/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>623898

To pray is to ask.

You aren't asking God to bequeath whatever it is you pray for upon you like spawning in items using the console like some kind of video game. You ask God for assistance or the ability to even develop these things in the first place, be they virtues in others or in yourself.

I've prayed a lot for a friend of mine who was going through life troubles and issues with his family. He took out a lot of his anger on me and we stopped talking for a while, but I still continued praying for the guy regardless and forgave him.

Four months later, he's come back and apologized for his behavior.

Prayer doesn't need to be just high and mighty things like the restoration of the church or some wider spanning goal (not to discourage you from praying for such things, of course!) but it can also be for simple things such as a good night's rest, or the resolve to continue your exercise if you've been having trouble keeping your routine due to work or something.

You can pray to God for virtue and health and a good wife, but the prayer comes with the expectation that you're going to do your part towards accomplishing such things yourself. You don't pray for the muscles, per se, but for the fortitude to maintain changes in your diet, for a good recovery period, for building up the habit of regular exercise and the willpower to work through things like spinal cord injuries or fibromyalgia or what-have-you.

God already knows what you need before you ask. Just pray the Our Father and the Rosary.

How about for mercy? κύριε ελέησον

>what do people pray for and why do they think they'll get it?

People pray for a lot of things, as you intimate, but not everyone will get what they want. You have to pray properly and not just for anything and assume you will get it, because it won't be given you (Jas 1:7). Personally I pray often for mercy, and to be merciful to others, humility, thanksgiving, for the increase in virtues which I lack, and to be better in prayer.

>But when it comes to less quantifiable things, like health or a good wife or virtue or whatever people still pray for these things as if they can get them. But they can't.

Perhaps because they think prayer is enough, and aren't doing penance for their sins, and aren't persevering in prayer either. Prayer isn't just about celestial gibs. Knowing the Lord knows what you need is not a valid reason getting mad when God doesn't magically give you sick gains overnight.

Then again, we are also given crosses to bear, so loneliness, poor health, a bitter wife etc. will be just these for many of us, so instead of praying for God to take it away from us, we should be thanking Him, and asking Him to help us to bear our crosses.

In fact the idea of physical fitness is an apt metaphor, not least because it is often found in Scripture (St Paul and St Peter refer often to atheletes, races, trophies etc. as allegories of spiritual keenness), but in the same way it's not just one thing. If prayer is akin to weightlifting, then you will not be "fit" by this alone, but though other thing, such as diet, lifestyle changes, change in mental attitude, changes in company, etc.

>Praying is purely to praise God and humble yourself, right?

Not just that. Prayer has four ends; adoration, contrition/penance, thanksgiving and supplication.

God doesn't change because He is perfect. His Will is eternal. But you can become like him through Jesus Christ and become a Son of God.

Also, God will not give you anything that you do not deserve, otherwise it would be against your dignity. The Children of God are not spoiled children.

ALL GLORY IN THE HIGHTEST. THE HOLY WEEK IS NEAR. REMEMBER THE PRICE HE PAID FOR YOU.

>>623898

just pray for muscles to kill muzzies with, and you'll get shredded as fuark

>>624335

>God doesn't change because He is perfect

explain the incarnation

>>623898

I pray for His will to be done, thank Him for each and every gift in my life (exercise: if you lost everything you didn't thank God for yesterday, what would you still have?) and every bad thing I hear about and so-called "evil" in my life. I also am beginning to get into the Jesus prayer and related things (which humbles you and brings your mind together).

>>624263

Well I'm really interested in getting bigger muscles, more definition and strength.

But I do'nt think i should pray for that stuff, I can just workout and eat right

>>623898

When I pray, it's a combo of both.

In the Orthodox prayers, specifically in the prayer books, you'll find a mixture of praising the Trinity, the Theotokos, and the saints; thanking Christ for bringing the day to a close/bringing us up at the morning hour for His glorification and for giving us another day in order to praise Him; and especially asking for forgiveness from Christ, from all transgressions, whether committed in word, deed, or thought, and asking for prayers of the Theotokos and saints.

Prayer is not a time to ask for insignificant things, like a nice car, lots of money, etc.

Prayer is a time to present yourself into Christ Our God in humility, asking for forgiveness for the terrible deeds you've committed, and a time where we can ask for spiritually beneficial things, especially for God's will to be done in us.

Also,

>what is the Jesus Prayer

I'm telling ya it's recommended for a reason. No meme, it "just werks"

The Stoics believe that there are two types of things; those which are in our power and those which aren't. Prayers is for the latter. You could pray for God to assist you in attaining a better physique, but He wouldn't interfere with your free-will.

>>624551

can I pray to be as strong as Samson?