Prayer is an interesting animal

When people pray, it's said that they are asking God for something. Which I find kind of confusing. God allegedly already knows what's going to happen for the rest of eternity, so whatever you're asking for, he already knows whether you will get it or not. So if you are indeed going to receive what you're praying for, it will be at a specific time already known by God, and he just won't give it to you until then no matter how many times you ask. It's like a kid begging for his birthday present two months early, when his parents know 100% it ain't coming down from the top shelf of the closet for two more months. And, if God already knows that you will NEVER receive what you're praying for, then no amount of prayer by every human on earth will change that. So why bother asking God for things at all?

I've heard people say that prayer is a way of talking to God, and that he wants us to communicate with him. However it sucks for God because a lot of people's communication with him can be pretty one-sided, since they often only pray when they want something. They pray that God helps them get this new job, or keeps their mother safe during her flight home, or grants them the strength to discipline their kids properly, or heals their best friend's cancer. Which isn't to say that praying for what you want is a completely selfish motive – as often times these prayers are for the benefit of others. But if God has an infinite plan for the entire universe, who are we to ask him to alter it? Seems kinda selfish, even if it's for a seemingly good reason at the time.

However, what I've been discovering by learning more about the Christian faith, actually reading the bible, hearing quite a few people speak on the subject, and a shit-load of internal reflection, is this: the Christian faith offers countless instructions for people to NOT think about themselves, but to think about God and other people first. This is pretty counter-intuitive to human nature, since we only survived as a species by tending to our personal needs above all others. We've had 10,000,000 years of training on how to be selfish, but it would seemingly take an act of God for us to transcend from our animal selves into truly spiritual and selfless beings (pun kinda intended). For example, the typical, instinctive prayer of asking for what you want just doesn't make sense, both from a logical and selfish standpoint. If you were to do the exact opposite and instead use your prayer to thank God for the things that he has already given you, it might be a little more satisfying experience. Or, if you find that God has withheld your most burning desires even after much prayer, you could try to find the lesson to be learned from not getting what you wanted, and thank him for making you the wiser by not simply handing things out at your slightest whimper.

So all this being said, a perfect prayer might go something like this: "God I want to communicate with you, so I would like to please ask that you let this event play out according to your plan, which I already know it will. So I thank you if I get what I want, and if I don't get what I want, I also thank you for the lesson you taught me, and for the things you've already given me in the past."

Why not just say that one all the time? I think it could fit just about every circumstance.