Augustine raises the question; Why make our petitions known to God if he already knows the answer?
To answer this question we must address an even broader question; “why do we pray?” The act of praying does not change God at all, for God is always the same for all of time. Prayer is not because God needs us, but because we need God. Prayer does not get our will done in Heaven, it gets God's will done on earth. It does not change God, but changes us when we voluntarily turn back to him. Prayer does not inform God, since he is omniscient, it involves God.Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. There are many types of prayer, the most important are prayer as Blessing and adoration, prayer as petition, prayer as intercession, prayer as thanksgiving, and prayer of praise.
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The act of Blessing is a circular motion; God blesses us, and we either return the blessing or turn ourselves away, for God, though he is the very source of all blessing, gives us the choice to pray. God blesses us, and in return we bless him for having blessed us. Adoration is the key of recognizing that humans are creatures, while God is the source and sustenance of our continued existence. We must recognize God as our Holy Father that he is.
Prayer as a petition is a cry of mercy, recognizing that we have turned away, and a decision to turn back to God. Zechariah explains the need for God by humans; “such who are prisoners of sin, Satan, and the law; and, when sensible of it, groan under their bondage, and cry to the Lord for help, who hears them, and directs them, as prisoners of hope, to turn to Christ, their strong hold” For we must ask for forgiveness from God who always forgives. A simple prayer such as “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” recognizes that we sin, that God must forgive us, and that we must ask God to be
God is the center of several existing religions, and non-existent in others. People look to God for comfort, guidance, as well as love. When someone feels the need to confess their sins they do so to God, without fear of hatred or judgement. While this is true for some religions, the Puritans in 1741, did not believe so. in 1741, God was a staple of anger for the puritans. He was the reason which men were damned to hell, even if they were good men. In 1741, the Puritans believed that God was angry with sinners, and that sinning, most definitely sentenced you to a lifetime in a fiery hell.
prayer was pointless on the account of God will do what is right regardless of you asking. Kant
God is able to listen to the prayers of each and every human because God is not a part of time. Humans live in the moment they are in and every moment that passes is gone forever. However, God lives outside of time and he is able to observe the past present and future at the same time. Therefore, God has an infinite attention to listen to each individual prayer.
· Thanks – this is when we say thank you to God and Jesus in prayer
Saint Augustine writes about his journey to finding God through his autobiography Confessions. It is filled with Augustine’s personal experiences from infancy to adulthood. Many of the experience Augustine’s reviews are common amongst people today. These relevant situations make it easy for readers to apply to their current life. Augustine also adds his current understanding to these past situations that he may have been unaware to at the time. Augustine’s Confessions are bursting with theological, and Psychological text and ideas that he uses to guide him through certain events he goes through. There is a reoccurring theme throughout Augustine’s autobiography about his desire to find God to fill the void or separation he feels. Augustine
Coming close to God through prayer soon became very important because everyone feared his wrath. It was said:
Augustine would also say that without the divine intervention of God's grace, we would not be able to take even the first step towards him, which is supported by verses like John 6:44a: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." This means that until we are saved, or under the influence of this divine grace, we are unable to even choose to follow him.
St. Augustine is a man with a rational mind. As a philosopher, scholar, and teacher of rhetoric, he is trained in and practices the art of logical thought and coherent reasoning. The pursuits of his life guide him to seek concrete answers to specific questions. Religion, the practice of which relies primarily on faith—occasionally blind faith—presents itself as unable to be penetrated by any sort of scientific study or inquiry. Yet, like a true scientist and philosopher, one of the first questions St. Augustine poses in his Confessions is: “What, then, is the God I worship” (23)? For a long time, Augustine searches for knowledge about God as a physical body, a particular entity—almost as if the Lord were merely a human being, given the divine right to become the active figurehead of the Christian religion.
Praying as put in the Bible is a personal experience between that person and God. Not an event to be proclaimed up and down the hallway. III. Another problem there is with praying in schools is the fact that there are some students who don't believe in God. The purpose of a democracy is to have the majority decide but yet always respect the rights of the minority.
My father and mother would always instruct me how to pray by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Every morning we would go in my parents’ bedroom, get on our knees and begin to pray. This devotional time was spent every morning as soon as we got out of bed. In fact, if we were asleep we were awakening to begin our daily devotion. I remember, my father would begin the prayer and each of us had to lead a portion of the ongoing prayer. My parents always instilled in me that prayer was the key to anything that I wanted to accomplish in life. However, after I prayed, I needed to believe that the work was already accomplished. Growing up in my environment, I could not understand as a child why they would wake me out of the bed in order for to come and pray. Today, I can honestly say I appreciate my parents for showing me the value of prayer. I can relate to the topic of the use of prayer because of a situation which transpired in my life approximately fifteen years ago. I have experienced the miraculous power and the value of prayer. My father was the manager and lead singer of a gospel group. The group would rehearse every Tuesday night with the singers and the musicians which consisted of approx ten members. On this particular Tuesday night after rehearsal, he complained of a slight headache. He didn’t think much more about the headache because he thought he just needed some rest after a long day at
God is seen as the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being. In many different religions, they believe in the meaning and the act of prayer through everyday life. First and foremost, the first meaning of prayer is the belief in giving God praise and honor for who he is as Lord
Prayer mattered to Daniel. We’re going to take a look at some reasons why this morning and allow Daniel to show us why prayer was such an important part of his life. I’m guessing that if I were to ask folks here this morning if prayer mattered to you I would find it hard to believe that someone would say it doesn’t. No one wants to be the guy who admits in church that prayer isn’t important. But I would like to ask you to think for a moment how important prayer is to you really. If the government made prayer illegal or even worse made it a law that you could only pray to the government would you break that law? In this hypothetical would prayer be important to you? Obviously it’s a hypothetical, maybe you don’t even know for sure, but this scenario actually happened to Daniel. The king made prayer to any god other than to him illegal. But Daniel 6 shares with us that, “he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Daniel 6:10
First of all, the benefit of prayer is prayer provides a direct connection to Allah. Many effects in physically and mentally that Muslims can get...
Gandhi once said that “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.” Despite the fact that Gandhi was not a Christian he understood the significance of prayer and the futility of man. But long before Gandhi’s time lived a humble man of God named Daniel. It was “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah” that God called Daniel, an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, out of a life of obscurity to accomplish His will. Although outwardly Daniel resembled a slave under the control of a foreign king he was in fact a godly ambassador to King Nebuchadnezzar and a servant of the Lord by God’s own design. Daniel had a longing deep within his soul placed there by God. He was a man who recognized his need for God. Daniel had a heart for the things of the Lord and was a man who lived righteously before the Lord walking in humility. Daniel was a man who had his priorities in order and his prayer life followed his theology. But what exactly was Daniel’s view of God and how did his prayers reflect that view – what was the theology of Daniel’s prayers? I believe the book of Daniel reveals seven main principles of theology concerning prayer in general. Beyond that, I believe Daniel’s prayer in chapter nine provides a model of intercessory prayer that we all can learn from.
Prayer is an intimate one on one conversation with the almighty, wonderful God that you are having a relationship with. It is a special time and you are going before God who is above all.