What do you believe about prayers of petition?
Do you believe that prayers of petition are directly answered by God?
Examples:
Do you believe prayers calling on God’s help to heal a person are directly answered? Do you believe prayers requesting a certain outcome (win a game, make more money, the job) are directly answered?
If prayers of petition seem directly answered for some things/people and not others, then what do you believe about the worthiness of the petition or the petitioner?
Just looking for some good thoughts and discussions to see what you other Episcopalians believe. I struggle with this on a personal level.
I’m always praying to God but praying as a petition often feels weird to me. As if God is a vending machine that gifts outcomes to the worthy. I pray for the health of my child, for example, while knowing my friend’s infant son is dying of a rare disorder and we cannot change that despite our prayers for him as well.
My current belief is that God works within us and among us to help us see and act with love, despite the costs of our free will and living here in a reality that will always have death and suffering. Prayer helps us be closer to God. This feels incomplete to me and I want to wrestle with it.
Thanks for your responses!