|
The problem with prayer.
|
The Bible says something about "if you pray sincerely your prayer will be answered" or some such.
So, why has no "good and true Christian" ever prayed for an end to war, hunger, disease, or atheism?  RE: The problem with prayer.
July 20, 2016 at 10:06 am
(This post was last modified: July 20, 2016 at 10:10 am by mediocrates.)
Maybe it's their way of turning away without feeling like they're doing nothing?
*edit* I read that all kinds of wrong! It's still early. I answered the question "Why do they continue to pray when it apparently does nothing?" 
It appears to me that He answers all prayers in 3 ways. Yes, no, and later in the next life. If the prayer is for wisdom, understanding, patience etc., those seem to always be granted in the affirmative, although perhaps not on our timeline. If you pray for someone to drop dead so they cannot be elected, the answer is probably no. If you pray for riches or personal gain, the answer may be found in the next life. He cannot indiscriminately answer yes to everything as it does not conform to His ultimate plan for the world.
If the only requirement for prayers being answered is that the person asking be sincere, would we truly want God to grant them? I think not a chance for obvious reasons. 
If he already has an 'ultimate plan,' then what's the point of asking him to change anything.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson  (July 20, 2016 at 10:07 am)PETE_ROSE Wrote: It appears to me that He answers all prayers in 3 ways. Yes, no, and later in the next life. If the prayer is for wisdom, understanding, patience etc., those seem to always be granted in the affirmative, although perhaps not on our timeline. If you pray for someone to drop dead so they cannot be elected, the answer is probably no. If you pray for riches or personal gain, the answer may be found in the next life. He cannot indiscriminately answer yes to everything as it does not conform to His ultimate plan for the world. So God is a magic 8-ball. GMan, is that you?
I am John Cena's hip-hop album.
 RE: The problem with prayer.
July 20, 2016 at 10:38 am
(This post was last modified: July 20, 2016 at 10:39 am by robvalue.)
(July 20, 2016 at 10:07 am)PETE_ROSE Wrote: It appears to me that He answers all prayers in 3 ways. Yes, no, and later in the next life. If the prayer is for wisdom, understanding, patience etc., those seem to always be granted in the affirmative, although perhaps not on our timeline. If you pray for someone to drop dead so they cannot be elected, the answer is probably no. If you pray for riches or personal gain, the answer may be found in the next life. He cannot indiscriminately answer yes to everything as it does not conform to His ultimate plan for the world. Leaving aside "the next life", what we have is an unfalsifiable proposition. If you replace God with nothing at all, what changes? How do you distinguish between an answered prayer, and something that happened anyway? This is classic confirmation bias at work. The idea of a master plan and prayer are contradictory, if you expect prayer to actually change anything. https://youtu.be/JRdP5GpCeuE Feel free to send me a private message.
Please visit my website here! It's got lots of information about atheism/theism and support for new atheists. Index of useful threads and discussions Index of my best videos Quickstart guide to the forum (July 20, 2016 at 10:34 am)Gawdzilla Wrote:(July 20, 2016 at 10:09 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: If he already has an 'ultimate plan,' then what's the point of asking him to change anything. Saw the Warcraft movie. I thought it was well done, surprised to see that is got a lot of bad reviews and is projected to lose money by industry standards. Not sure how that is seeing it made hundreds of millions worldwide. 
All questions are answered, if they are asked such that the available answers are "yes", "no" and "wait'.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
It is very hard to leave aside the "next life". At its core, if what Christianity purports to be true is, then there is only one thing that will really matter in this life as eternity seems like a long time.
Your video is an interesting evaluation of testing a theory against reality. I wish it were as simple as if it works it is true, and if it doesn't dismiss it. I am only aware of one way to test the Christian God, and I highly suspect anyone here would truly follow the parameters of the test and give it honest evaluation. |
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
