From: theirony2013@gmail.com
On 2026-01-17 11:50, Mike wrote:
> On 2026-01-17 08:41, JTEM wrote:
>> On 1/17/26 10:41 AM, Mike wrote:
>>
>>> Guidance for prayer:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jesus would most likely frown upon prayers that
>>> invert his stated values: humility → entitlement,
>>> compassion → advantage, trust → manipulation.
>>
>> I guess I see all prayer as self serving; people want
>> something!
>>
>> Asking for forgiveness is asking to escape consequences,
>> if not in this life then most certainly the next.
>>
>> "No, I just want to escape consequences for all of
>> eternity, instead of for however many years I have
>> left. That's not selfish."
>>
>> Healing?
>>
>> "Please, lord, bend the laws of nature, reality itself
>> to heal me."
>>
>> Because THAT'S not beneficial or anything...
>>
>> The only prayers that might qualify under your rules
>> oops I meant "Guidance" would be prayers for other
>> people. And even then you might get into trouble if
>> you're a D bag.
>>
>> "Oh, lord, please make my cousin a self righteous
>> WokeTard, like the rest of us. Open their eyes to the
>> wisdom of going mental in the streets over things that
>> don't actually matter to any of us, as we refuse to
>> prioritize the improving of life for ourselves and the
>> rest of the country."
>>
>> If you pray for someone else to be lifted out of
>> poverty though? If you pray for someone else to experience
>> something that convinces them that God is real, miracles do
>> happen? If you pray for someone else to heal? If you pray
>> for someone else to achieve greatness as an accordion
>> player... the world's most famous Barista...
>>
>> But even then I'd disagree with you.
>>
>> What I always thought, if people are sincere, is they should
>> pray for those things that only God could do. So asking for
>> God to cure a disease which is medically treatable, but
>> refusing a doctor, is insane. And, asking God to end a war
>> which took humans to start and humans can end at any time is
>> more than a little nutty.
>>
>> But, praying that God cure a cancer that the doctors told you
>> is incurable? Makes sense. Because it is something that only
>> God could do.
>>
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>>>
>>> Examples that clearly clash with Jesus-style teaching:
>>>
>>> Praying for wealth, luxury, or status
>>> “Lord, let me get rich, famous, or admired.”
>>> (Hard to square with camels and needles.)
>>>
>>> Praying to win over others
>>> Promotions, lawsuits, sports victories, or business
>>> success that require someone else to lose.
>>>
>>> Praying to escape consequences
>>> Asking forgiveness without repentance, or asking God
>>> to “fix” the fallout of dishonesty or harm.
>>>
>>> Praying for control over others
>>> That someone will change, obey, return, fail, or be
>>> removed because they’re inconvenient.
>>>
>>> Praying for signs, proof, or miracles on demand
>>> “If you’re real, do X for me,” which Jesus explicitly
>>> rejects.
>>>
>>> Praying for public admiration
>>> Asking for recognition, applause, or visible blessing
>>> to appear “chosen” or superior.
>>>
>>> Praying while ignoring need next door
>>> Asking for personal comfort while disregarding hunger,
>>> sickness, or injustice in plain sight.
>>>
>>> Praying as transaction
>>> “I’ll believe / behave / donate if you give me what
>>> I want.”
>>>
>>> Praying to be right rather than to be good
>>> Vindication over reconciliation.
>>>
>>> Praying to avoid suffering entirely
>>> When Jesus repeatedly frames suffering as something
>>> that cannot be neatly bypassed, only transformed.
>>>
>>> In short, Jesus doesn’t seem opposed to asking—but
>>> to asking from the wrong center. Not “What do I want?”
>>> but “What kind of person am I
>>> becoming?”
>>>
>>> These prayers treat inconvenience as moral injustice—
>>> and morality as a tool for comfort.
>>>
>>>
>>> Here are some eyebrow-raising things people have
>>> publicly asked others to pray for—often in churches,
>>> prayer chains, or online groups. They’re not meant
>>> to mock faith itself, but the way prayer sometimes
>>> gets reduced to a cosmic wish-list.
>>>
>>> -A brand-new Lamborghini or Ferrari
>>> -Winning a specific lottery jackpot with numbers attached
>>> -God “changing” a teacher’s grades after final exams
>>> -A rival’s business to fail so one’s own will succeed
>>> -A parking spot directly in front of a crowded mall
>>> -Clear weather for their wedding while a drought is ongoing
>>> -That a judge will rule in their favor despite obvious guilt
>>> -For a celebrity to notice them or fall in love with them
>>> -To become famous or “go viral” without any particular work
>>> -For God to make a sports team win a championship
>>> -For a boss to be fired so they can get the promotion
>>> -To pass an exam they didn’t study for
>>> -For an ex to “realize they were wrong” and come back
>>> -For a neighbor to move away
>>> -For a luxury house, yacht, or private jet
>>> -To avoid consequences after lying or cheating
>>> -That God will “fix” a broken phone or laptop
>>> -For a flight to be delayed so they don’t miss it
>>> -For a pastor to stop preaching so long
>>>
>>> Philosophically, these requests treat prayer less as reflection,
>>> humility, or moral alignment—and more like a supernatural
>>> customer-service desk. Many of these also quietly ask for
>>> reality to bend in their favor at someone else’s expense.
>
> I thought you might find this interesting:
>
>
>
>
> In what way does the British National anthem
> not follow those guidelines?
>
>
>
>
> If you measure “God Save the King” against the kinds
> of things Jesus is portrayed as endorsing, it departs in
> several clear ways—mostly by turning prayer into national
> self-interest and domination rather than humility or
> compassion.
>
> Here’s how it misses those guidelines:
>
> 1). Prayer for power and victory over others
> “Send him victorious, happy and glorious”
> This is a request for triumph, not righteousness. Victory implies
> others’ defeat—something Jesus consistently refuses to frame
as a
> spiritual goal.
>
> 2). Prayer for the defeat and suffering of enemies
> “Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks”
> “On thee our hopes we fix: God save us all”
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