Other Prayers

I have never understood when someone tells you something terrible or rough that is going on, and then they ask you to pray for them or someone else.  First of all, don’t they know that they have a conduit directly to God?  They don’t need someone to intercede on their behalf.  Second of all, do they really think that God will not act unless enough people pray for it?  This is not an election where people vote to enact a policy.

And by asking, it takes out the chance that I might act on my own choice, and demonstrate my own faith.  I might have prayed for them anyway, and because I made the choice without having to be asked, I would have been more passionate and enthusiastic about it.  I would have been more moved in my heart, drawing on my faith, rather then checking something off the list.

A friend once told me that God wants us to sometimes ask for things more than once.  The delay and the asking builds our faith, because the more “disappointment” we face, the more faith it takes to keep asking.  But if we pass the task to someone else, then how is it building our faith?  And if we ask someone to pray, and they do it, is it really building their faith?  Wouldn’t it have built their faith more, if they would have done it on their own?  Are we actually taking away an opportunity for someone to build their faith by asking them to pray, instead of giving them the opportunity to do it without being asked?  And if they didn’t pray, do we really believe that God won’t still answer our prayer alone?