Regarding authenticity in Prayer...

Hello, new here not sure if this is the right forum, regardless I had a quick question abut prayer. I am still kind of new to the christian way of life. Honestly I am still struggling with my faith more than I prefer to. Sometimes I feel as if we are living in the time before the flood and god has simply given up on fixing things or perhaps wishes for us to destroy ourselves and see the destruction in order to finally change. The world has so many things wrong that I feel as if the right is no longer able to shine.

Enough of that deep stuff, I am still very much trying to speak to the lord and learn to ask for help when I lack the strength or am incapable of facing something on my own. I still feel as if my prayers are based in ego and personal desire, more than actual goodwill. I will often pray for strength and health for my family, I will pray for the wandering souls shuffling around this planet with no direction or purpose, steeping in pain and misery due to their conditions and/or neglect. I will also pray for myself, I won't ask for material things or money or what have you (even though I want success and a good life). I will ask for wisdom, courage, and good health so I may carry on and lead a good life in his world he has created.

That's the problem though, I often feel as if I am praying simply for myself, even though I truly want the other things I ask for, I feel as if my subconscious is making me believe I want those things, so that I can trick god into thinking I'm righteous. I know that if god is omniscient, I am unable to trick him. And therefor I will never receive his help and grace because I am fundamentally flawed in that I am only out for myself.

TLDR: How does one truly pray for good things and not selfish things and have it be authentic in front of the lord himself?

Thanks for hearing me.

Tried going back to fix a few typos like "abut" to "about" in the first sentence, no edit option. Hopefully that unintentional comedy in the first sentence didn't ruin the entire question.

Most new Christians are more into themselves - and their prayers are understandably selfish. God understands that and is probably happy that you are even beginning conversations with Him. But God wants more than anything for you to be honest in your prayers. As a fairly new Christian, I went through the bible and outlined every promise that God said He would do, prayed and received that specific promise to come true in my life. In fact, it is a good thing to do - the "receiving" is important.

Actually, they all have come into my life, however it was really more about me at that point. Later, I went through the bible again and underlined all the attributes about God (Jesus) that I saw and then spent time praising that particular nature of God's. Slowly, it became more about Him.

Now, I read scripture for a basis of intercession for others. Yet, all three ways still come into play in my prayer life.

Above all, be honest. And I encourage you to use scripture as a springboard for prayer.

I also do not pray for the "people in the world" in a general sense. The world at large will become more and more sinful until the return of Christ. But I do pray for specific people who are put in my path who are not believers.

This is what worries me, if the world is damaged beyond repair and the only salvation for the general population is for the world to end and christ to return, what is to say that God has given up on our prayers and waits to send the flood?

If hes done it before, why wouldnt he do it again? And if jesus died for our sins, why must he return?

To answer your question as to why Jesus is returning:

On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.It shall continue in summer as in winter. And The Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day The Lord will be one and His name one." (Zechariah 14:8-9 RSV)


"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of The Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of The Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of The Lord from Jerusalem."


"He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of The Lord of hosts has spoken." (Micah 4:1-4 RSV)

It is all about Jesus reigning and establishing a new earth. I suggest that you also begin reading the NT and you will find many other instances of things happening when Jesus returns.

You can find a couple of blogs I did on prayer Here and Here

First, I'm no minister, and certainly no expert on things of the bible. But I can share my own opinion, and what I've come to believe.

In regards to prayer it seems like a lot of people mistake God for Santa Claus—approaching Him with a laundry list of items they'd like to have. I can tell from your first post that you don't have this problem. So in that respect, you seem ahead of the game!

One thought that I have is that God is omniscient: He knows what we need, and what we don't need. He knows how every single little thing is going to turn out. So our prayers are really as much for us as they are for Him. Also, we don't know the implication of our prayers, or His will, so sometimes (often?) we ask for things that we really shouldn't be asking for. For example, I think there's nothing wrong with prayers that someone will be healed of an illness or injury. After all, what could be wrong with praying that a 35 year old woman be cured of cancer so she can care for her children? But maybe it had been her fate to die ten years earlier, and God had already intervened at that time, giving her another decade of life. How are we to know? (I'm just spitballing this example.)

In any case, I myself often pray just to thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon me, and upon humanity in general. Other times I pray to ask for His assistance in doing His will. And I pray that He will show me His will and put opportunities in my path to serve Him. Finally, when I do pray for something in particular—for someone to be healed, or for someone to hear and understand His word—I try to end my prayer with "Your will be done.' I understand perfectly well that His will will be done regardless of whether I utter those four little words. It's just sort of an acknowledgement that I don't know God's will in regards to the matter I prayed about, but I accept it whatever it turns out to be.

Again, these are just my own personal thoughts. Opinions may vary. (Especially on the CC) Godspeed to you, sir!