The Power of Prayer

Im not an atheist, but I honestly dont understand praying for something to happen...If prayer worked, innocent people wouldnt be murdered, little children wouldnt go hungry, we'd have world peace, and the Texans would have been NFL champions by now.

 

People like to hear that others are praying for them because it's a sign that others care... regardless of whether they are an atheist or religious.

Example: an atheist wouldn't go nuts if somebody said they would pray for their loved ones (...right?).

 

I agree with your thoughts that prayers won't do much good, but there is a clear difference between faith and prayer.

Forget religion, forget all of that and think about the human mind. Most people who are in dire situations need a way to get out, whether it be a death, depression, or something else that is negatively effecting a person. What religion, prayer, and faith effectively do is give hope, whether that is a good or bad thing is something that can be discussed, but it is undeniable that the tenants of faith do provide positives to people's lives without even coming through.

So, in my opinion, yes, it probably won't happen, but you always gotta have hope...

 

Do we really need to have this debate right now?


Seems a bit insensitive.

 

Perfectly explainable.

1. Saints fans prayed more for their team success than Texans fans -> Saints winning SB and Texans out of the playoffs.
2. Number of people who pray for self-interest >>>>>>>>> Number of people who pray for the interest of people in general -> A selfish, immoral world with no world peace
3. Murderers pray more for being able to kill their victims than victims pray that they don't get murdered unexpectedly -> Murders occur
4. I got nothing on the hungry children thing. Sorry...

 

There is a difference between prayer and faith, prayer is communication with God. For those of you who have wives, what would happen if you would stop talking to them?... The relationship will start to fall apart, if you arent praying every day then how can you have a good relationship with God?...... I Love to challenge people to first know God and then make the decision to believe or not to belive. The power of prayer is powerful, but what good is prayer if I only do it when I need something. Prayer can only be as powerful as you choose, if you choose to have a close relationship to God and seek him than prayer is powerful. God is not just God, he is a friend in time of need and in times of joy. But just like any friendship to work out, it takes time with eachother in order for that friendship to grow.

To the poster who said that prayer does not work because of all the chaos in this world. God is not the one causing these terrible things to happen, everyone points to God when things go wrong when in reality we are the ones causing the pain...... God wants to help, but he cant when more and more people deny him. You cant help the world, but I know you can help yourself if you choose to seek him and find out who God really is and what wonders he can work in your life. Not religion, but God....

Now faith, what is faith? Faith is giving the issue and the problem to God. A little prayer just admiting to him that you cant handle your problems but that you put your trust on him to fix, heal, restore, anything that is hurting in your life. The word of Christ says, it only takes a mustard size seed of faith to make a mountain move. A mustard seed is the smallest kind of seed in the world I think, just a little bit of hope and trust on God that he will come throu when the time is right is faith.

 

And may I please add that prayer and faith does work. No, maybe some of yall dont have great relationships with God..... But if any of yall have anything going on then talk to him, I promise you he is listening and that he wants to help. I promise you that if you seek him that you will find him....... I haver seen cancer healed on prayer/faith, I have seen crippled get up from wheel chairs and start walking, I have seen an 8 yr old girl with a limp all of a sudden have her right leg extended to give her an even walk. I belive because I have seen the power and wonders of God...

 

He took this discussion out of the thread and put it in D&D, where it belongs, as a separate topic altogether. Seems like he was trying to be sensitive to me.

I mean, let's face it: someone on the BBS is always in need, so when do we stop to discuss his very valid question?

As for the original question, a pastor once said to me: "God always answers prayer. It's just the people can't understand that the answer is sometimes 'No'." Which leads, of course, to the next logical question: why is the answer "No"? Most Christians believe that God has a divine plan, that he sees the "big picture", so to speak, and that his answers fall within that plan. Much like a child who doesn't know why Mom or Dad said "No" but goes along with their decision because the child trusts their judgment, Christians don't get to know the "why", they must go along with God's plan, trusting in His judgment. This is called "faith", and is the really nebulous crux of the issue the op was trying to address.

 

Prayer is a desperate grasp for control when you have none.... Even an ardent atheist will "pray" when their plane plummets 30,000 ft.

It is because it takes processing power and organization in your brain to make rational judgments about the world, and everyone reverts to this simplified operating system when in a full blown panic. It isn't good or evil that gets people trampled to death when escaping a fire, it is a loss of rational power due to our biology.

 

I know dylan is a good egg and wouldn't want to be like that, but I know the way this thread will end up, and it certainly isn't what a man whose sister might have serious health issues wants to have to see.

 

I kinda doubt that unless they were not really an atheist to begin with.

 

Thank you.

 

... earthquake in Haiti was their own fault?

 

if things go they way you prayed they would go, it's an answered prayer from god and reason to glorify him.

if things don't go the way you prayed they would go, it is our fault, not god's.

god is always in a win-win situation.

 

It's awfully arrogant to ask the creator of everything to alter his plan(s) just because you don't like something about it.

 

Hi I pretty much never post but I felt the need to answer this question.

I don't think that he was saying that people themselves are completely responsible for all the evil that happens in the world. I am gonna try to explain what I believe is the Christian world view, although I have been wrong more than once so this time might not be any different

At first man lived in a perfect world so- to-speak. Man sinned. The world around him was no longer perfect because of that sin. Sin degrades everything it comes in contact with, and eventually destroys it. So once sin entered the world, the world started to decay. So from a Christian world view, I believe that all these natural disasters and what not are an indirect result of sin entering the world.

God could destroy sin but that would also involve destroying man, as man is sinful. So God allows sin to continue, in order to save man. God has a plan to save man, which is Jesus' death. After Jesus' death, God still doesn't destroy sin, but allows it to continue until all people that will be saved come to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus. Eventually God will destroy sin, which includes the sinful aspects of the world we live in.

So I believe what the other poster was trying to say was not that people themselves cause bad things to happen, but that as a result of the sin that is now in the world, bad things invariably do happen.

 

do you ever feel like god made it much more complicated than it needed to be? humans commit the heinous act of acting like humans so an omnipotent being needs to become a human so he can get killed and for some reason this negates all the "sins"? but god lets it continue until everyone prays an arbitrary prayer that acknowledges belief in himself? seems like such petty mind games.

 

I guess you could say it is complicated, but I don't agree that people are just "acting like humans," as I believe this is not the way God intended humans to act. I believe sin has perverted what we as humans do.

And I believe it wasn't just God coming down to get killed, but God taking our place in His punishment for us. By Jesus' death, God could then credit Jesus' righteousness to people who believe in Jesus, thereby reuniting people to Himself, and saving them from His wrath. I'm not gonna pretend to understand how all this is even possible, or how God can credit us with His righteousness, but I trust that it happened.

I think that the mindset some people have is that they don't see themselves as lost, but they see themselves as just normal people, living in a normal world. And what kind of normal person needs a savior? Which I also believe is why some people have such a hard time with the idea of admitting that they need Jesus, because they don't think that they do.

However, this is what I believe, and I in no way want to act like I am the only right person while everyone else is wrong. I believe everyone has a choice to do whatever they want to in this life, and to believe whatever they want to believe. However, because of my belief in the Bible, I also believe that there are consequences for certain beliefs.

As for you "arbitrary prayer" point, I don't agree with it. I believe becoming a Christ-follower means to make a decision to actually put your faith and hope for this life and the next in Jesus, and let Him work throughout your life. I don't believe this process is the same for everyone, and I don't claim to know if someone is a real Christian or not, but I do believe that the essence of Christianity is faith in Jesus, not an arbitrary prayer.