CQotW: How do you think we as Christians can better go about praying in Jesus' name?

Will try to post my thoughts later, but wanted to go ahead and get the discussion started.

By aligning our will with God's. If we are truly in God's Will we will ask for things that God would (If He had to ask ) You won't be asking for things of material worth. Just my thoughts.

I think that by praying for others more (much more) than praying for ourselves.

hvymtlcowboy wrote:By aligning our will with God's. If we are truly in God's Will we will ask for things that God would (If He had to ask ) You won't be asking for things of material worth. Just my thoughts.

I don't know, I never felt like there was anything awry in asking for help with the material, as long as you didn't get greedy. "God, please help me find a decent car in my budget and not get cheated," is one thing. "God, I really want a Ferrari, so please make one appear in my driveway with the keys in it tomorrow," is another... and there's a lot of ground between the two. I agree that it's wrong to ask for stuff to be just handed to us with no effort on our own part, but I don't think it's off-alignment to ask for a little guidance and aid with material endeavors.

Good thoughts from all of you guys!

Maybe prayer is ultimately about aligning our will with God's. It's not always God's will for us to be safe and secure. Jesus prepared His disciples for much persecution, and the Bible is clear we Christians should expect trials and persecution. With the freedoms most of us enjoy, we have a hard time really relating to the gravity of that; at least I do.

So, back more to answering the question, I would say praying with the attitude of "not my will, but God's will." We should pray asking what the Lord wants in a situation more than asking Him to work it out a particular way...the way we want.

By realising it's not the words "in Jesus' name" that's important but the meaning of our prayers. Also prayers are not always petitions but sometimes just talking to God.