Someone told me that if I prayed to God I would get a job

I don't believe that God's gifts are worldly things. They seem to be grace, salvation, forgiveness, acceptance. Note I said gifts (Not entitlements to us). These sorts of things are what I think of.

When someone tells me to pray for a job, that is a worldly thing to me. I see it as worldly mainly because our job does so much for our outward esteem. In America, so many people think we/they are what we/they have.

I feel like I'd be giving in to something if I did pray for a job. I'd be weakening my own worldly drive for success (by passing some of it off to the spiritual/hope), and clouding my spiritual eyes all at the same time (By putting worldly crap in the way). So praying for a job seems like the last thing I should do.

Don't get me wrong, I want a lot of nice things, I want a great job. I'm going to work really hard for it. I just like to keep the material seperate from the spiritual.

Would love to hear comments on praying for worldly vs. spiritual things. I feel like if the lines get too blurry, you just weaken yourself. But then there are many who believe everything happens through God. But then some believe God works through us. Some believe both. I think this idea (which I think is a mistake) of "Pray for a job" Is a great way to look into this some more.

Would you pray for a job? Would you pray for a car? Clothes? Food? A house? A nice house? Is it OK to pray for something material if it doesn't raise your status?

Just some thoughts and questions!

Why wouldn't he, Jesus said ask and you shall receive.

All you need is enough faith, read my signature.

Originally posted by thehumbleone
Why wouldn't he, Jesus said ask and you shall receive.

but there isn't any evidence to show that praying for personal profit isn't unethical or that praying works

All you need is enough faith, read my signature.

counterpoint
i've interviewed a quite few holocaust survivors in that last 2 years, and they ALL had faith that god would prevent hitler from going any further than rounding them up in ghettos

are you saying that the combined faith of 6 million of god's chosen people isn't enough to sway god to intervene?

here's how i see prayer
praying to god for help is like praying to a jug of milk (this isn't an original comparison and i cannot remember the original source)

let's say that your friend tells you "if you pray to this jug of milk, you will get anything you ask for"

so, you pray for $2000

there are few possibilities
1: you pray and nothing happens, those with faith in the jug tell you that if you wait you shall receive
2: you pray and the next you get a $2000 tax refund check in the mail, clearly the jug of milk didn't do anything because the check was already in the mail
3: you pray the first possibility happens, then a few months later you get a cost of living raise of $2000 a year, clearly the jug of milk didn't do anything there either

Well its all about confidence, I suppose if you pray to god for a job and go out there with that extra confidence that you will get a job then you are more likely to get the job you want, so praying indirectly helped you get a job, that doesn't mean god had anything to do with it though. However if you pray to god and then sit there expecting one to land on your lap just because you prayed it will never happen.

but there isn't any evidence to show that praying for personal profit isn't unethical or that praying works
counterpoint
i've interviewed a quite few holocaust survivors in that last 2 years, and they ALL had faith that god would prevent hitler from going any further than rounding them up in ghettos

are you saying that the combined faith of 6 million of god's chosen people isn't enough to sway god to intervene?

here's how i see prayer
praying to god for help is like praying to a jug of milk (this isn't an original comparison and i cannot remember the original source)

let's say that your friend tells you "if you pray to this jug of milk, you will get anything you ask for"

so, you pray for $2000

there are few possibilities
1: you pray and nothing happens, those with faith in the jug tell you that if you wait you shall receive
2: you pray and the next you get a $2000 tax refund check in the mail, clearly the jug of milk didn't do anything because the check was already in the mail
3: you pray the first possibility happens, then a few months later you get a cost of living raise of $2000 a year, clearly the jug of milk didn't do anything there either

CAUTION!! THREAD HIJACK IN PROGRESS :shk: :shk: :shk:



[edit on 27-2-2007 by thehumbleone]

If I were the praying type, I would think it would be fine to pray for a job.

A job is not only a worldly thing in my opinion. Do you think that God would want you to go hungry? Be evicted? Be unable to help the poor? Be unable to support your church?

Some jobs serve the greater good of creation. Aren't you worthy of that?

If I were the praying type, here is what I would say:

"Great God in Heaven,
While I await your coming kingdom I look for you to guide and sustain all your creations. Help my friend Novise to find a job so that his needs may be met while he works for your greater glory. Forgive him of anything that might stand in his way in this endeavor and lead him to a job which will be in harmony with your will and that will best serve your purpose and your plan. At the same time I ask that you protect him from worldly distractions, keeping him focused on what matters most.
This I ask, in the name of your son, Jesus.
Amen"

What's wrong with that? I ask sincerely as I am not a Christian.

However, I remember something about the Lord's Prayer being a guide to addressing God. I took the Lord's Prayer and just tailored it a bit. After all there is that line about "Give us this day, our daily bread." So Jesus must have thought it was fine to pray for nourishment. (Unless you want to look at the passage as metaphorical.) These days we get our 'daily bread' by trading our paycheck for groceries - and you can't get a paycheck without a job.

I think a job is a good thing beyond material sustenance, as well. Sometimes we need our mind to be busy.

Paul said in the bible it is good to work with our hands.
God gave me a job once - i wasn't even looking for one but needed one. I had given up. It was in a sign shop! A sign!

Remember when you pray to pray 'in Jesus name.' He said that whatever we ask in his name he would supply.

God loves you.

Originally posted by queenannie38
I think a job is a good thing beyond material sustenance, as well. Sometimes we need our mind to be busy.

Paul said in the bible it is good to work with our hands.
God gave me a job once - i wasn't even looking for one but needed one. I had given up. It was in a sign shop! A sign!

Remember when you pray to pray 'in Jesus name.' He said that whatever we ask in his name he would supply.

God loves you.

Beautiful post Queen, it's nice to hear some kind words, especially after hearing all the godless hate that's spewed onto these posts.:shk:



[edit on 27-2-2007 by thehumbleone]

Why wouldn't he, Jesus said ask and you shall receive.

Oh yes, it's not about if he would or wouldn't give me what I asked for. I actually feel some sort of faith that if I did pray for it, I would be helped out in some way. At the very least gain positive attitude/confidence as Edn says later.

The issue at hand is the wisdom in asking for a job through prayer.

Would this confidence be misplaced because I prayed, and now I am less realistic in judging my situation? Would I lose part of my spiritual side, by making the line between the material and the spirit more and more greyish?

Edn, I agree with that completely. I just wonder what the trade-offs would be. If you applied that to life in general, then the more and more you prayed for a bit of a confidence boost, wouldn't the value of this confidence wear out the more and more you did it? Like the boy who cried wolf I guess? This would inevitably make you a weaker person perhaps.

but there isn't any evidence to show that praying for personal profit isn't unethical or that praying works

Right, which could possibly A) make me feel bad (if I think I am doing something unethical) and/or B) give me misplaced faith/confidence (thinking it might work)!

And let me also say that there isn't any evidence to show that praying for non-material things works (or doesn't) Since the spiritual is just out of our reach, we can't prove that these prayers don't help out over there! Wherever that is.

If I were the praying type, I would think it would be fine to pray for a job.

A job is not only a worldly thing in my opinion. Do you think that God would want you to go hungry? Be evicted? Be unable to help the poor? Be unable to support your church?

Some jobs serve the greater good of creation. Aren't you worthy of that?

Awesome, this changes my POV a little.

I have to clarify that when I say worldly I do not mean "Catering to the world." I mean "Of the world"

Nothing is wrong with that prayer in my opinion, it's pretty nice actually . About daily bread, that makes a lot of sense. I agree that they are talking about food/means for living, because they say daily.

I think a job is a good thing beyond material sustenance, as well. Sometimes we need our mind to be busy.

Hmm thanks, kinda puts a job in the middle of the material and the spiritual. Our work and life experience here means something... Ok I think I forgot about that lol.

BTW I did not make this post to decide if I should pray for it or not. I just wanted to use it for an example to get discussion going. But, I have to admit it will affect my decision lol. Something about perceptions change when we discuss stuff

I'd still love to hear more. I don't think anything is wrong with praying for this now. I just wonder could the prayer time be better spent, searching for spiritual blessings, and just focus on the physical as we do our life's work? Keeping the two seperate?

And doesn't it defeat the purpose of the challenges of the world (which we learn from), if we keep asking that it be made easier on us?

Novise, I used to think like that all the time.

I used to tell myself "God's not gonna want to help me with this, why would he?"

But I realized that if you can believe, anything is possible. Jesus even said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea, and it would.

Originally posted by thehumbleone
CAUTION!! THREAD HIJACK IN PROGRESS

yes, two completely relavent and on topic arguments are very off topic

i'm not even throwing into question the existence of a deity here
just the validity of the power of prayer

Originally posted by Novise
I just wonder could the prayer time be better spent, searching for spiritual blessings, and just focus on the physical as we do our life's work? Keeping the two seperate?

Luckily, there is no limit on prayers sent. We can pray all the day long if we like. If we believe and pray in Jesus name, then the possibilities are limitless!

'With God all things are possible!'

As far as separation is concerned...Christ was the incarnation of spirit, so to speak. The actual manifestation of the fact there need be no true separation in our soul.

And doesn't it defeat the purpose of the challenges of the world (which we learn from), if we keep asking that it be made easier on us?

I don't know exactly. But you know, getting a job doesn't always mean life is going to be easier on us...in some ways, yes - we can buy groceries and eat! But very few jobs are easy....those that are too easy are boring and bring their own type of un-easiness.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul

Originally posted by thehumbleone
CAUTION!! THREAD HIJACK IN PROGRESS

yes, two completely relavent and on topic arguments are very off topic

i'm not even throwing into question the existence of a deity here
just the validity of the power of prayer

Madness, your arguments are not relevant on this post.

Why? Because the OP obviously believes in prayer.

Take you thread hijacking elsewhere.

Originally posted by thehumbleone
Madness, your arguments are not relevant on this post.

Why? Because the OP obviously believes in prayer.

well, i never said prayer was bad either
i just basically used logic to demonstrate it has no power in the realm of physical gain

from a theist point of view, i'd see prayer as a means to get spiritual empowerment
nothing more

so, again, you misinterpret my points and make me out to be a bad guy

is this what i get for arguing within a set of postulates that aren't in sync with my own belief system?

Either way, it's so refreshing to talk about stuff with all of you.

I find so much meaning in the things you write.

Madness and Humbleone - I related to every one of of your posts, all of them, both of you. Not just saying that to say it either.

"Christ was the incarnation of spirit, so to speak. The actual manifestation of the fact there need be no true separation in our soul. "

Wow, here's some thoughts that will be on my mind next few days, there you go again.

Not to mention the rest of the thread...

I see no reason whatsoever why you should not pray for a job, God wants us all to talk (Pray) to him like you would your own father. Mind you, you won't allways get what you ask for neither. At least you are communicating with God though.
Cheers
Jon1

At some point in your life, you should at least try new things.

Think of it as good mojo if nothing else.

Hmm well don't get me wrong. Didn't post about my situation to get advice, just wanted to use it as an example to get discussion going.

Sure, God may be able to listen to you for infinity and again and love it. But how does prayer remain special to YOU, the times you do it because "it couldn't hurt?"

Also, what about the idea that God already knows your thoughts... I mean what you are doing is communicating with God. So really, it's 90% personal (which does not have to be seperate, but I think is for me at least). He already knows your deepest wishes, before you even conciously ask or know yourself... The fact that you take the time to voice it is where I believe the only difference is, because he knew your wishes anyway... If you are always voicing it, again I wonder, how does that hold meaning to YOU!!

I'm really learning a lot from you guys, I just want my objections to be understood. I agree, I could just sit back and say "It doesn't hurt," or "It's such a silly thing to worry about," but where's the philosophical fun in that?

I think it would be a perfectly acceptable thing to do, assuming that you had faith and good motivation. If you pray for a job so you can pay the rent, raise a family, and put food on the table, there's nothing wrong with that. If you pray for a job so that you can fund a coc aine habit, that's another story... :p (I'm not implying you have one, just an example)

I was always taught that you are supposed to pray for righteous and good things, and if getting a job will help you do righteous and good things, then go for it.

Originally posted by Novise
But how does prayer remain special to YOU, the times you do it because "it couldn't hurt?"

1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.