Prayer Requests

[Thoughtful Monk]

Recently over at the Prayer Request forum, I posted a request. I confess to being disappointed when the responses to my request were 1 person saying they would pray and the rest of the responses being mere advice.

So I took a look back through the prayer request and thinking about them in group settings, I realized Christian have these stardard requests:

• Salvation for others
• Illness in self or others
• Job Issues
• Financial Issues
• Relationship issues - mostly in the family

My request didn't fall into one of the above standard requests.

Question: do Christians not know how to prayer or respond when the issue isn't in the standard list?

Clarification: this not a thread questioning the validity of any prayer request...this thread is a discussion of responding to prayer requests. Thanks.

[Cerebrum123]

Recently over at the Prayer Request forum, I posted a request. I confess to being disappointed when the responses to my request were 1 person saying they would pray and the rest of the responses being mere advice.

So I took a look back through the prayer request and thinking about them in group settings, I realized Christian have these stardard requests:

• Salvation for others
• Illness in self or others
• Job Issues
• Financial Issues
• Relationship issues - mostly in the family

My request didn't fall into one of the above standard requests.

Question: do Christians not know how to prayer or respond when the issue isn't in the standard list?

Clarification: this not a thread questioning the validity of any prayer request...this thread is a discussion of responding to prayer requests. Thanks.

Hmm. Maybe they thought responding with advice was a way of letting you know that they were praying.

[Obsidian]

It looks like you were asking for wisdom. This is a prayer that the Bible specifically talks about on multiple occasions. However, the passages generally refer to asking for wisdom on your own behalf, not for others.

James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

I guess this passage could arguably refer to asking God to give wisdom to others:

1 John 5:16
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

[Thoughtful Monk]

Hmm. Maybe they thought responding with advice was a way of letting you know that they were praying.

That's valid. Thanks for the insight.

[The Remonstrant]

Recently over at the Prayer Request forum, I posted a request. I confess to being disappointed when the responses to my request were 1 person saying they would pray and the rest of the responses being mere advice.

So I took a look back through the prayer request and thinking about them in group settings, I realized Christian have these stardard requests:

• Salvation for others
• Illness in self or others
• Job Issues
• Financial Issues
• Relationship issues - mostly in the family

My request didn't fall into one of the above standard requests.

Question: do Christians not know how to prayer or respond when the issue isn't in the standard list?

Clarification: this not a thread questioning the validity of any prayer request...this thread is a discussion of responding to prayer requests. Thanks.

People tend to find dealing with anything outside the standard fare (that which they're accustomed to) uncomfortable or difficult to handle. It's good when people don't know what to say. Everyone seems to believe they know much more than they actually do, anyway (except for me, of course).

[KingsGambit]

People of course do mean well when they provide advice. But people also tend to forget that advice is unsolicited more often than not, and can even come across in an unintentionally abrasive manner.

Sometimes I think Job's friends had the best idea at first. They stayed there with him silently for a week. Things started going south once they opened their mouths. Of course, I am the last person who should be speaking to this.

[The Remonstrant]

People of course do mean well when they provide advice. But people also tend to forget that advice is unsolicited more often than not, and can even come across in an unintentionally abrasive manner.

Sometimes I think Job's friends had the best idea at first. They stayed there with him silently for a week. Things started going south once they opened their mouths. Of course, I am the last person who should be speaking to this.

It would be best if 98% of the population were afflicted with muteness. What a blessing it would be! (Of course everyone would yack at each other over the internet and through texting, but it would be better than hearing them speak.)

[Thoughtful Monk]

Amen KingsGambit. (The new TWEB version)