If God has a plan, why pray?

Question

Do you really think your puny little beg (prayer), will make the almighty, all powerful, all knowing God change his mind and accommodate your personal request? If its not part of God's plan... I can't see God changing that plan to accommodate any single human request.

So again I ask.... Why pray if God has a plan already?

Answer 1

God is all-knowing. He knows who we are and what we're capable of. He knows the circumstances around us. He knows what we want and what we need. And He knows His plan for our lives and how to best accomplish that plan. So why pray? Specifically, why pray with requests (supplication)? If He's going to do what He's going to do anyway, why even give input?



Read more: http://www.compellingtruth.org/Prayers-supplication-why-pray.html#ixzz2RPxxDRIO



http://www.gotquestions.org/why-pray.html

Answer 2

First off God is NOT all knowing and says so himself:



GOD: ""I, the Lord, will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know" (Gen. 18:21).



God is NOT all powerful!



GOD: "the Lord was with Judah; And he drove out the inhabitants of the mountains; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron" (Judges 1:19).



But God promises us he answers all prayers!



•(a) "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"--Matt. 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10;

•(b) "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you"--John 16:23;

•(c) "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive"Matt. 21:22.

Additional verses are: John 14:12-14, John 3:22, Mark 11:23-24, and James 5:15.



In order to counteract the patent inaccuracy of these premises, apologists seek modification through James 4:3 and 1 John 5:14. The former says, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask remiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." In other words, the reason the prayers of the sick, the old, the infirm, the afflicted, etc. have not been answered is because they were based on lust, greed and other selfish motives. It's hard to believe even hardened apologists really believe this. On the other hand, 1 John 5:14 ("...if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us") represents a more subtle ploy. Prayers are not answered because they do not comply with God's will. The problems with this explanation are: •(a) the earlier verses said nothing about God's will or the need to fulfill His desires, and

•(b) judging from many prayers which people feel were answered, one can't help but question God's morality. Praying, for example, that one's relative will die in order to inherit his wealth and having your wish materialize, does not speak well for God.

Answer 3

Prayer helps bring us into the process of perfection.... as our waters are stirred... God brings many things up from our deep! He also, plants seeds in the soils of those who have been tilled! There's more to this communion than is visible...



Part of God's plan is for us to have communion with Him.... prayer is a form of union.... sanctity, bonding, being faithful as we implore the needs that be. There's good answers above... many!

Answer 4

If you have read the Old Testament you will see many times where men prayed to God to change his judgement or punishment. He absolutely has a plan, a general and specific one. However it does not mean that we cannot pray for God to change our circumstances. For example maybe a woman who was saved prayed for a loved one who loathed Jesus and his teachings, and would try and trip him up in vain questions etc....That woman, however continued to pray that her loved one would come to love Jesus rather than to hate him. God may have heard that woman's prayer, and instead of choosing her loved one to carry out his plan, chose Judas instead, who he already knew to be hard-hearted toward the things of God, to betray Jesus. Through intercessory prayer to him through Christ...he allowed the woman's loved one to be released from the specific plan he had for him, to spare the woman grief at his future betrayal of her Saviour. However God's general plan was changed not one whit, in that one of Jesus' followers still betrayed him.



We also don't just ask for things like God is our genie, lol. We also pray to him if we have sinned as we should keep "short accounts" with him. We pray to thank him for blessings he already has given us etc...

Answer 5

I don't believe my prayers are going to be answered in the sense of the universe suddenly granting me personal favors. The god I believe in is not a traditional, monotheistic, interventionist god either, so there is that too.



I still do pray, though. And when I pray, it is for ME. I pray because praying makes ME feel more connected to the divine. It reminds me of what I really am, of what we ALL are, which is a part of the one consciousness. It makes me feel closer to that love, that light, that permeates everything.



So I don't pray because the divine needs it. I pray because *I* need it. :)

Answer 6

1 Thessalonians 5:17 states two simple yet powerful words: Pray incessantly. You raise a good question, just a reminder, God does not plan He purposes as noted in Isaiah 55:11. Whatever he says He's going to do is done, we as humans plan as we need a backup in case our "plan" fails.



One important reason why we should pray to Jehovah is that he invites us to do so. His Word encourages us: “Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6, 7) Surely we would not want to ignore such a kind provision made for us by the Supreme Ruler of the universe! Another reason to pray is that regularly praying to Jehovah is a way to strengthen our relationship with Him. True friends do not communicate only when they need something. Rather, good friends are interested in each other, and their friendship becomes stronger as they freely express their thoughts, concerns, and feelings. In some respects, the situation is similar when it comes to our relationship with Jehovah God. With the help of the Bible, you can learn much about what the Bible teaches regarding Jehovah, His personality, and His purposes. You can come to know him as a real person. Prayer gives you the opportunity to express your thoughts and innermost feelings to your heavenly Father. As you do, you draw closer to Him. The purpose of prayer is so that one can approach God and draw close to Him and become His friend as Abraham did, James 4:8, "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to YOU. Cleanse YOUR hands, YOU sinners, and purify YOUR hearts, YOU indecisive ones." Jesus showed us how to pray when he left us a model pray, you can find that in your Bible at Matthew 6:9-14, this prayer showed us things that we should pray, which are essential but we are free to talk to God about anything when we come to Him respectfully as a child with his father. We need prayer to help guide us and direct us. God doesn't force details and happenings in our everyday life, He has made us free moral agents, so we are products of our own decisions, however, when it comes to us praying to do His will and strength to do so and wisdom, we need this to have a meaningful and successful life, He assist us when we pray as this shows Him we want, respect and desire His direction, even when the answer is no, which leads to our protection as noted by Isaiah 48:17-18.



If you're interested in a free Bible study or would like to know more about the subject of prayer I have provided two valuable links below. I believe you will find the information beneficial.



http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/ (scroll down to the section regarding prayer)

https://www.jw.org/en/free-bible-study/ (<-- go here if you would a free home Bible study)



Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Just try to pray----just try---pretty hard right??? Now---just try to follow God's way(His "plan"). Even harder right. What is causing this difficulty???My flesh,desires,distractions...why?Because there is another god of whom I now speak...his name?....Satan... a fallen angel...inspiring people like you to say and do things like you are doing. No personal devil...ok...again I say...just try to pray 5 minutes....5 minutes is torture...and that is not even beginning to try to find let alone do God's plan for my lilfe.

So we pray to just to be able to stay focused on thinking about and finding out His plan. By the way, even if by the grace of God I find His plan...just try to do it..do His plan and the devils will come out of the woodwork to destroy you.

Answer 8

You pray because when you pray, you are expressing your feelings with God and you are asking God for forgiveness

Answer 9

You ask God to show you his plan through praying.

Answer 10

on the other hand God wants us to know that he does hear what we have to say. If your prayers a honest and in harmony with his will he will show you he heard you.

Answer 11

you pray for guidance, understanding, faith, hope, and endurance.

God has a different plan and his plan no matter how long it takes is always better but not necessary - RIGTHT NOW



THE BIBLE SAYS- GOD S WAY IS NOT OUR WAY; AND OUR WAY IS NOT GOD S WAY.

Answer 12

It's all part of the plan.

Answer 13

What god? There are dozens of them? What makes you think yours is real. The Bible you say? There are zillions and zillions of gods, and zillions of holy books.



You could write one by next week. Plenty of people have.

Answer 14

What you are missing is that GOD gave us all free-will.

His plan is not imposed, GOD does not control us.

GODs plan is the best possible outcome for us all.

We are not praying to change GODs mind, but ours.

Answer 15

Psssst:----He died on the cross (and other things like the whip) for US, little you & me.

Do you think that's nothing? Do you put that aside? Shame shame.

Answer 16

Prayer is not twisting the arm of God to get what we want.



We pray to align ourselves with His purposes. Prayer is for our benefit.



Your understanding of prayer appears to be backwards.

Answer 17

Exactly. They think they know better than their god when they pray to change his path!!!