It is okay to pray for yourself?

[subleet]

I am a believer in God and my new friend is saying that it is greedy to pray for yourself because you could instead be praying for those less fortunate than yourself. So am I in the wrong or what scriptures/advice should I show him?

[CalmUntilAbused]

I'd say You both have a point. It is not sinful to pray for Yourself, but praying for those less fortunate than You will help You give up on any potential egoism, and egoism (or at least too much of it) is sinful, since it contradicts love, which might be considered the very foundation of Christianity, since it was ultimately love that made Our Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice Himself for us.

Now, about the scriptures, I think Matthew 6:5-15 would fit. It pretty much states that both are fine, unless You indeed get too greedy in what You ask for Yourself. Then again, if Your Friend really wants to pick a fight, He might give You Matthew 6:25-34, or even James 4:3 in response, and unless Your prayers for Yourself are not of the kind mentioned there, but for something more generally beneficial, You'll be really hard-pressed to defend Yourself here. In direct violation of Matthew 6:2 and Matthew 6:5, I can give You some advice based on my own experience. If You have to pray for Yourself, pray for mental fortitude and endurance to withstand all this world throws at You (and since You're a believer, even though You are also a woman, it's going to hit You hard, if it has not begun the onslaught already). Then, if someone asks You to pray for them or for someone else they know, accept these requests. It will not hurt You, it might help them, and it will be altruistic enough to save You from egoism - though I have to warn You that it will bring happiness to You in the long term, as You realize the bond formed between You and the person who asked You to pray for them, so it will become less altruistic over time. Thus... Pray both for Yourself and for the others, and if You pray for Yourself, do not pray for anything that can be considered "goods", since You will get as much of them as You need anyway, but for what will make you both a better and a stronger person.

[strateguy632]

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/greed

Greed doesn't mean what that fool said. Pray for whatever you want.

I am 100% certain that you also pray for others not only for yourself so tell him what greed means.

[avery58]

In fact whenever you feel in despair, praying makes you feels like you're not alone and gives you hope. She's full of it... It's completely fine and even encouraged in Christianity to pray for yourself because it means you're putting your life in God's hands and you have faith in him.

[Agape93]

You're supposed to pray for yourself and to yourself.

[ProbablyClueless]

Of course it's okay to pray for yourself. Prayers are supposed to be your private conversations with god. All kinds of things come up. Your wants, the things you're thankful for, the events in other people's lives; basically anything that comes up in life is something you can pray about.

I know plenty of people who, one of the ways they deal with lusting after people who aren't their spouses is to pray about it.

[Anonymous]

If you wanna waste your time. There's nothing to pray TO! It won't do you any good or change any kind of an outcome.
20 years ago, 3000 people were killed on Sept. 11th. At least 75% of the world prayed for all those people to be saved. Obviously, it did no good! They all STILL DIED a horrible death! Why would you think praying would help YOU in any way, shape or form? If you prayed to a milk bottle, you'd get the exact same results.

[subleet]

Jesus love you, and everything happenes for a reason, a reason high about our understanding

[Opinion Owner]

Sure it does.

[CalmUntilAbused]

You seek blame in the wrong place. It was evil done by people, to people, a side effect of the gift of free will being abused. But since it's supposed to be free will, it's not like God Almighty can directly interfere. It's up to righteous people to take down evil people, simple as that. God Almighty has given us His Commandments, and He might even give us the strength to fight back against the evil, but it will always be our choice to either act or refrain from taking action.

[Opinion Owner]

@CalmUntilAbused Right! The "free will" excuse, again! I thought god had a deivine plan and EVERYTHING that happens is because he decided it so a VERY long time ago! So, again, with that in mind, what gives YOU the right to change his great plan by praying to ask him to change it JUST for YOU?
Well then, if he can't interfere, WHY pray for him to change shit JUST for YOU?
you mean that, if someone uses their free will to try and rob me, I'm supposed to wait for someone righteous to come along and subdue them? I'm not righteous and I take down evil any time I can! am I taking somebody else's jo away from them?
And, when he supposedly gave us these laws, didn't he also supposedly say that anyone who disobeys these laws will feel his wrath and burn in hell for all eternity? So, why are there so many millions of people committing evil deeds against people and none of them ever get punished by this god thingie? Could it POSSIBLY be that it's because IT DOESN'T EXIST?

[CalmUntilAbused]

Oh, but those evil people sure fear death a bit too much for an ordinary person. You cannot know what happens to them once they die... And by the way, self-defence is totally allowed, so if You take down evil any time You can... It kind of makes You righteous in its own way... As long as You're totally sure it's only evil that You take down.

As for the divine plan and the free will dilemma, it might be harder to understand for someone brought up in a Protestant environment, since they have that predestination theory going, which kind of contradicts free will. The point is, the divine plan takes everyone's free will into account. Though I guess if You're righteous, You can count on God Almighty bestowing revelations upon You that You might normally consider intuition if You pray for His help. That's the way I see it, anyway, since it's a case where Your free will corresponds with His own.

[Opinion Owner]

@CalmUntilAbused Thery can't fear it TAHT much if they aren't afraid to hurt and kill others.
A friend of mine died a few months ago. He said it was the most horrible experience of his life.
Exactly! so, what's the point of "the great plan" if you can make your own choices?
It's ALL man-made BULLSHIT to keep the stupider people in line and make them easier to control.

[strateguy632]

@CalmUntilAbused to calm. Content blame. Excellent retort reply comeback! 👨‍🎓🏅

[mrkdvsn]

My Catholic wife says she has a guardian angel who watches over her and helps protect her... due to the daily prayer she engages in, which includes praying for herself. I personally believe we should be praying for BOTH ourselves and for others... especially for those in "power"

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! Tell your friend that Job constantly prayed to God all while sort of cursing his name for God's harsh treatment of him.😆

The key is understanding God does not make deals. God will give you what you need not necessarily what you want. That God sees the bigger picture.

[Levin]

No, this is wrong. God wants you to love yourself and value yourself.

You can't love other people if you don't love yourself.

[DrPepper12]

No. Even atheists like me have a wish list we bounce around our mind while also being concerned for others. Self advocacy is a quality that no diety, if you believe, would EVER have a problem with.

[Staximus]

I'm not religious and maybe prayed once in my life a long time ago, but I think it's fine. As long as you're not praying for "sinful" reasons.

[ChicoFromThe305]

You should pray for yourself just how u pray for others

[slatyb]

Of course it's ok. It won't help, but it can't hurt.

[Update_Available]

You can pray (make a good WİSHES) for others too

[BCRanger10]

Yes. Why wouldn't it be?

[laraWM]

Yes, sure. You can do whatever you want

[LiamJHayden]

Of course. James 4:2-3

[strateguy632]

Superb!

[DryGermanGuy]

Sounds perfectly fine to me. :-)

[noohair]

Give me the strength to get through the day.

[Iron_Man]

Yes it is