We can change God's mind. Jesus gives a clear parable on this. He even demonstrates it in one of his miracles. The Lord's Prayer is great--when you have nothing else to pray for. We should always be talking with God--about everything.
I don't want to get into too much theory on faith, but the reason we pray is to strengthen our faith. God already knows what we need, but it is our faith that draws us closer to God and changes us spiritually into the image of Christ. A prayer without faith (which is most of the prayers that people speak) is just noise. God hears those no more than he hears the sound of a pinecone hitting a forest floor.
I don't think we have evolved the faith we could have evolved if we had not nailed Jesus to a cross and told God, "We can take care of things ourselves." I don't think there's anyone with the faith to do the miracles Jesus did. I know I can't. But most people won't even use faith for small things, so I suppose that's a moot point.
Also, it's easier to have faith for others, so we should pray for others. It's an easy way to practice faith, so it kills two birds with one stone.
But let's say someone asks you to pray for them, so you do, but what your praying for is bad for them, and neither you nor they know it. If God loves them, nothing's going to happen. But they usually see later on that it was good it never happened. That doesn't make your faith exercise in vain. I mean, you're far more likely to win a 10k run if you've run and lost a few in the past. Also, when people are going to die is predestined before they even incarnate. So praying that great-grandma makes it through her latest bout with congestive heart failure is fine, but you might want to end it with "...not my will, Father, but your will be done." Just a suggestion.
But there's very little faith in the world--anywhere. I have a lot of faith relatively speaking, but even what I have is very very small--inadequate almost all of the time, and it occurs in strange ways. For instance, I know I won't be seriously hurt on my motorcycle. I might well die in my truck, but it will never happen on my bike. If I'm having a heart attack, the best thing I could do is get on my bike and ride, because I will not die on my bike. With that faith, if I could apply it elsewhere, I could walk on water. It's weird and pathetic really.
I don't want to get into too much theory on faith, but the reason we pray is to strengthen our faith. God already knows what we need, but it is our faith that draws us closer to God and changes us spiritually into the image of Christ. A prayer without faith (which is most of the prayers that people speak) is just noise. God hears those no more than he hears the sound of a pinecone hitting a forest floor.
I don't think we have evolved the faith we could have evolved if we had not nailed Jesus to a cross and told God, "We can take care of things ourselves." I don't think there's anyone with the faith to do the miracles Jesus did. I know I can't. But most people won't even use faith for small things, so I suppose that's a moot point.
Also, it's easier to have faith for others, so we should pray for others. It's an easy way to practice faith, so it kills two birds with one stone.
But let's say someone asks you to pray for them, so you do, but what your praying for is bad for them, and neither you nor they know it. If God loves them, nothing's going to happen. But they usually see later on that it was good it never happened. That doesn't make your faith exercise in vain. I mean, you're far more likely to win a 10k run if you've run and lost a few in the past. Also, when people are going to die is predestined before they even incarnate. So praying that great-grandma makes it through her latest bout with congestive heart failure is fine, but you might want to end it with "...not my will, Father, but your will be done." Just a suggestion.
But there's very little faith in the world--anywhere. I have a lot of faith relatively speaking, but even what I have is very very small--inadequate almost all of the time, and it occurs in strange ways. For instance, I know I won't be seriously hurt on my motorcycle. I might well die in my truck, but it will never happen on my bike. If I'm having a heart attack, the best thing I could do is get on my bike and ride, because I will not die on my bike. With that faith, if I could apply it elsewhere, I could walk on water. It's weird and pathetic really.
