Still seems like we just need to ask for God's will to be done. Maybe during that prayer we can talk about all the ways we can serve God? That can be the relationship aspect we are required to have.
If, when you sit down to pray, the only thing you on your mind is "God's will be done", then I think that's great.
I think that's fantastic.
However, if it is on someone's heart to communicate more than that, and he wants to examine all the different aspects of prayer, then we would need to follow the topic through the entire bible.... because there is a LOT said about prayer.
We have many different examples, and many different kinds of things to pray about, and many ways to look at the entire topic.
I guess I would sum it up with an analogy.
A. Prayer is our communication with God.
B. Is there only 1 way to talk to someone you love? Only one method? Only one style? Only 1 subject?
C. Of course not, there are many ways to communicate with someone you love.
D. But though there are many ways to communicate with someone you love, there is only one ultimate end... to deepen the relationship.
(And we deepen it by discussing and addressing absolutely anything that is required to that end.)
E. Prayer is a little bit like that. It is communication with a person we love.
But instead of communicating with a human person, it is a divine person.... who is, by definition, imbued with all the unique attributes of the divine.... which means he created us... which means our relationship is never one of equals, but of dependence and gratitude of the lesser toward the greater.
F. Conclusion: So when we communicate with this divine person we love, we can communicate in all the different ways which are needful, and they all have the ultimate end of deepening our relationship, which is not an ordinary relationship, but one of dependence and submission.
If you want to describe it some other way.... or some simpler way.... I think that's fine.
This has been a great topic for discussion.
God Bless.
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