What sort of things do you pray for?

thesinner

thesinner

Recovering AXoholic
So I'm at church yesterday. We're at the part of mass where we're praying aloud for various things within the community. (If you've never been to a catholic church, basically someone says something to pray for, and everyone follows with "Lord, hear our prayer). Anyhow, at the end of it, the father opens it up for anyone to shout out something to pray for. Some guy mentioned that we should pray for OSU to win the national championship. :jaw:


I mean, I don't know if I should be appauled for such an ignorant request or laugh at it. This got me thinking about what people actually do pray for.

It seems to be a common practice to ask for something when you pray, but I never really quite understood this concept. I mean, you're telling the omnipotent what to do. I mean, would you expect the janitor at some major corporation to walk up and tell the CEO how to run the company? Is telling God to do something anything different?

So before I ramble and overanalyze anymore, what sort of things do you pray about?
 
I pray for protection from injury and for opportunities to progress myself in some way. That and for my family and friends to remain safe and free from harm.
 
I usually pray for the strength to get through whatever it is that is happening at the time, and to know what the next right thing to do is.
 
I first give praise for my salvation. Then I pray that the Lords will be done and that somehow he can use me to bring honor and glory to Him. Then I go through all my prayer requests such as protection and good health for my family.

As far as the game goes, I don't think the Lord cares who wins or loses but if he get's glory out of the game somehow, (maybe good sportsmanship, commorodirie, testimony etc...)
 
Depends.. I tend to pray for the strength/help I need to improve upon and deal with whatever hardships I may be dealing with at the time.. Take now for example. I'm praying for wisdom to make eternally beneficial decisions and for help with my super-low levels of self-discipline when it comes to school. That isn't all though, prayer for me serves also as a time to tell God how great I think He is, and to mindfully recite/paraphrase the Lord's prayer.. I try to keep things concerning my own safety and such to a minimum. Not that I feel it's wrong or detrimental to pray for these things, I just don't see the point, God'll have me where He ordains, even if that means my safety is compromised.
 
Yeah, I usually pray for the health and safety of my family and loved ones but mostly to give thanks and praise.
 
Bionic said:
Yeah, I usually pray for the health and safety of my family and loved ones but mostly to give thanks and praise.
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Bingo.

I've always viewed prayer as a means to spend time between me and Him and reflect on all the Lord has done and will do

A few of the other members mentioned this but I'm just quoting yours.
 
I pray for me and my families health. If you don't have your health you don't have anything IMHO.
 
I think a lot of people don't understand the "Lord's Prayer" or what it means. It's actually not a prayer itself, but actually a guideline. "Lord, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." We first need to be thankful for our Savior, before anything else. That is number one; for what would our lives mean without Christ? We need to pray for the Lord's will, and not our own. The prayer continues and explains other things we should ask the Lord for...Perseverance, strength, FOOD (this includes Whey, WMS, flax oil, etc). I think a lot of people feel that prayer needs to be formal when that's not how God meant for it to be at all. He wants a personal relationship. To talk. That's what I do when I pray...I just talk.
 
Irish Cannon said:
I think a lot of people don't understand the "Lord's Prayer" or what it means. It's actually not a prayer itself, but actually a guideline. "Lord, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." We first need to be thankful for our Savior, before anything else. That is number one; for what would our lives mean without Christ? We need to pray for the Lord's will, and not our own. The prayer continues and explains other things we should ask the Lord for...Perseverance, strength, FOOD (this includes Whey, WMS, flax oil, etc). I think a lot of people feel that prayer needs to be formal when that's not how God meant for it to be at all. He wants a personal relationship. To talk. That's what I do when I pray...I just talk.
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Totally true, but that part made me laugh a little :)
 
I give thanks. I am guilty, and I am foregiven, praise be to God.
 
For OSU* to NEVER win another national title - and, in fact, to lose one via a penalty. :hammer:
 
Family is everything! If you think about it, Jesus was surrounded by his family... both on this earth and in heaven.

Plus if your going to pray for any team to win, it would be the Pittsburgh Steelers!!
 
A bit of my soul...
~ I pray for the safety and health for my family - my friends - for those who conspire against my family, friends and myself.
~ I say hello to my Father, god rest his soul. I give him an update on my life - sports - I tell him I love him - miss him.
~ I pray for the wicked that runs through my veins to be suppressed - for the rage in me to be calmed - for the self-hate to be loved and understood - for forgiveness.
~ I pray for you.
~ I give praise - I get a sense of peace in return.


I am not perfect. God knows this. If free-will did not exist, we would not exist. You are all my brothers - my sisters.

I do not freely open up, tonight is an exception. Give love to those who want to see you burn, in doing so, you set them free and in return, you are free.

Goodnight.

Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian. Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through the Son of God, Jesus our Lord.
 
Being agnostic I still pray. I pray for those that need help physically, mentally or otherwise to receive what they need. I rarely pray for myself as I feel I can handle most things that come my way.
Thinking about it, since I have been doing alot of 'asking' for a very important person in my life that has had nothing but a string of troubles in the last 6 months, I can break it down into a short list.

1. Strength
2. Patience
3. Opportunity
4. Love
 
I pray for my family's safety first and foremost. My fiance to cease her panic attacks and anxiety and other health problems. I then pray for our spiritual protection as well as physical. Then I pray for progress in my life and guidance as well as direction from the Lord.
 
Every night when i go to be i pray for the following...

(I am a catholic and me and trauma1 grew up in the church).

I first talk to Christ about my day and the good and the bad that happened, in my own words.

I then always say this "i thank you for all that you have done for me,and all you will do for me all throughout my life"

"please keep me humble Lord and not get carried away with the evil in the world."

"i pray to the Holy Spirit for the saftey of my loved ones,my mom,and dad,trauma1,my grandparents,and my uncle frank"

"i usually fall asleep while in prayer"

and, wake up feeling like a million dollars.......
 
TripDog said:
Every night when i go to be i pray for the following...

(I am a catholic and me and trauma1 grew up in the church).

I first talk to Christ about my day and the good and the bad that happened, in my own words.

I then always say this "i thank you for all that you have done for me,and all you will do for me all throughout my life"

"please keep me humble Lord and not get carried away with the evil in the world."

"i pray to the Holy Spirit for the saftey of my loved ones,my mom,and dad,trauma1,my grandparents,and my uncle frank"

"i usually fall asleep while in prayer"

and, wake up feeling like a million dollars.......
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trauma1 ur brother i'm guessing?
 
gotripped said:
trauma1 ur brother i'm guessing?
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Yea were a year apart and grew up best friends....it was really cool to have a brother so close to my age...we were officially a year and 13 day apart.
 
Dr Packenwood said:
Being agnostic I still pray. I pray for those that need help physically, mentally or otherwise to receive what they need. I rarely pray for myself as I feel I can handle most things that come my way.
Thinking about it, since I have been doing alot of 'asking' for a very important person in my life that has had nothing but a string of troubles in the last 6 months, I can break it down into a short list.

1. Strength
2. Patience
3. Opportunity
4. Love
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if youre an agnostic who are you praying to?
 
Sinner Gods word says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart" so its OK to ask for stuff.

its all about cultivating a relationship with Him.Jesus said "whatever you ask for in my name shall be granted to you by my Father in heaven" The stipulation is that you want His will for your life first and foremost.

I praise Him for making me into the man i today and that He is commited to "transforming me into the image of His son Jesus" My prayers have changed the Longer I follow Him. I know His will is better for me and those i come in contact with than mine could ever be.I want to bring Him glory,be a holy man "therefore be holy even as your father in heaven is holy" a godly husband and father and so on.

And on the game prayer.... I dont think he cares but its an immature prayer if it was serious,but if it wasnt serious Im sure He got a good laugh out of it (remember He has the best sense of humor in the universe" :D
 
Yup, they didnt NEED wine, Jesus turned water into wine because they desired it. Mmowry is very wise and speaks the truth
 
mmowry said:
Sinner Gods word says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart" so its OK to ask for stuff.

its all about cultivating a relationship with Him.Jesus said "whatever you ask for in my name shall be granted to you by my Father in heaven" The stipulation is that you want His will for your life first and foremost.

I praise Him for making me into the man i today and that He is commited to "transforming me into the image of His son Jesus" My prayers have changed the Longer I follow Him. I know His will is better for me and those i come in contact with than mine could ever be.I want to bring Him glory,be a holy man "therefore be holy even as your father in heaven is holy" a godly husband and father and so on.

And on the game prayer.... I dont think he cares but its an immature prayer if it was serious,but if it wasnt serious Im sure He got a good laugh out of it (remember He has the best sense of humor in the universe" :D
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God does have a great sense of humor.

Thanks for all your replies everyone. A lot of good points have come up. I feel a lot better about this whole situation now.
 
pray for? God to put someone in my life that i may help, and also to have the eyes and courage to see what His will is for me and the power to carry it out, no matter what i "think" is a good idea.....i don't have to get comfortable with His will nor does it need my approval...i just have to do it.
 
I'm listening. Another thing you should ask yourself is do YOU LISTEN TO HIM?

One thing I can tell you is that God does what HE WANTS with you and not what you THINK YOU WANT.

Looking at my past, I've learned that the greatest hardships I've ever faced have ultimately been the roots of my greatest successes. The sole reason I'm here, talking with you on AM is due to the fact that I was involved in a skiing trauma at age 17. I had been weight training pretty hard for a couple of years and that seemed to keep my bone density strong enough to prevent my left rib from going into my lung. This is what the doctors and nurses at the hospital told me. Had I not been in as good of athletic/physical condition, **** would have hit the fan. I never looked at weight training the same way again.
 
thesinner said:
I'm listening. Another thing you should ask yourself is do YOU LISTEN TO HIM?

One thing I can tell you is that God does what HE WANTS with you and not what you THINK YOU WANT.

Looking at my past, I've learned that the greatest hardships I've ever faced have ultimately been the roots of my greatest successes. The sole reason I'm here, talking with you on AM is due to the fact that I was involved in a skiing trauma at age 17. I had been weight training pretty hard for a couple of years and that seemed to keep my bone density strong enough to prevent my left rib from going into my lung. This is what the doctors and nurses at the hospital told me. Had I not been in as good of athletic/physical condition, **** would have hit the fan. I never looked at weight training the same way again.
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listen to God through meditation, quite the mind so that when the anwsers come you can hear them.......just the direction i was given.....for what it's worth
 
God answers all prayers. It just that alot of the time, the answer is "NO." Not that GOD is being mean or such. It's like when your little one asks you for too much candy or toys or whatever. It's not that you want to deprive your child but you know that it's not good for them. Same thing here.
Irish Cannon brought up something that I have a problem with. Namely, The LORD'S Prayer. There is a line in it that goes, "...and lead us not into temptation..." When has GOD ever lead anyone into temptation? Further, if it is HIS will to do so, who are we to ask him to not? I remember asking this question to one of the Jesuits that taught religion class at my HS. He got PISSED! Told me to shut up 3 times and sent me down to the Dean's office. Can you believe it?! Sadly, most of you probably can. At any rate, I don't blame GOD for the shortcommings of man nad stand strong in my faith.
 
Bionic said:
At any rate, I don't blame GOD for the shortcommings of man nad stand strong in my faith.
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There's a christian organization at most college campusses called CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ), which I used to go to during freshman and sophomore years. It's kind of a weekly praise and worship session with a speaker and a discussion at the beginning. Anyhow, there was a particular person who went there each week (I think his name was John). Although we've never said more than "hello" to each other, he's been a real inspiration to me.

John was completely blind and partly deaf (had to wear special hearing aides). He needed a seeing eye dog to move around. I can't even imagine the hardships he goes through on a daily basis. But when this kid was in "the presence of God", you could tell. By far the most enthusiastic praise & worshipper I've ever seen (and I've been to a pentacostle church before). Here's a person whose been delt a losing hand when it comes to hardships, and in spite of it all, he is probably the most grateful person at this meeting.

That always really spoke to me. I think we should blame God for our shortcomings, and be damn grateful for them. In a Catholic Church, before the Eucharist, the mass says "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the Word and I shall be healed."

I think the reason some might feel no one is listening is because they think they deserve something.
 
I first pray for the health and wellness of my family members.
I pray that i remain healthy and happy.
I always pray that the lord will help me be the best i can possibly be at whatever i attempt to do.

If something is going on in my life i may pray for help with that situation. Pretty much everything ive ever asked for has happened. It took me awhile to realize that god definatly isnt in a hurry and what i ask for shows up when i least expect it.
 
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