1 John 5:15

An amplification of the second limitation. “We have our requests” not always as we pray but as we would pray were we wiser. God gives not what we ask but what we really need. cf. Shak., Ant. and Cleop. i. ii.:

“We, ignorant of ourselves,

Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers

Deny us for our good; so find we profit,

By losing of our prayers”.

Prayer is not dictation to God but ἀνάβασις νοῦ πρὸς Θεὸν καὶ αἴτησις τῶν προσηκόντων παρὰ Θεοῦ (Joan. Damasc. De. Fid. Orthod., iii. 24). Clem. Alex.: “Non absolute dixit quod petierimus sed quod oportet petere'.