I was at a morning mass recently and the priest was reciting a prayer attributed to St. Pio. The last line read, "Even God needs our prayer." Does this not imply that there is a need in God who is complete in himself?
God needs our prayers..just like He needs our sacrifices. But we must offer them to Him. Prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of love, adoration. All our prayers go to God to change things the way He wants, not the way we want it.
So, are you saying God is not complete in himself and is lacking something? That doesn't sit well with me for some reason.
I have no answers other than what I wrote. i should have said God wants, not needs .We are lacking, not God. I'm sure someone else could explain it for you. We are called to pray. Good luck![/QUOTE]
Context: God is already All-Knowing and All-Powerful, there is no lacking in Him. He actually does not need prayers to accomplish His plan, but the mere fact that God ordained that we pray to Him, then that is the way it should be: to derive an even greater good. God is already Great and Merciful. But by praying to Him we even magnify His Greatness and Mercy more. That's the difference. Didn't St. Thomas de Aquinas say that Mercy is God's greatest attribute? Mercy can only be granted if one asks for it. Contrast this if He just continues giving people all the things they need without even talking to Him.
I think the key here is how you interpret "need." Yes, I would absolutely say God needs our prayers. But "need" in this case means something along the lines of Jesus' level of desire when He said "I thirst." He thirsts for souls to the depths of the heart of God, which we cannot even begin to comprehend. And since God has ordained that souls be saved through the prayers and sacrifices of the communion of saints, united to Christ through Mary, Jesus would say that He needs, longs for, our prayers. He needs all we can give to help Him bestow the amount of grace He wants to pour out on the world. Remember that when He entered certain towns during his ministry on Earth, the Bible says He "could work no miracles there," because of the people's lack of faith. And remember His emotional address to the hardened hearts of the Jews: "How I would have gathered you up like a hen gathers her chicks...but you would not." God allows us to tie His own hands, so to speak, and cannot work miracles or gather us to Himself without our cooperation.
In reflection,I think the word that troubled me more was the "Even" and the way it was read. It was like the priest (unintentionally) was bringing God down to a human level.
I believe that is a direct quote from Padre Pio. I'm sure Padre Pio wasn't trying to bring God down to our level...but Jesus does have not only a divine nature, but a human one, with a human Heart. Keep in mind that Padre Pio was frequently visited by Christ literally sobbing over the wounds inflicted on Him by His chosen souls He loved so much. Padre Pio's own heart (which was actually fused with Christ's) suffered tremendously seeing Christ so broken-hearted. He was likely coming from that place when he begged people to pray to God, because even God needs our prayers.
I sometimes think of God being tied with golden handcuffs. These golden handcuffs are the requirements of His love for us, causing Him to hunger for our love. We hunger for Him, but He hungers a thousand times more for us. We bring Him low so to speak. He bends down to us. His love nails Him to the Cross.
I don’t believe God needs our prayers because something is lacking in Him. But I do think He chooses to involve us in what He is doing, and that our prayers really matter. It makes me think of St. Paul saying he fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions .. i think in Colossians? That has always struck me as a mystery. Nothing is lacking in Christ’s sacrifice, yet Paul and all of us are given a part to play for the sake of the Church. And also through our baptism, we are made priests, Prophets, and kings so we share in Christ’s priestly calling to pray and intercede for others. In a mysterious way only known to God, He asks us to work with Him. So I would understand “even God needs our prayer” in that sense that God has chosen to make room for us and our prayers in His plan. I agree that taken literally, the wording could make it sound as though God himself is incomplete. But He is not. The joy of Heaven when we at last comprehend all of this.
The reality and truth of our Lord's Incarnation reveals the humble love of God entering into our fallen world. He could have with a single thought resolved our fallen dilemma, but His taking on our human nature points to our role of cooperation in the Plan of Salvation! Our prayers and our charity and our willingness to forgive are necessarily interwoven into such a Plan. Thus the truth that we are the Body of Christ. This is how I humbly perceive it. Philippians 1:9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
