God's plan is not perfect...I still don't have my million dollars so I pray to him to send it western union...

Read what Jesus said when showing the desciples how to pray,there is no mention of asking for anything,it's all about glorifing God.Remember when Jesus said the Father knows what you are in need of.We are commanded to pray,and God knows if you will come to him in prayer on behalf of your lost loved ones and honors your prayers.Remember God know the future.

Maybe praying those prayers was part of the plan.

Prayers are given to show you are Gods, its praising him...thanking him, asking for wisdom, to be more understanding...its not prayers to change the way things are going, but to give you stregnth to get through them. To give you the blessings you need INSIDE of you...to help change your negativity, and bad attitudes...to bring positivity to the situation, and to learn from it...and change it. Prayer is also to pray for people who are hurt, or need a little extra. God hears the prayers, and gives to those people what is needed at those moments. Prayer isnt ment to give us things when WE WANT THEM...but for WHEN we NEED them...at the right time. But prayers arnt ment to be asking really, its just speaking to God. Meditating on life, asking questions...hopeing for answers to be revieled....simple.

Supposedly praying isn't "do this for me please" but rather "I don't like what you're doing, please make me like it now so you don't have to punish me for not liking it later".

When we are in love, we keep on saying-I love you to that person over and over again.That is only to affirm our love in that person. Not that the person does not know it.The prayer is to just tell the one we believe in that we love the object of our prayer.Those who believe in God love that God and affirm the faith in Him.Though they may think that there is a divine plan in their life,it in no way would change but the prayer helps them tide over difficult times with the power it bestows on them. A doctor gives placebos to the patient and the patient recovers.It is the power of faith in that doctor and whatever he gave. A prayer is a combination of words and letters which have very potent meanings which brings about a change in the belief system of that person.It is like music which changes your moods.In some religious texts the 'word/shabd' has been called as very potent tool for communication with the divine. There are those who ask for something in their prayers and that something can be granted or not depending on the grand plan. To really understand the deeper meaning you need to have a great teacher who can remove all your doubts.

Or more special than a child in Somalia who doesn't even have clean running water to drink nor a daily meal; and yet, the God of "justice" appears to be blind to the case and makes no rush to the rescue and works no immediate miracle in response to the obvious need of that child. So evidently the God is not the Automaton of religion that weather-cock atop of creation--imagined by many that She/He/IT will veer round at every breath of selfish prayer. WE ARE THE MANUFACTURERS OF MISERY!! There, I said it! We have sedulously cultivated or permitted all manner of foul conditions, then in the midst of some sort of calamity, for which we are criminally responsible, the praying machine is set in motion and the God is implored to stick His/Her/Its hands out to work a miracle forthwith on behalf of poor us. Oh yeah! Our knees are bruised up asking the God to take special notice of our special needs! The Bishop of Bedford said not too long ago: "It was highly necessary that in these times when the poor have so little earthly enjoyment, the joys of heaven should be made known to them". I was listening to that BS and in my mind I was wishing to bitch-slap that dude! I don't think it's possible to caricature an utterance so grotesque as that.

The bible says God answers prayer's according to his will,not your's God knows what you are in need of.Also if your not a Christian,God doesn't hear your prayer,only those of the saints.

Not all prayer is for "asking."

I think praying to God is meant as a means to acknowledge His presence, or like, a sign or manifestation of belief/faith on your part. I'm not even sure you're supposed to ask for anything, aside from eventual salvation and guidance, and keep asking God that you want it. But along the way, people got it in their minds to ask for hair gel and the cure for cancer. Might depend on which doctrine you're following, I'm sure they all say something different about it, as would be suggested by the varieties of prayers that people come up with.

You have to read the bible and be a believer to understand. Otherwise these answers are irrelivent to you.

You get the BIG IF award of the day.

Not being presumptuous isn't one of the 10 commandments.

he created us with free will. he wants participation. he wants us to ask for stuff he already knows the outcome.

LOVE this question! I'm a Christian who prays. The way I look at it is that by praying I'm not trying to bend God's Holy Will to suit my own needs, but if I view him as my Father, then I know that if I told my earthly father what my wants were, because he loves me he would want to listen to me. If he had a different plan for me then of course it's his final decision, but if I NEVER told my father what I wanted, then I would feel as if I were totally out of the equation. As if I were just my father's puppet, being pulled along any which way he wanted, not caring about how I felt. We have a God whose true desire is that we come to Him with all of our burdens. The big ones and the little ones. So when I pray I pray that what I am wanting "is in alignment with God's Holy Will for me". Sometimes I pray very selfishly, knowing what I am wanting is not right, but still wanting to share my heart with God. Let's presume the truth, that God WANTS our sharings :-)

We pray cause God commands the christian to do so.You really think man can alter anything God has ordained?We pray to glorify God.As Jesus said the Father knows what you are in need of before you ask.I don't hardly ever ask God for anything other than to save my lost loved ones.I pray to glorify His Holy Name.