Are there things I shouldn’t pray about?

President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has said, “If we ‘ask not amiss,’ there are no limits to when, where, or about what we should pray.” So, what does it mean to “ask amiss”?

James gives us a clue: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3; emphasis added). So this has less to do with what we ask and more to do with why. If we’re praying with purely selfish feelings, we may be asking amiss.

We can share our feelings with our Heavenly Father, even our feelings of frustration and sadness. We should ask for His help. When we make mistakes, we should repent. We should strive to be obedient and faithful and seek the Lord’s will rather than our own. Then when we pray, there are no limits to what we should pray about.

We may ask questions that have already been answered. And God may gently guide us to the answers that have already been given. We may also ask questions that God has never answered. And God may continue not to answer. The key is to seek His will and trust that He knows more than we do.