The Bible tells us to pray, but I wonder what the purpose is?
Can we bargain or demand things from the Creator of the universe, like some sort of genie? (and I confess I have prayed like this before) "Give me happiness and long life, and I'll go to Church every sunday in return?" Obviously not - the idea is offensive that the servant is making demands of the master.
Can we beg the Creator to change His will? "If it is your will, heal my sickness"? At the least, this displays humility, but God's will is perfect as is God's plan. So should God change His perfect plan to a less-perfect plan because we have influenced His will with our petition? Perhaps God takes pity on our temporary suffering and delays or reduces our rewards in heaven in order to make our present circumstances more bearable? In which case - wouldn't it be better not to petition God and rather travel the more difficult path for greater rewards? Yet the Bible tells us to pray, so this cannot be the case.
Perhaps, God is lonely on His throne, He needs companionship and praise, and rewards those who bring Him joy? Yet the Bible says, God has no darkness in him. So clearly, God gains nothing from our worship, there is nothing we can give Him that would change Him, as He is already of perfect peace of mind.
So - what is the purpose of prayer and worship? The only conclusion I can come to, is that we pray to God to communicate, not words or desires, or requests, but divine qualities. We pray to God in order to become more like God, to receive a portion of God's wisdom and strength of will and peace of mind. If God answers a prayer, it is not because we prayed, but because God has caused us to pray and we have fulfilled His will in doing so. Whatever ordeal we faced was put before us, to humble us enough to make us pray for deliverance; and that the real result of the prayer wasn't that we had been saved from our earthly problem, but that we had been taught humility. If our loved one is sick and we pray for them, the real purpose of the prayer is not that they be healed, but that we gain compassion. If we pray to give thanks, the result is that our own joy in the benevolence of God is increased. Therefore, we pray not from our own will, but by God's will, and our prayers don't change the world, but change ourselves.
Thoughts?
Can we bargain or demand things from the Creator of the universe, like some sort of genie? (and I confess I have prayed like this before) "Give me happiness and long life, and I'll go to Church every sunday in return?" Obviously not - the idea is offensive that the servant is making demands of the master.
Can we beg the Creator to change His will? "If it is your will, heal my sickness"? At the least, this displays humility, but God's will is perfect as is God's plan. So should God change His perfect plan to a less-perfect plan because we have influenced His will with our petition? Perhaps God takes pity on our temporary suffering and delays or reduces our rewards in heaven in order to make our present circumstances more bearable? In which case - wouldn't it be better not to petition God and rather travel the more difficult path for greater rewards? Yet the Bible tells us to pray, so this cannot be the case.
Perhaps, God is lonely on His throne, He needs companionship and praise, and rewards those who bring Him joy? Yet the Bible says, God has no darkness in him. So clearly, God gains nothing from our worship, there is nothing we can give Him that would change Him, as He is already of perfect peace of mind.
So - what is the purpose of prayer and worship? The only conclusion I can come to, is that we pray to God to communicate, not words or desires, or requests, but divine qualities. We pray to God in order to become more like God, to receive a portion of God's wisdom and strength of will and peace of mind. If God answers a prayer, it is not because we prayed, but because God has caused us to pray and we have fulfilled His will in doing so. Whatever ordeal we faced was put before us, to humble us enough to make us pray for deliverance; and that the real result of the prayer wasn't that we had been saved from our earthly problem, but that we had been taught humility. If our loved one is sick and we pray for them, the real purpose of the prayer is not that they be healed, but that we gain compassion. If we pray to give thanks, the result is that our own joy in the benevolence of God is increased. Therefore, we pray not from our own will, but by God's will, and our prayers don't change the world, but change ourselves.
Thoughts?