But Doesn't Jesus 'Tell Us' that He's Lying when He Says Our ''Prayers for You'' Will Be Answered?

I treat them kind of like 'reciting "The Constitution (of the United States of America)" (as an American citizen).' Learning them & reciting them, you feel like you are "staking your claim on those rules & rights"---the American Constitution-reciter is essentially 'announcing to the world' "These are the rights that are my rights as long as I obey the laws stated by the leaders listed by this set of rules." (The Constitution sets the conditions for becoming a Senator, Judge or President, and they manage the list of laws known as the USC.)

@mythociate Yes, it is the time for picking cherries and right now they are so good. Enjoy!

cherry-picking Jude dares us, "Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

@1hopefulman how easily distracted we Christians are by carefree happiness Sort of like one of my favorite hymns: "I danced on the Sabbath when I healed the lame; The holy people said it was a shame. They whipped & stripped & hung me high And left me up on a Cross to die ... "Dance, Dance wherever you may be. I am the Lord of the Dance, said He, And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, For I am the Lord of the Dance, said He." When I say cherry-picking, I'm talking about the "sinful" practice of taking just a few verses (out of context) and collecting them together as if THEY are the message and don't carry any of 'the bad stuff in The Bible' with them. But then you take that word and deny the full meaning, taking only 'the happy part someone might mean' (even though it has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion)

Does God hear your needs or your most-popular wants?

@mythociate Some does (maybe just coincidence) and some don't... I think we are on our own here... We play to the beat of the wind.

@simplfred That reminds me of another theory-about-prayer I have---that God--rather than 'plan to answer our prayers later'--has ALREADY answered ALL our prayers, but does not EVER 'lead us directly to the answers'---sort of like the old saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" ... 'God can lead a pray-ers to the prayer's answer, but God can't make them "unwrap the gift" or "take it as their own." As I mentioned, maybe I was praying for 'a woman about my age to be my partner & help me build a family,' but I never aimed to be 'in the proper position to "catch me one"' (i.e. steadily employed, rather than living as a dependant off of my care-giver's income plus a meager insurance-settlement), but I have to be satisfied with 'my position as a single, childless wise-man' (37 years old being generally 'too late to hope for a new family-beginning'). I guess I missed- (or 'never could reach') the chance to 'fulfill the contract of the prayer'---yes, God probably 'fulfilled his end of the bargain'; but there are 6 steps to 'fulfilling the contract of the prayer' (I believe, I will, I take it, I have it, I thank you for it, I forgive) that I couldn't get past step 3 of.