If what you say is true, then why bother praying at all? You are more or less saying that God will do whatever He wants to do no matter what you pray for. If you are right, then please explain.<\/p>\n\t
I don’t know which page you are referring to. I suspect you either misread something or did not notice the context in which the answer was given. I did briefly discuss why bother praying in “Whose Prayers Are Answered?<\/a>” I would like you also to read and\u00a0listen to the same preacher speak in “Exceedingly Abundantly<\/a>.”<\/p>\n I don’t find in the Bible that every decision is predefined by God. God has plans for this world and those plans will be accomplished. Yet within those plans, there is a lot of flexibility.<\/p>\n “And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'” And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”<\/em><\/p>\n Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'”<\/em><\/p>\n So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people<\/em>” (Exodus 32:7-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n God’s plans concerning saving people from sin through Jesus Christ could have been accomplished whether Israel was wiped out and God restarted with Moses or by working with these rebellious people. God allowed Moses to pick the path.<\/p>\n God does answer our prayers. Those answers might not be exactly what we expected or come in the way we expected. God gives us what is best for us, not necessarily what we think is best. But He also gives us more than we expect. Paul was confident that God would answer his prayer, not in the manner in which he asked, but in a way that would exceed Paul\u2019s wildest imagination. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen<\/em>” (Ephesians 3:20-21).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: If what you say is true, then why bother praying at all? You are more or less saying that God will do whatever He wants to do no matter what you pray for. If you are right, then please explain. Answer: I don’t know which page you are referring to. I suspect you either…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-24980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-pray-but-make-preparations-for-my-prayer-not-to-be-answered-is-that-a-lack-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":0},"title":"If I pray but make preparations for my prayer not to be answered, is that a lack of faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First off, I want to thank you, and those who assist you, for your awesome website and the question and answer section. It's such a helpful resource for those who are studying God's word and looking for guidance. I have a question: I am currently going through a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-i-pray-to-god-am-i-praying-to-the-father-or-the-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":1},"title":"When I pray to God, am I praying to the Father or the Son?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am reading your lesson on Who is God? Let me see if I am understanding this. God is three beings: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God's Son, but when we refer to God in prayer or in time of need, so am I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62030,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-apostle-had-it-the-easiest\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":2},"title":"Which Apostle Had It the Easiest?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Which apostle had it the easiest? James. That answer may be surprising. Even more surprising is why and how. In Acts 12, James is martyred first among the apostles. Some may question God's fairness, and may even complain, \"Why did God allow James to die but allowed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-people-on-opposite-sides-are-praying-for-their-team-to-win-whose-prayer-does-god-answer\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":3},"title":"If people on opposite sides are praying for their team to win, whose prayer does God answer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please, I need your help on an issue. We are very fanatical about football (soccer) in our country. I was involved in a discussion some time ago with my roommate and he was saying God answered his prayer for the team he supports and that was why they were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-stop-praying-for-my-husband-to-come-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":4},"title":"Do I stop praying for my husband to come home?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband is not spiritually grounded and never really has been. I am a Christian, and I love him very much.\u00a0 We are separated and I've been praying for my marriage to be restored. My question is should I stop praying? I don't want to seem obnoxious, pushy, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-pray-for-non-believers\/","url_meta":{"origin":24980,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to pray for non-believers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One thing I am noticing when I am praying is that I pray for non-believers to somehow find Jesus and God. Is it wrong to pray for them? Answer: Praying that nonbelievers might hear the gospel is a wonderful prayer. Paul offered similar prayers, \"Brethren, my heart's desire and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}