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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For me it’s the concept of prayer. It just doesn’t make sense. That a loving benevolent god would answer some prayers and not others. Deem some worthy of saving and not others, especially innocent children. It just cannot be reconciled with any modern definition of religion. [/quote]

Eastern religions are more based on practice than belief. When you see prayer as practice for yourself to meditate and find a good answer,  prayer ceases to be confusing. Because there is no God who grants wishes. Prayer is just a mechanism to reach higher intellect. [/quote]

There are definitely many, particularly in the US, who believe God grants wishes.[/quote]

That’s false. No where on the Bible does it state God grants wishes. [/quote]

I did not state it was in the Bible. I said many in the US believe God grants wishes and they do. They believe God will solve their infertility, help them afford a house, cure their cancer, elect the right president. You name it, they believe God is going to do it because they prayed for it. “The power of prayer.” They absolutely believe this. [/quote]

Asking God in prayer is different than asking a genie to grant a wish.

People ask God for help in prayer for every human hope and fear imaginable.

People pray for help and healing for other people, even people they don’t personally know.

People use prayer as confession, meditation, worship, surrender, reflection, or to feel connected to something greater than oneself.

Even people who are unsure whether God exists sometimes pray during moments of fear, grief, love, or desperation.

You are offended that someone is praying privately and not harming, pressuring, or targeting anyone, it says more about you (and none of it flattering) than the person praying to God.
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I did not say I was offended and am not offended. I was merely refuting the claim that people don’t think God grants wishes. There are DEFINITELY people who think that they wanted something, prayed to God about it, and then received it because they prayed. If that’s not believing in wish granting, I’m not sure what is.  [/quote]

I don’t know a single person who ever once said they are going to make a wish to God and He would grant it. Not one person. Ever. Who in your life said that they are going to make a wish to God so he could grant their wish?[/quote]

https://www.gotquestions.org/whatever-you-ask-in-my-name.html

“When Jesus says to pray “in my name,” He means that we can pray in His authority. He has provided the access we need to heaven. When [b]our requests[/b], made in the name of His Son, further God’s purposes and kingdom, [b]God will act [/b]on our behalf, and in the end the Father will be “glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).”
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You left out this:

[color=red]Jesus is not promising to be a personal vending machine; rather, He is encouraging confidence and faithfulness in prayer.[/color]

“ Jesus is not promising to be a personal vending machine; rather, He is encouraging confidence and faithfulness in prayer. When Jesus says to pray “in my name,” He means that we can pray in His authority. He has provided the access we need to heaven. When our requests, made in the name of His Son, further God’s purposes and kingdom, God will act on our behalf, and in the end the Father will be “glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). A good example of such a prayer is Christ’s in the garden where He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).”

Of course, if we are asking for things that we don’t need or that are contrary to the character or will of Christ, then we cannot expect to receive those things (see James 4:3).

When He said He would give “whatever you ask in my name,” Jesus was not delivering a magical formula for getting whatever we want. He was giving us a guiding principle to align one’s desires with God’s. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we pray according to the will of God; we pray for what will honor and glorify Jesus. God will provide the means necessary to accomplish His objectives, and He equips us as His servants. Ultimately, God receives all the glory and praise for what is done.“

James 4:3

James 4:3 states that prayers often go unanswered because they are motivated by selfish desires rather than God's will. The verse, according to Bible Gateway, explains that requests are denied when asked with wrong motives ("amiss"), intended only for personal pleasure or passions, rather than for honorable purposes.

James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.“

God and the Bible state something totally different than the atheist rhetoric repeated here. The atheist who posted the got questions link left out a huge, pertinent part of the answer to suit their opinion. 
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TLDR: if you have “honorable” wishes, god will grant them.

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