I was raised in a family where faith in God was important. We went to church regularly and prayed before meals. Although I don't remember lengthy discussions with my parents about their faith, I always remember that their faith was very important to them.
When I was in Jr. High, one of my older brothers got cancer. He was just out of high school, and I looked up to him a lot. He gradually got sicker and sicker and the doctors didn't give us much hope, and in fact they said his chances of living were one in a million. Our family of 7 began praying together regularly for my brother. We had never prayed this feverenly together for anything. Our small church (about 100) also began praying often for him.
At one point, the doctors decided to do a surgery to try to remove some of the many tumors around his intestines. When the opened him up, the cancer was gone! He started getting better, and growing stronger eventually was discharged from the hospital. Even the doctors agreed that this was a miracle without explaination other than God.
That experience changed me. My faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ began to become my own, and not just that of my parents.
God certainly doesn't always work exacltly in ways we pray for, but I hope I will never doubt the potential for Him to respond to prayer.
If I pick up a a heads up penny, then notices a lottery ticket mostly cover by another peace of garbage, the I pick it up to find that its the only winning power ball lottery ticket (a multi state lottery with the odds of winning 1 in 146,107,962, the odds of finding the winning ticket, far worse and the odds or noticing it under another peace of trash while waking down the street, well I don't think there is a name for a number that big). Did me picking up the heads up pinning give me good luck and did that luck lead me to finding the ticket?
2 and 2 dose not always make 4.
Last edited by The Conspirator on Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
the hell you talking about
I can testify to the fact that Prayers really work and God always answers them in His own Divine and inscrutable ways which may appear miraculous to us.
I have solved financial, relationship, job and other difficulties sheerly through prayer.
I recall Mary Baker Eddy's statement:: Desire is Prayer. I fully agree with the author as I have realised several times the miraculous Divine Power.
| Quote: |
| I have solved financial, relationship, job and other difficulties sheerly through prayer. |
Really? Or did you salve those your self with your own mind and intellect?
The biggest argument against prier, is how many people pried and never got anything, the many who prayed for a relative who ended up dead, the many who pried for the needed help that never came.Prayer is a powerful weapon, and it can't be taken lightly. For the people who prayed about a relative, and the relative still died, they probably come to accept (sooner or later) that God's will is everything. His plan is everything, and if that includes their relative dying, then so be it. Worshipping God means submitting to Him, His will, His plan.
My friend of 16 years of age was recently diagnosed with cancer, and I don't know how well he would be doing without the prayers of everyone he knows.
| Soulfire wrote: |
| My friend of 16 years of age was recently diagnosed with cancer, and I don't know how well he would be doing without the prayers of everyone he knows. |
Well the knowledge that a lot of people were praying (=caring) about him must certainly have been a great help.
However, I think god (if existing) rather wants us to intervene ourselves instead of him doing all the work. | Soulfire wrote: |
Prayer is a powerful weapon, and it can't be taken lightly. For the people who prayed about a relative, and the relative still died, they probably come to accept (sooner or later) that God's will is everything. His plan is everything, and if that includes their relative dying, then so be it. Worshipping God means submitting to Him, His will, His plan.
My friend of 16 years of age was recently diagnosed with cancer, and I don't know how well he would be doing without the prayers of everyone he knows. |
A single man helping can help more than a thousand people praying a thousand times. | Bondings wrote: |
| Soulfire wrote: | | My friend of 16 years of age was recently diagnosed with cancer, and I don't know how well he would be doing without the prayers of everyone he knows. |
Well the knowledge that a lot of people were praying (=caring) about him must certainly have been a great help.
However, I think god (if existing) rather wants us to intervene ourselves instead of him doing all the work. |
It's people like you who I like. I mean, you're obviously skeptical towards God, but you don't like... attack me for mentioning prayers and whatnot. I wish more Christians had a similar mind set, not to be remiss in their beliefs, but not to be intolerant either.You cannot really provide testament for the power of prayer because, like God, there is no way to ultimately prove whether it exists.
You say your brother's chances of surviving were a million to one. What The Conspirator was pointing out was that the chances of winning the (Euro) lottery are about that. But people still win and I don't think praying to win the lottery is an accepted good cause to God.
Of course, it may well be the other way around too, that God tipped the scales in your brother's favour for being a good Christian. Would God really do that though? The cancer cure rate hasn't suddenly shot up, so presumably another 999,999 people died.
Prayer is still a powerful thing though, in my opinion, whether God exists or not. If people know they are being prayed for it is likely to give them the mental strength to keep fighting. Similarly, relatives are comforted to think that their ill loved on is being watched over.
| AftershockVibe wrote: |
| Prayer is still a powerful thing though, in my opinion, whether God exists or not. If people know they are being prayed for it is likely to give them the mental strength to keep fighting. Similarly, relatives are comforted to think that their ill loved on is being watched over. |
I do not have an argument against that but and no one else dose cause there isn't one. Perhaps that the testament theists should start using instead of "I prayed and shit and I got blah, blah, blah" cause that argument is unbeatable. | Soulfire wrote: |
| For the people who prayed about a relative, and the relative still died, they probably come to accept (sooner or later) that God's will is everything. His plan is everything, and if that includes their relative dying, then so be it. Worshipping God means submitting to Him, His will, His plan. |
So, I guess god hates jews because the the Holocaust was part of his plan?
<Edit: please do not insult other people, even if you have a completely different opinion.>I think its you who needs to not apply someones statement to every situation. Quite possibly the Holocaust was part of a plan to make faith stronger? some would argue religious grounds...
Personally im Atheist (as I always say kinda as a disclaimer) now Prayer is in my opinion a mental thing above all, Mind over Matter, if you convince someone that they will live then their body will react differently, it will not resign, it will fight and sometimes it will succeed.
The mind is a powerful instrument we just need to use it and sometimes the only way to use it is through absolute faith.
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| Worshipping God means submitting to Him, His will, His plan. |
If everything happens by Gods plan, why pray at all? I mean, if God won;ts him to like, he will survive and if God doesn't won;t him yo live, he will die. Who are you to ask God to change his grand plan?
