AngelOnLine Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? When we pray we aren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Prayer is all about communicating with God. It doesn't matter what God knows or doesn't know. It matters that we develop a personal relationship with God by talking to Him in intimate conversations and being in His presence looking to receive answers. Genuine communication. I pray to God in order to acknowledge His presence and my relationship to Him. I pray to God in order to cooperate with Him in Kingdom building. I pray to God for confession of sin. I pray to God to worship and praise Him. I pray to God for advice and counsel and direction. I expect an answer. I pray to God for others. Expecting God to answer my prayers. I pray to God in thanksgiving for all the things in life. I pray to God because I love Him and understand that He is Almighty God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. It doesn't matter what God knows. It matters that I have a relationship with Him and that He knows me. When it comes to praying and who I consider to be models in my prayer life, I don't give a lot of weight to theologians like Calvin and Luther, but to people like Abraham, Moses, David, Hagar, Jesus, Paul, Mary, etc. How they prayed and how God answered their prayers. They are the real deal. In fact they prayed and followed the leadership of God before "ism's" were set forth by latter day theologians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
servant for Christ Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 We should ask God anyway because He wants us to go to Him with everything. He wants us to ask Him concerning our needs. Prayer make's sense because it is a way of fellowshiping with God. We can pour out our heart to Him and He will listen. No, we are not to talk of our own edification and encouragement , but for others. We are not to thing about ourselves. We are also to give God praise and glory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? We should still pray because prayer is about fellowship with our Lord. In order for us to develop as mature Christians, we need to spend more time in the presence of the Lord and speak to Him, getting things off our chest, telling Him about our worries and hurts and thanking Him because He has listened to us. We should also hear His voice as well. That is true two way conversation. We do talk for our own edification and encouragement because we hear our words, we can quote God's word to Him and we feel stronger in Him because we know that what we said, (our burdens, etc), has been left at the cross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Prayer is communicating with God and when we pray we exercise our faith. We ask Jesus in prayer because He told us to do so. Prayer is for our personal edification and encouragement, as the Holy Spirit intercedes with us. Because He told us to pray in His name we do so in obedience, expecting that He will honor His word and grant us the request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephibesheth Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? When we pray in the spirit, the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of God helps us in our weakness by praying both with us and instead of us. When the Holy Spirit prays, it is the same as God praying to God. Because God does all that pleases Him, we can be assured that God will give what the Holy Spirit asks for. Therefore, praying in the spirit is the same as finding out what God will make happen in the future. Because God's plans for us and His other children are always good plans toward peace, welfare, and hope for our future, it can be very encouraging to know what the future holds from the one who controls it. For this reason, we should pray always and always pray in spirit and truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephibesheth Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? When we pray in the spirit, the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of God helps us in our weakness by praying both with us and instead of us. When the Holy Spirit prays, it is the same as God praying to God. Because God does all that pleases Him, we can be assured that God will give what the Holy Spirit asks for. Therefore, praying in the spirit is the same as finding out what God will make happen in the future. Because God's plans for us and His other children are always good plans toward peace, welfare, and hope for our future, it can be very encouraging to know what the future holds from the One who controls it. For this reason, we should pray always and always pray in spirit and truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iam4-1god Posted May 15, 2008 Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? God desires our attention. He wants to be part of our lives. When we pray, we are not only talking to Him, we also acknowledge the fact that we believe He is who He says He is, and that He is willing and able to help us. And when we don't ask Him for help or confide in Him, we are just letting Him know that we don't want or need His help, which simply is not true! We can, in and of ourselves, do nothing. We just mess it up! But, with God, all things are possible! We can do all things through Jesus-excuxe me-I gotta go shout! Bye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewell Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Our prayers are not just requests to God - they are also for giving thanks and praising Him. It is communication with our maker that helps us build a stronger relationship with him. You can't build a relationship without talking. But that's the easy part.....listening (the other side of the conversation) has to take place also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meandean Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not?well he is not gonna twist our arms so we will come back. he doesnt use intimidation to get our attention. he draws us with his love and his kindness. and even though he knows all about our needs and wants, and secret sins, he is willing to wait on us to talk about them. i believe at first prayer is for our own encouragement and edification, for we dont really know if we can actually trust him. and once we find that we can, we open up more and more, by bringing all things and all people around us to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
servant for Christ Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? God wants us to talk to Him. He wants us to ask Him for what we need. Prayer is a way of communication between us and God. When we go dto Him with a sincere heart, he hears our prayers and will answer. Prayer makes sense because we are pouring our hearts out to God, talking to Him. No, I don't think is is for our edification and encouragment. Although God will encourage us, it is for him to communicate with us so we can edify and glorify Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindap Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Our prayers are communicating with God. although he may answer in unexpected ways we must always ask. Prayer is how we connect with God on a personal level. The Lord loves us and wants to have a relationship with us and prayer is how God wants us to fulfill this relationship with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Q4. (Matthew 6:8 If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? By praying we acknowledge our need and dependence on Him. It is through prayer that we can communicate with God. Also God does things in answer to prayer that He would not have done otherwise: James 4:2 - You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. We must also realize that God is totally aware of our needs and it is therefore not necessary to explain in the minutes detail what our situation is. We are not to babble on and on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr4624 Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Because God wants us to be in a love relationship with Him. The most important part of a healthy relationship is effective communication. It is being able to talk freely to one another, to tell each other how we really feel. It makes sense because in order to strengthen, to deepen any relationship, we need to spend time alone with the other person, talking and listening--paying attention--only to them. No, we are not praying only for ourselves. Prayer is how we communicate with God. When we communicate with any person with whom we are in a relationship, the communication is two-way. We sometimes forget to think of God as a person in that way. Prayer is not just us talking to God, it is also God talking to us. We need to remember that, and remember to listen more than we talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithj7 Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? I had to chuckle when I read this question. I had never thought about God knowing what we needed before we asked, so why pray? But prayer is more than a shopping list of things wanted. It is communcation with God. We can praise Him, thank Him, seek His guidances, as well as express our needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marloes Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 We have to pray to communicate with God. He already knows what we pray before we get started, but it changes us ourselves. If you never talk with family/friends you lose contact --> if you never talk with God you lose contact. If you tell Him about your problems, you can oversee them more clearly and better deal with them. If you tell Him what you did wrong, it doesn't press that hard on you anymore. He doen't send no angels to take disease away but His spirit gives comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royk Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? When we learn to pray openly to our mighty God then we have a real relationship with him. We need to be sincere and ponder what his commandments are, and have we obeyed him. If we have strayed far from the path of his righteousness we need to examine this with our Father. If we are close to the path but have strayed, then we still need to confess and ask him to help keep us on his path. Only via sincere prayer can we invoke the Holy Spirit to work in us according to God's plan for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted August 20, 2010 Report Share Posted August 20, 2010 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Prayer is all about communication with God, our Father and as such is absolutely vital in our continuing relationship with Him. A parent will very often know what his or her child wants and needs without the child needing to ask, but it would make for a strange relationship if, because the parent already knew the childs needs, the relationship was conducted in silence!! So with God our Father, communication is vital to maintain and build our relationship with Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted August 20, 2010 Report Share Posted August 20, 2010 One other thing which I almost forgot... Prayer isn't just, or even mainly, about asking for things. It is about thanking God for what He has done and is doing for us and it is about praising and worshipping Him and it is about putting ourselves in His presense. The fact That God already knows all of our needs and desires is irrelevant to this part of our prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaiden Rochelle Posted August 26, 2010 Report Share Posted August 26, 2010 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? If God knows what you need before you ask Him, shy should you ask HIm at all? We need to realize that God is in control of all things, that He created all things, and He is over all things. Asking Him for what we need should help us realize these facts. We should realize that we need to be humble before Him. What sense does prayer really make? Prayer is a major role in our relationship with God. It is one main way for us to communicate with Him. When we talk to God, it isn't supposed to be a want list. Instead, it is time to tell Him about our deep most thoughts and feelings. As we pray, we should realize that He does care about what we experience and that He wants us to ask HIm how He would have us handle situations. Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Not at all. We are not to want to be seen praying by others. We shouldn't want to call attention to ourselves as we pray and use eloquent language as we pray aloud. We should pray from the heart and do it privately. If we do it for show, God won't honor our prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
home4ed Posted September 8, 2010 Report Share Posted September 8, 2010 (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Cambridge def. of "pray": to speak to a god either privately or in a religious ceremony in order to express love, admiration or thanks or in order to ask for something Prayer is worship. When we ask, if rightly motivated we acknowledge the Lord's control. It can give us opportunity for the Spirit to speak into the situation we are asking about. It is an awesome opportunity, not a burdensome chore, to communicate with the Creator of the universe. I think if our motivation to pray is for our own edification and encouragement we are missing the worship part of it but when I go to the Lord in a spirit of a humble contrite heart I feel encouraged if I can quit my thoughts enough to hear His. The end result is encouragement and edification. When that's my starting point it is usually not my ending point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highohfaith Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? What sense does prayer really make? Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? Why or why not? Well, I can't speak for others but I talk with God because I miss communing with Him if I don't. He is my Father and I like to converse with Him. I don't always ask for things from Him. I like to tell Him how much I love Him and thank Him for all His blessings. Everyday blessing like family, health, food, shelter, etc. everything I have is His all of creation is His, and I like to let Him know I am grateful for His grace. I also want to ask for guidance for my day and throughout the day I talk to Him about what's going on, just to touch base and let Him know He is ever present, even though He knows my heart, it nice to tell Him so. I also ask forgiveness each day for my sins, not in general but for specific sins.I want to own my sins, confess them and ask His forgiveness. I also ask for provisions for others in need and ask him to bring those who do not know Him into His Spirit, those who are lost sheep. I ask His Holy Spirit to guide and direct me and grow me everyday. I know He knows what is in my heart, but I know He's a loving Father who wants to hear my voice too, because He loves me so much. He is interested in what I have to say, how I express myself to Him. My every expression is important for Him to hear. My joy, my sadness, my humility, my needs, my love. I am important to Him. He loves me and I love Him, why wouldn't I want to communicate with Him? I couldn't live without expressing myself to Him, He's my Dad! A husband may know what is in a wife's heart or vice versa, but it is nice to say I love you and I respect and thank you, admire you etc.. it is the same with God, He likes to hear our devotions, our love, our concerns. He likes to communicate with us. He is one with us. I don't know about anyone else but I MUST talk with Him, if not I miss our time together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raph Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Q4. (Matthew 6:8) If God knows what you need before you ask him, why should you ask him at all? We ask him (pray) with the intention to decalre with Him our needs will be taken care of. What sense does prayer really make? A prayer is a conversation between myself and God; it is the way to communicate with Him. Are we mainly to talk for our own edification and encouragement? I think we should not talk only for our own edification and encouragement. Why or why not? Because Jesus taught us to carry each other's burden. In a similar way it is good to pray to God for others' benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 This is one of my favorite questions! I have three daughters. All have been raised in a loving household but also raised to be responsible. There are many times when I know they have a need. But they don't ask for help. I love to help but don't ask them to ask. I do give to them even when they don't ask, and they are always quite grateful. But how much more of a relationship might we have if they were to come with their problems. Not to beg or manipulate but to share a need. I know their hearts. None would ever take something not given or ask with out a real need. (Why wait for despiration?) So we are of a simgle mind. But their 'I want to do it myself' attitude is a barrier to the relationship. I think the Lord wants us to come to Him so we will share our deapest desires with him. Not so He can be 'in charge' of our lives, but so He can share our lives. He wants that kind of a relationship, and (though we may often not know it) we need that kind of a relationship with Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgandy Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 God knows all of our needs and requests. He knows everything before we do. We pray because it is our way of communicating with God. We can tell him things even if we sometimes do not like to say them aloud. Prayer in silence comes from the bottom of our hearts directly to God. We pour out our hearts to Him and we feel better. So, we talk with God and in doing so we feel better ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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