Are Prayers of Petition Really Worth it?

Has anyone else sat at a Service or Liturgy wondering why we continue to pray the Prayers of Petition? Haven’t we (and most other Churches) prayed for peace, the end of hunger and poverty, and many other things for years… decades… even centuries? Yet we still have wars, hunger, poverty etc. And, if God knows all of our needs and gives us what we most need, then why bother to ask for what we want? Maybe we should just know and accept that God is doing what He knows to be best. Besides, God will never take away our “free will” so maybe these are just always going to exist.

I have struggled with this for a long time. I was even one of the people that wrote those prayers of petition for several years. Sometimes that felt a bit hypocritical. How can I write these when I know they aren’t really going to get us anywhere. But I came up with two reason why praying for these petitions is essential to our faith. Let me explain.

First of all, when I considered my family and friends, I realized that I talk to them often. We may talk in person, in a phone call, text, email, or even on social media sites. We share what is going on in our lives. We talk about what is going well and how thankful we are. We tell the whole story of the interview for our new job, and what was said when we got the call that the position was ours. We share every moment of our pregnancy and arrival of our new baby. We talk about the fun times at a party or celebration. It is all so important to share. Then we talk about the things that aren’t going so well, like the bills that are piling up while we were passed over again for a promotion or raise. We tell all the details of a new or continuing illness or accident. We go to these people with the hope that they will help, but we know that isn’t necessarily even possible. Sometimes we are surprised that the person we are talking about knows about a company hiring, or can help us with moving or whatever. That is great. But, honestly, what really helped was that they listened and give us love and support. God does the same. No, He doesn’t fix all our problems, but He does listen, comfort and support us through all that is going on. And, sometimes, He actually does help the problem by directing us to the right doctor or second job. Maybe we just really need to share our concerns with Him. I had a friend like that. He would tell me something serious that was going on in his life in a short sentence. I would express my concern and then offer to stay and talk about it with him. But, he would generally tell me, no he was fine. At first I wondered why he felt able to share with me, but then shut down about talking. I finally realized that all he needed was to say it out loud, and have someone acknowledge it and he was ready to work on it and handle it. Maybe that is what we need from God.

The second thing I realized is that together we are better. When we pray together as a community of faith, we share our concerns and we are there to support each other. God isn’t a puppeteer pulling the strings of our lives. He guides us to solutions; he invites us to a community to help us fix something or help us deal with what is going on; and He watches with great joy when we help each other. I remember being so happy when I would over hear my girls helping each other with something. I glowed with pride when the older one would hug her younger sister and tell her she was so proud of her. I celebrated the power they had when they were together. God wants us to help each other. He wants us to collect toys for families that cannot afford Christmas gifts. He wants us to volunteer to help people who need our time and our support. But, he also wants us to support each other in love regardless of the possibility of “fixing” things.

So, we continue to pray and ask God for all kinds of things. And, we hope that our prayers will be heard and responded to the way we want them to be. But, I guess we also get the comfort from God when the fix isn’t going to happen, at least not now. And, we get the love and support of our faith communities. That is what really counts, isn’t it? That we all work together to make this world the best we can. Listen the next time you hear these prayers, and look around and see how God is giving us what we truly need even if it isn’t quite what we wanted when we asked.

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