Are there things we should not pray for because they are out of our hands?

Praying without ceasing kind of tells me that I'm to just speak to God as often as I possibly can about anything. I find oftentimes I will just talk to Him not making a request but almost having a discussion. Talking things through, you know? Nothing is too hard for God and in those situations where I'm not going to get the answer I want, I can pray that God will grow me and sanctify me through the disappointment.

 

Ultimately .... it's ALL out of our hands - even on our best days.

A few weeks ago, I had two friends [who didn't know each other] who ironically were in the critical care unit - with the same deathly problem [infection in the brain] and whose rooms were right next to each other.

I went to visit the one and saw the other one's family in the room next door. I knew the second was in the hospital, but not with such a grave problem.

Anyway, there they both were - unresponsive, arms and legs retrained, on machines, and bordering on life and death, and families devastated and worried sick. I cried that morning before going to the hospital to see the one. I cried while praying for both of them in the hospital. And I cried when I got back home for them both.

Those two women's very lives were most definitely out of my hands. But I prayed and prayed and prayed.

Today, one is back at work - a "walking miracle" as we call her! Literally!

The other is in the ground. Dead and buried.

I can't imagine not praying during these past four weeks. My prayers weren't always the same and I didn't always know what to say to God, but we talked about it and I pleaded with him nonetheless. And I accept his will in both cases.

 

See, I don't want to live a good life. If a good life includes good cars, good houses and living disease free then 99% of the world's population does not have a good life. I don't want to live a good life - I want to live a life that is glorifying to God.

We CAN be specific in our prayers - to not do so is really kind of lying to God. We have desires, we have things that we need to cry out to God for and He knows that. When we realize what our prayers are specifically, we can see God either answering those prayers or changing us in a way that changes our prayers. My daughter was ill - seriously ill - and my prayer was very specific: heal her and bring God glory. That prayer was answered in a very big way so that even the doctors knew that it was God's hand that healed her. I prayed specifically when I wanted to homeschool and my husband refused. I prayed that God would either change my heart or his. He changed his and I'm currently in my 19th year of homeschooling. Praying specifically is important. God already knows our heart - why not actually communicate that heart with Him?

 

Hi, St.Francis -

I have to agree with annsni that praying for the "good life" isn't my prayer either - for myself or anyone else. Yes, you are right, God does know what we need. He also wants of to pray. We are commanded to pray and taught how to pray. We are taught to pray all by ourselves and with others corporately. And we are taught to pray specifically. All of this is in the bible.

Jesus prayed very specifically when he prayed - for himself and for others. I believe we are to emulate Christ in prayer. At the end of Luke 18, when the blind man cried out to Jesus to "have mercy" on him, Jesus knew the man was blind and needed a healing of this sight. But Jesus asked the man, "what exactly do you want me to do?" And the man cried out, "give me my sight". And Jesus did.

Also, in Luke 18 (at the beginning), Jesus tells a parable about not only specific prayer, but persistent prayer on specific things. In the parable, a widow woman was being harassed by someone and she wanted a local judge to give her justice in this situation. She kept on and on and on until he honored her very specific request. Jesus said that prayer is like this.

He didn't want his disciples - or us today - to give up in prayer when we have a specific burden. And in Luke 11, after he gives us the model prayer with individual aspects of what our prayers should consist of, he gives another parable on persistent and specific prayer.

The parable was that a man comes to your house at night asking very specifically for three loaves of bread. You say "no, my family is all in bed asleep". But the guy won't stop knocking on your door until you get up and give him him the three loaves of bread. Jesus goes on to say that prayer is like that - "ask, seek, knock....." and keep on doing so.

Sometimes we don't know what to pray for. The bible says that the Holy Spirit petitions God on our behalf. And sometimes we don't know what others need - so we can pray generically on occasion. When I pray for missionaries, unless I know them personally, I pray - "Keep your missionaries across the world safe and fruitful today. Soften the hearts of the people they will encounter today."

And for Pastor Saeed Abedini who has been in prison in Iran since 2012 and has suffered, I pray very specifically. I pray for him to be delivered from abuse and torment. I pray for him to find favor with his captors and that they will have softened hearts and will listen to him. I pray for his release and that when he is released that God receive great glory from it. And I pray for his family here in the United States that they be given peace of mind and comfort in knowing that God is in control.

And finally, my prayers for myself and my family are specific. When I pray for forgiveness, I cite the wrongs I did. I know what triggers the tension between my mother and myself and I pray - mostly for me (I'm prone to a smart mouth) - when I know those triggers are coming up that God will deliver me from acting on those specific things.

I know that sometimes when we don't know details - we have to pray generically. But most of the time, we do know at least some details about ourselves and others. Christ prayed specifically - MANY times - and we should pray like he did.