Prayers of supplication- why?

[ArtStudent]

Hi! I am a Christian of 20+ yrs but have recently been thinking about prayer a lot more. Historically I have viewed prayer as a way of becoming more in tune with God and a way to become closer to Him.
I think all of us will often pray with requests such as healing, financial situations, family relationships amongst many other things.

My question though is that if God knows my innermost thoughts, then why do I pray for things like asking him to give my sick friend strength. God knows I want this so does me asking for it in prayer make a difference?

Are you kidding me? Have you read the way Jesus talks to people in the gospels?

I would presume,.if people were devout followers of e.g. Jesus and the bible, surely that's where all the "orders" are ment to be followed or used as guidelines ? As such I presume that's what @speakout could of been referring too.

and I'm puzzled if what's now taught in churches a lot different perspectives from the bible and Jesus teachings, then surely that's basically a new version of Christianity, that was inspired by Jesus. Because surely if it's god s teachings and wisdom passed through his followers, then surely in God's eyes that's his philosophy and as such humans that choose too should be following that original books philosophy.

which then for my next part, which as well intended or well meaning as it may be, if we don't follow God's original texts and philosophy as was originally intended, but instead we follow a new inspired by version of Christianity, then in the gods perspectives, because we don't follow his original perspectives, does that then make people heretics, for altering his meanings ?

Apologies op, @ArtStudent if I have side tracked, all the best with your perspectives and philosophical questions.

@Hawkins001 - I see God as unchanging in character but humankind/human civilisation as changing, growing, learning, forgetting. I think therefore that the relationship (between God and people) will change over time. My relationship with my daughter has changed in the few months since she has been born as she learns new skills and grows. But I have pretty much the same personality and character.

Fair points but id guess that God gave rules or guides to humans, and may not accept how we advanced and basically disregard, the beings perspectives.

But god is omniscient - he would know all the changes that were to come to mankind.
He could have given useful advice, like don't own slaves, don't be homophobic, but he didn't.
He gave shit advice- I mean look at the 10 commandments- what a waste of words.

The 10 commandments are pretty much the tenants by which most societies live. Take out the two about God and you have a basic moral code.

The rest of the list of laws in Leviticus are basic hygiene guidelines and others are designed to act as almost like meditation guides.

This somewhat proves Hawkins's point. The Bible was not written by us or for us and we in the 21st century have forgotten that and impose upon it our own ideals and interpretations. The stories and "rules" don't fit the mould we want them to fit. We 100% need to go and seek out and listen to experts on historical literature and ancient Hebrew and understand why these texts were written and what the authors wanted to convey.

(And FWIW, Jesus did tell people not to be homophobic. "Love others as you love yourself" about covers it, no?)

The first 4 commandments are about god, not 2.
What a waste - he is a petulant flouncer.

Some of the comments here are very funny, and there is a profound lack of understanding of who God is and isn't.

Prayer itself takes many forms. Prayer is an action of God within us as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. So there can be straight forward simple forms of prayer such as vocal prayer, the Our Father/Lord's Prayer, for example. Another would be communal prayer such as Mass and other liturgy. Then we have prayer of thanksgiving, of supplication (requests) and repentance.
But all of this ultimately should lead to a much deeper level of prayer which is contemplation, meditation and a (usually silent) union with God.
Prayer is how we communicate with God and build a relationship. Like all relationships if its superficial, something you dip into occasionally, it will always remain at a surface level.

As any relationship time needs to be spent. As Jesus himself would go and pray alone for long periods of time and when asked how to pray he said to go into your room alone and shut the door.
To build a relationship that transforms you in God's grace it needs be a priority and consistent. Exactly like any other relationship.
In this prayer time you can also use scripture as a way to mediate and bring you into the presence of God. Lectio Divina is one practice.

All our emotions and state of mind can be expressed in prayer. We can praise and find joy in God, we can also be sorrowful, angry, confused. Bringing everything deepens our prayer life.

If this is all mystifying and you have never experienced prayer like this you can spend time praying with nuns or monks whose full-time vocation is prayer. They can help lead you into God's presence in this way.

But all of us can pray like this. We need to ask constantly for God's grace and then rest in his presence and "wait on the Lord".

Although we may use gendered language, in Catholic theology God is pure spirit, is not a creature and is outside time and space. God is the great I Am.
Jesus was arrested for blasphemy because he used this exact language I Am, which was only ever used by God.

@ArtStudent I agree with the other thoughtful contributions you've received.

I'd add though, that time spent in prayer always changes me. If I pray for the needs of a friend, I often realise there's a way I can help them. It may be a token effort that shows I've thought of them, it may be something practical like a meal or at least the offer of one. Sometimes asking God to intercede draws my attention to ways I can assist.

@picklemewalnuts he does tend to do that doesn't he 😄😄

Doesn't he just!

The other thing I notice, is a sense of hope and positivity from prayers of intercession during Sunday worship. Knowing that around the world, 24 hours a day, Christians are praying for the needs of the world both draws my attention to situations that need prayer and comforts me that we are praying together.

I used to really struggle with leading intercession, afraid I'd do it wrong or wonder why I needed to spell it out as you originally said, OP. Now I know I'm just one little voice among thousands of others, it's ok!

@speakout I see you're a practicing Witch. Why is it you pounce on these threads? Is it just Christians you dislike or does it extend to other faiths? And I personally see nothing wrong with "You shall not murder".

Well this thread is about christianity isnt it.

If you need a book to tell you not to murder then that is a little alarming.

It is indeed about Christianity, my question was why do you have such an issue with it? Why do you suppose I need a book to tell me how to live?

I guess if people want to please their Christian god, then by following his commands they would presumably achieve that, however when humans deviate from God's word, as written in the bible, then they are not following God's orders, even if humans were becoming more advanced and ment well with the deviations.

@Hawkins001 What sort of deviations are you referring to?

For start why did humans split the bible into the new testament and old testament, surely if the original bible was God's word, then why did humans alter his words ? As does that not make it humans perspectives of what they want rather than following God's original values and perspectives ?

Trying to get the thread back on track (perhaps we need to ask for a safe space rather like the Black Mumsnetters space)

Because Christians are so oppressed. Please. 🙄 What nonsense!

@BlackbirdsSinging

We are not oppressed but it would be nice to have a space where the intricacies of prayer could be discussed by those who believe without having to defend our beliefs every 10 posts.

I wouldn't call it discrimination or oppression or persecution. Those are strong words to describe strong actions. I would call it annoying and disrespectful posters.

It's beyond irritating. I'm not sure why speak out and others feel so threatened.

They could start their own threads to ask their questions and pose their challenges. That would be a useful discussion. They prefer to derail everyone else's.

Most infuriatingly, what they accuse us of believing is nothing like what any Christian I know personally believes. So it's a total waste of time.

Surely the reason for the split between old and new is that one is before Jesus, and one is about Jesus. That's a bit like asking why we split history lessons into ancient and modern history.
Or pre and post war.

It’s an elaborate form of wishful thinking, which I expect everyone does.

If you are referring to Christianity as "wishful thinking" that has nothing to do with classical orthodox Christianity. People aren't willing to go to their deaths for wishful thinking. There are many Catholics and other Christians plus many of other faiths who are all in prison in China right now for refusing to deny their beliefs and world view.The Catholic Cardinal of Hong Kong was arrested in March and will be standing trail in September and none if that is due to wishful thinking.