuanced thing, prayer, in a few short paragraphs. So in no way is this an exhaustive record of my complete view on the purpose of prayer.
You pray because you doubt. Nothing wrong. Thats where it all starts...
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