"Shouldn't we pray to God and ask him nothing in return?"

I received the following question the other day via e-mail: “Shouldn't we pray to God and ask him nothing in return? The same applies to Jesus. I read something about thanking him for dying on the cross and asking him for eternal life. Wouldn't it be better to thank him and not ask for anything?”

Here is my response:

You bring up a very good point about prayer. How selfish of anyone to think that God’s only purpose is to answer prayer, like “I love God and have a wonderful plan for HIS life.” That would really be idolatry, as God is not out to serve our every whim. Though Christians must have hearts set on God as this is part of our relationship with Him, we must guard against praying with the wrong attitude. Prayer is not an attempt to get God to agree with us or provide for our selfish desires but is an affirmation that He is in control, that He is righteous and deserves the worship that is rightfully His . . .

HOWEVER, He has made it plainly clear that our desires and purposes should conform to His will and glory. This is why Ephesians 6:18 instructs us to pray with “prayer and petitions;” that is, with general requests. Through prayer we express our insufficiency and our total dependence on Him. Personally, when I look at how insufficient and dependent I am on Him, it is not hard for me to follow the biblical command to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Do you realize that of all that we see and hear Jesus doing and saying in the gospels, we find He devoted the most energy to prayer. Read the gospel of Luke to see what I mean.

Looking at the model prayer (aka “The Lord’s Prayer”—this is not a prayer in itself, but a guideline) we find some interesting principles, the first being that God does not want us to pray so “generally” that we give Him nothing to answer (“God bless Robert today . . .”—what does that mean?). God actually wants us to be very specific because as He answers prayer, He is displaying His will and glory. We find in the model prayer the framework for the conversation (and notice when requests glorify Him):

“Our Father” (A father/child relationship—familial love and devotion);
“Who art in Heaven” (exaltation/humility);
“hallowed be Thy name” (Deity/worshipper--reverence);
“Thy Kingdom come” (Sovereign/subject--loyalty);
“Thy Will be done” (master/servant--obedience);
“give us this day our daily bread” (benefactor/beneficiary--dependence);
“forgive us our debts” (Savior/sinner--penitence);
“Do not lead us into temptation” (guide/pilgrim--humility);
“Thine is the kingdom” (triumph)
“and the glory” (exultation)
“forever” (hope).

He wants us to request, to the praise of His glory.

Oh, and as for asking for eternal life, that‘s part of repentance and turning from sin. Would you consider yourself to be a “Good Person?”