ps of the body, but by pious desires
and devout prayers.
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SIXTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 83, Art. 6]

Whether Man Ought to Ask God for Temporal Things When He Prays?

Objection 1: It would seem that man ought not to ask God for temporal
things when he prays. We seek what we ask for in prayer. But we
should not seek for temporal things, for it is written (Matt. 6:33):
"Seek ye . . . first the kingdom of God, and His justice: and all
these things shall be added unto you," that is to say, temporal
things, which, says He, we are not to seek, but they will be added to
what we seek. Therefore temporal things are not to be asked of God in
prayer.

Obj. 2: Further, no one asks save for that which he is solicitous
about. Now we ought not to have solicitude for temporal things,
according to the saying of Matt. 6:25, "Be not solicitous for your
life, what you shall eat." Therefore we ought not to ask for temporal
things when we pray.

Obj. 3: Further, by prayer our mind should be raised up to God. But
by asking for temporal things, it descends to things beneath it,
against the saying of the Apostle (2 Cor. 4:18), "While we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are
not seen are eternal." Therefore man ought not to ask God for
temporal things when he prays.

Obj. 4: Further, man ought not to ask of God other than good and
useful things. But sometimes temporal things, when we have them, are
harmful, not only in a spiritual sense, but also in a material sense.
Therefore we should not ask God for them in our prayers.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Prov. 30:8): "Give me only the
necessaries of life."

_I answer that,_ As Augustine says (ad Probam, de orando Deum, Ep.
cxxx, 12): "It is lawful to pray for what it is lawful to desire."
Now it is lawful to desire temporal things, not indeed principally,
by placing our end therein, but as helps whereby we are assisted in
tending towards beatitude, in so far, to wit, as they are the means
of supporting the life of the body, and are of service to us as
instruments in performing acts of virtue, as also the Philosopher
states (Ethic. i, 8). Augustine too says the same to Proba (ad
Probam, de orando Deum, Ep. cxxx, 6, 7) when he states that "it is
not unbecoming for anyone to desire enough for a livelihood, and no
more; for this sufficiency is desired, not for