[kosta50]

Mark: You only ask for things if you know that they are not going to come about

FKWhat? How do you come to that conclusion? First, this would make all the prayers of Jesus a farce, neither of your statements apply to Him

FK, Jesus' prayers were pure intent. Just because we feel ours are "pure" doesn't mean they are. God grants prayers that are pure in heart.

God knows our needs and desires. Yet prayer is what He wants of us because it is a synergistic relationship that He wants from us. We receive Spirit, and we give our spirit to God.

Do you say this because you are certain that God has no intention of seeing to it that you have food today?

No, we pray in hope. The trapped miners who died in September certainly hoped they would be rescued, yet it was their time to die, regardless of their prayer. For all we know, they may be in a much better and happier place now, but they did not want to die; they wanted to live and their prayers, and the prayers of their families and of the entire nation, indeed, resulted in their demise.

Phil 4:19 : And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Tell that to the starving and persecuted Christians in Darfur.

1 John 5:14-15 : 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us

Yes, according to His will. And that we are not always privy to. I would say, never. So, we pray in hope, blindly, and accept what God gives us, knowing that He is merciful and just, even if we don't think so.

[HarleyD]

God knows our needs and desires. Yet prayer is what He wants of us because it is a synergistic relationship that He wants from us.

I hate to butt in but it is not because God wants or need a synergistic relationship. He is self-sufficient. It is because His glory cannot be contained in heaven that it flows into our lives.

God knows our needs and desires but He is far more interested in carrying out what is best for us. Little kids have needs and desires but we certainly wouldn't think of giving in to those desires.

Phil 4:19 : And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.-Tell that to the starving and persecuted Christians in Darfur.

Please remember that the person who wrote this also wrote the following:
1Cr 4:10 We [are] fools for Christ's sake, but ye [are] wise in Christ; we [are] weak, but ye [are] strong; ye [are] honourable, but we [are] despised.
1Cr 4:11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
1Cr 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
1Cr 4:13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, [and are] the offscouring of all things unto this day.

[Forest Keeper]

God knows our needs and desires. Yet prayer is what He wants of us because it is a synergistic relationship that He wants from us. We receive Spirit, and we give our spirit to God.

"Synergy" from Answers.com: "1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects."

Each side contributes so that the result is greater than either side could have created on its own. Do you really think God fits into an arrangement like that? I think you believe God needs us to get what He wants much more than I ever suspected. :)

The trapped miners who died in September certainly hoped they would be rescued, yet it was their time to die, regardless of their prayer. For all we know, they may be in a much better and happier place now, but they did not want to die; they wanted to live and their prayers, and the prayers of their families and of the entire nation, indeed, resulted in their demise.

I was with you until the last line. :) How did the prayers of everyone RESULT in their demise? You acknowledged right away that it was their time to die. I agree. So, if no one had prayed, might they have survived?

Phil 4:19 : And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Tell that to the starving and persecuted Christians in Darfur.

Another disfavored Biblical verse is apparently declared wrong.