Prayer

[Drich]

Prayer is not about God knowing, It is about us acknowledging, and a willingness to change.

Maybe but I still ask for stuff.

so do I


Still a big negatory on the billion dollar power ball though..

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So, prayer is NOT about begging for sh*t, is it? Let me present exhibit A:

Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)

9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil."

Not even a "please"...
So I guess Jesus didn't know how to pray, huh?

nuppe..

Again, Daily bread is not 'stuff' it is need.

Forgive our debts is a conditional request. To for give our sins in the same exact way we forgive others.

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Forgive my ignorance, but if you're the type to pray, wouldn't your only real "need" be to die and get to Heaven as quickly as possible?  This life is unimportant, right?  It's just the after party that matters.  So all you would really "need" is to get the hell out of here before you fuck it up and your invitation gets tossed in the trash.

Forgive My ignorance... Who are to identify need as death? Why is Heaven the only goal? What of those like you who remain after we have gone? Who says this life is unimportant? In what book chapter or verse does it say that life is unimportant? that anything we are given is unimportant??? Who's is saying that we can fuck up anything once we have the atonement Christ offers?

Seems to me you assume too much. Maybe you should ask some more basic questions.

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example?

Alright, now that I think about it, deliberately obscuring your own existence to all but the credulous, the delusional and the ignorant and then commanding that everyone recognise your existence based on literally the worst evidence ever? And then destroying those who don't? That isn't insecure; it's completely insane. And not the 'quirky' kind of insanity, I mean ludicrous beyond coherence and cruel beyond measure.

What are you talking about?!!?! Ever heard of doubting Thomas? Was He condemned? Was He forgotten or cast out be Christ?

No Thomas was Given Exactly what he needed to establish and maintain his belief even unto a martyr's death.

The Only thing Thomas had to do first was to meet Christ on His terms. In that instance be in a certain room/place at a certain time!!! and Christ showed up.

He has done the same exact thing for me. I am not a faith person. I need to see hold and interact with someone/thing to grasp it. God provided me with what I needed to establish and maintain my belief as well. All I had to do is follow His plan outlined in Luke 11. The same plan We all have to follow if we want to interact with God.

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Then maybe you could clear something up for me. 

I know this was not meant for me and sorry CL if I am over stepping.

I've chatted with various other people on various forums, some of them Catholics, who believe every brisk breeze is a miracle and absolute proof that God is real.  That last Catholic I remember talking to pretty much accepted any and every claim of a miracle as absolute proof, even if it was so week that the Catholic Church would not recognize it as a miracle.  So I have two questions.

On one hand I cringe at those guys, or rather those who want to believe things so badly everything becomes a mircle, but at the same time.. I do know that once you seen the hand of God work in your life that you can't just keep it bottled up. because for you despite what other may think say or do, you know it to be true.

First, the big one (I know it's more than one, but it's a general theme rather than a single question).  Miracles were obviously not rare in the Bible.

 Actually they were. remember the bible represents about a 3000 year span and about an 1/8th of the bible's content deals directly with miracles.

Why are they so rare now? 

there not, I would say they happen in about the same frequency, it now we just call them by different names. "Unexplain medical phenoma or mis diagnosis." (as to why somone wakes up after being pronounced 'brain dead.')
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/...36958.html
http://www.westernjournalism.com/man-tho...-12-years/

People simply choose not to believe and create an alternative narrative.

What purpose did they serve in the past that no longer needs served now?  Why did God change?

beggs the question (the logical fallacy) You wrongfully assume there is no purpose today.

When in fact the purpose is the same, but on an indivisual level, and not for the masses or crowds. God didn't change here. we did or rather our ablity to have a direct relationship with him did. Before in the OT and even in the days when Christ was alive, the Holy Spirit worked though prophets to assure the crowds that the man claiming to be a servant of God was indeed who he said he was... Today we all have access to this very same God on a personal level. Miracles on this level is the 'personal proof' some of us need to ensure we are indeed working for the very same God.

Second, what types of miracles do you believe happen today?

 Whatever needs to happen for an indivisual to be assured. In short it depends on the heart or person God is directly working with.

Are they anything like the big things of the past or are they now more subtle, more "undisprovable", if you will?

 what is a big thing? Can you name one thing in science that is "undisproovable?" so than why the double standard?

Again, why did God change? 

Nothing has.. Look at the plagues.. For everything God had moses do on a large scale Pharaoh's wizards was able to conjurors on a smaller one.. all except the Passover of the 10th plague.
For those who do not want to believe God always leaves an out for their minds.

Are there any specific miracles in modern times that you believe?

Just the ones I've been involved with.

  Are those miracles consistent with stories of miracles in the Bible? 

Yes

For instance, every single miracle in the Bible had a clear purpose.  There was a clear reason behind every single one.

Indeed.

 

A statue crying, not so much.  So if miracles are not just weird things that happen which can't be explained empirically, again, why did God change?

Again, beggs the question, who said God did?

I'm sure you probably read all that and are now thinking, "It's a trap!", "What an argumentative dick!" or both.

I see someone who simple has not experienced what others have.

  I am honestly curious.  Of course if you say anything which I disagree with or which doesn't make sense to me I'm going to respond, but that's not my purpose here.  The last Catholic I talked to was...shall we say, "unreasonable". 

Good news everyone! I'm not Catholic!!!

When he farted it was a miracle that proved God was real, even though there was no evidence he actually farted.  You seem, at least from the little I've read so far, a little more reasonable in your beliefs.  I'm not hoping to convert you, you have no chance of converted me (unless that's a God in your pocket, but I assume you're just happy to see me), but perhaps we could understand each other a little better.