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Reasons Prayers are Unanswered

Here you can pray for yourself, for others, to Jesus, Alah, Jahve, Krishna, Buda etc
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Shit4Breath
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Reasons Prayers are Unanswered

Post by Shit4Breath »

I know it is alot of us Christians and other God fearers who wonder why God has not answered some of our prayers. These emotions are just a part of our human nature. Remember like I stated before God cares more about out spirit than the vessel that cares it. But here are some good explainations that I found to maybe make things more clear.

1.We don't really believe God can answer them.
Jesus said:


“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)

James wrote:
“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6 -8.

Believing is perhaps the best known condition for prayer. But there are other reasons prayer is not answered.


2. We ask with wrong motives.

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).


3. Unconfessed sin separates us from God, so that He cannot hear.


“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).


4. We set up idols in our hearts that come between us and God.


“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?” (Ezekiel 14:3).


5. We don't answer those who cry to us for help.

“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).


6. We don't remain in God/God's Word doesn't remain in us.

“If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you” (John 15:7).


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Post by mike987 »

Is he not full of mercy? You'd think he'd shoot us a freebie along with a signed message indicating he's real.

Any intelligent god who demands so much would not ask for blind allegiance. If that's the case, what a jerk.


All he has to do is say "Hey bro, I'm real, and I can answer your prayers, but I'm not going to do it unless you worship me", which I have to say, is quite a dick move anyway.

Maybe he should stop being such an egotistical dick and follow his own advice about being selfless and caring.
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Post by Virtuous Viking »

Mike, you may or may not believe in a God (I consider myself a vacillating Christian at best), but calling Him an egotistical dick is never a smart move.
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Post by Shit4Breath »

Mike
Those are harsh words to say...all I can do is pray for you. On judgement day I feel sorry for ppl like you if you don't repent. That's all I'm going to say.



P.S. Watch 'The Case for the Creator' documentary I've posted. That's SCIENTIFIC evidence pointing towards a creator. I advise try proving there is not a creator versus just sprewing ignorance. Try to prove how the ocean knows just how far to come, try to prove how and why the sun rises and sets every morning, try to prove how our bodies work so efficiently for life, feet made specifically for standing, hands made specifically for holding, eyes made specifically for seeing; Explain the circle of life....Rain feeding the vegatation, vegatation feeding the animals, animals feeding us humans. Everything was made NO created by intelligence design. Albert Eisten said loosely, judgements based on not weighing both sides of the evidence equally and unbiased is the highest form ignorance. May God bless you!
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Post by mike987 »

What do you mean it's not a smart move? Is that a threat of some kind? Is someone going to throw bombs at me and have me killed because I offended their god? if it was a bad idea because god would be offended.. well.. Really? Would he really be so petty to get pissed off about it? I, as a mere mortal, have dealt more maturely with worse insults than say, a god who would sooner send me to ETERNAL PAIN AND SUFFERING for such an offense.

Will my questions go unanswered? I think they're legitimate.. Generally, why is it God seems to have all the faults and bad character traits of a human being? Isn't that a bit telling of his origins?
I'm interested to see how you guys feel about these traits of God.


There is a logical fallacy in the argument of 'We have feet so we were made to walk. We have lungs so we were made to breathe. We have a world before that allows us to live in comfort, so it must have been put before us.' That kind of thing.

I can see how we would first think that, but try turning the logic around and think of everything in the opposite way.
It's a little more like 'we walked to some degree, so we developed feet, we tried to breath, so we developed lungs. The world was a comfortable place enough that creatures such as us could flourish, not that creatures like us existed and we needed a suitable home..
Had the Earth not been suitable for life, we wouldn't have come about. (See the Moon) It could have been a different lifeform that dominated the planet, but it was us, so we have the leisure of asking such questions.

If the history of the universe was condensed into a single year, humans would have only been around for about the last hour or so. What was the rest of everything else there? It wasn't just for our benefit, I'm certain.

We grew out of the existing environment, which is ever changing by the way.. Life is dynamic and fills the gaps. We can ask these questions and feel important simply because we are here.. Meanwhile, anything that has come and gone can't.

Why does the sun rise and set? it doesn't. The planet we live on along with many others is caught in the orbit of the sun, and as the planet spins (as things in motion often do) it appears to our fixed view that the sun, moon, and sky are all moving about.


Our bodies work 'somewhat' efficiently because there was a time in human history (not so long ago) when these traits meant life or death, and had you been born without feet, imagine how long you'd be able to survive to make children. Not very long when predators like wolves, giant cats, maybe even other men were looking to take your life. And of course, all of our traits developed to meet the needs of our environment.
If some humans are short and slow, while others are tall and fast, obviously the fast ones are going to last longer and procreate if some large new predator found its way into human territory.. After just a couple generations of this life of fleeing for survival, you're going to find that humans are generally pretty tall and swift, because those are the surviving genes.

Look at all the kinds of dogs we have today.. We made them, by breeding them.. Once, not very long ago, they simply didn't exist, and there was only the wolf.. Some dogs are smaller than a watermelon. Others are larger than an adult man.. Look what we've done.. look at how fast changes can happen when pressure is applied from the outside (in this case, people selected the traits they wanted to continue developing).

it's not hard to imagine how we have feet for walking. If they are a gift from God, why did he stop there? Why didn't he make them even better? If we had wings we could be living in trees. If we had gills, we could be living in the sea. Why didn't God grant these physical traits to us so that we could take fully inhabit the Earth he gave us? We're just working with we we have.. Why didn't god give us more than 2 eyes? That would have been pretty handy, and pretty awesome. Why must we breathe and eat out of the same hole? That's pretty inconvenient. It's not inconvenient enough to kill off our species, but it's not perfect. If sex has so much capacity for sin, why didn't God make it so we could reproduce asexually? If eyes are made for seeing, then why are our eyes unable to see such a large amount of the light spectrum? Why are there other creatures with eyes that can do more than our eyes can do? Why is it possible to confuse our eyes so easily with optical illusions?

Questions, questions.. Maybe there's no good answers. Maybe we're just here and we're the result of everything before us, as is every other living and non living thing in the universe.

It's pretty clear from everything you're saying that you're looking at what we have no and saying 'so, how do you explain it'. You need to go back to simpler times. Trace it back. Look at history. It can and has all been explained pretty well, and without the need to step into the divine realm.

What makes you think there is a circle of life?? Life feeds on itself probably because it's easier to absorb nutrients from other living things than it is to digest rocks. Supposing when life was first developing, and one thing started eating another, we can already call that a circle of life.

The real circle of life as we think of it today came about after plant like singled cell organisms in the sea came about and could harness energy from the sun.. Plants are kind of a big deal when it comes to 'the circle of life'. You have these guys who can get free energy from the sun.. That's pretty incredible. Sunlight being abundant as it is, means these guys are going to thrive pretty much under any condition where they can get it.. So already we have free food. It slowly (well probably pretty quickly as far as evolution goes) populated the Earth, and the non plant organisms that are meanwhile, also feeding on themselves, follow the plants onto land and whatnot. From here there's quite a bit of complexity and pressure is being applied from other organisms or the lack of, driving change new forms of life.
If you have reason to believe that a God intervened somewhere around this point so that plants could photosynthesize, why didn't you say that instead of asking raw questions about the current state of everything? You gotta go back my friend, in order to explain anything. Break things down. Analyze the small details in order to understand the whole.

I strongly disagree about your 'animals feeding the humans' bit. Humans are animals. We're no different from anything else alive.. And anything alive is made up of nonliving molecules, the same you'd find in a pile of rocks. It's all about how matter is organized. And after 14 odd billion years, you can begin to imagine how you can begin to see how something comes from 'nothing'. Particles become atoms, atoms become molecules, molecules make chemicals, chemicals like DNA, these things begin pairing up without any intelligence driving them, not really so different to the way that forces like gravity and electromagnetism exist.. Things compound from there and eventually things look like they do now. If you want to put a God of the gaps in there, put him in at the Big Bang, because we probably won't be explaining that thoroughly with our own knowledge anytime soon.


How am I spewing ignorance by NOT proving something? It's impossible to truly prove that something DOESN'T exist. Why don't you try to prove to me that the Boogie Man doesn't exist. Can you do that?? I can't do it. I can tell you he probably doesn't exist, because despite claims, stories, etc that he does exist, there is no real evidence.

It's much easier, and much more telling of the world, that we take evidence we DO have and prove the things that DO exist. "Wow, look how amazing/beautiful/complex this is!" is not evidence for a creator, or evidence for anything. Because there are infinite things that don't exist, it's not a very efficient way of considering information.

As for Einstein, here's what he had to say about religion: "It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I feel also not able to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem—the most important of all human problems."


edit: watched ;Case for a Creator'



All the factors that would be needed to support "intelligent life" they keep harping on is simply a list of integral necessities for our own existence.
The same can be said for the 'settings' of the universe supposedly required to sustain intelligent life.
Change one little thing and yeah that's changing history.. that's changing what the future would be. We probably wouldn't be here... But can't you consider that something else might have?
The same for attempted slam on multiple universes. What makes you think a different arrangement of physics that might not result in the exact same thing as we have no, with human life, wouldn't result in something else entirely?
We and everything in our universe is the result of what was.. Of all the physics and matter and everything effecting each other. You change the equation, you get different results, surely just as incredible, if not more incredible than what we can observe from our universe now.

All they are doing is racking up the amount of necessities that would be needed to exist for the present to exist as it is.. I can do that too.. Watch me.
You and every human being alive today being the individual that they are is entirely the result of the sex some few earlier human ancestors had. Just to put it in perspective more, let's relate it closer to home. Your great great great great great great great etc, grandfather produced a son, who produced a son, and so on.. that eventually leads up to you and millions of other people.
So, suppose this old guy had sex with another woman.. got struck by lightning before the act.. simply put in an extra thrust before ejaculation.. Any single thing that would change that exact moment in time, the moment that a very specific sperm entered the womb of that woman, would change EVERY HUMAN ALIVE in his lineage! That's an amazing thought, right? So what.
We wouldn't be here, but someone else would. They themselves would probably be wondering why they're so special and that perhaps they should stand in awe of their own existence.
My point is, you change anything, you get a different result. Don't dimiss what could be simply because it doesn't include YOU in it.

Another thing. The people in this documentary say matter of factly that these conditions are necessary for life on other planets... that this type of atmosphere was needed for life to come about..
Ask yourself. How SURE are you? WHy are you so sure? You cherry pick the science and then use that like it's written in the Bible. We barely know our way around our own solar system, what's beneath the clouds on Venus, hardly even know what's in our own Oceans for crying out loud. Do we REALLY have ANY idea what's in the rest of the absurdly large universe?? Are you REALLY sure that only this corner of the milky way is able to support life? My ass you have any idea.

Supposing we are the only ones, then WHY even have the rest of the universe?? What a waste!

As for the claims against evolution (still don't understand why this has to be an enemy of creationists), are just more jabs against established science for the sake of it, just to say 'see, we don't know.. so.. uh.. God?'
Yes, you take a part out of a mouse trap and it doesn't work.. You take a part out of a cell and it doesn't work. You take a functioning part out of a human being and, lo and behold, it doesn't work. is that surprising? Complexity exists, but there are errors, mistakes, pieces missing.. There are cancer cells, down syndrome, aging.
Oh, and I disagree that a cell needs flagellum to even work at all. It can sit there, and still function, and you know, some cells do, and that's likely what they did before the flagellum had ever evolved into being. Viruses for example, have no means for propulsion except what exists around them, but they manage to not just survive, but thrive.

And by the way, the ENTIRE time, the case for the creator is nothing but a case for ignorance.
'We don't agree with the science.. so... God did it'. I'm amidst chapter 7 right now and needed to address some of these details, but they still have yet to bring any evidence for God other than blasting existing theories that, supposing they were wrong, are still a damn good effort to explain the biology and the universe we live in.
Okay, so the evidence, which they finally got to in part 9.. Is presented like this "Hey, these remind me of machines... Hm.. Designer?" and "DNA is like computer code.. SOMEONE MUST HAVE WRITTEN IT"


How about this. If you beat someone in the skull they lose their ability to be intelligent. It's tied to biology.
How do you have intelligence without a nervous system.. without being organic?
Is God an artificial intelligence? That wouldn't require biology, but then is there a machine somewhere hosting his data?

The guy in the film says God is invisible and is a spirit.... So much for science and evidence toward God.


Oh, and what is the bizarre nature of your train of thought that all of these machines, anything that's complex and thinking needs to have a creator... but then you get to God, who must be more complex than anything we've known yet, and that's where you give up thought processes and simply state 'God is almighty and all loving, ever eternal blah blah. He doesn't need a creator'.


Anyway not only am I not at all convinced, but I'm completely disappointed that this was what you reference me to as evidence for God.

For what reason would God make the universe to hide his own existence? There is no evidence for God, and there probably never will be, but when it does come about, I'm eager to hear it.



Oh, and I don't wish to disrespect you. You're clearly intelligent and have my respect, and I appreciate your good will. I enjoy a good debate.
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Post by Shit4Breath »

Mike

I was not threatening you personally when I said I feel sorry for non-believers on judgement day. The bible says venegance will be God's so why would I threaten someone who is a non-believer. Your non-belief does not affect my destiny one way or the other but me spreading the good news of God will. I could not read your entire post, my spirit just could not allow me to continue reading all that blasphemy of such a wonder God who has made ALL things possible. And anyone with the holy spirit in them would be offended by such a post. You seem to take lightly little things such as the sun rising, waking up every morning, rain which nourishes the earth, food (vegetation/animals) readily available, etc. God is not in you and that is why, if you don't repent and accept Christ, you will not make it in the kingdom of Heaven not because of this so called "pettiness" that you assume......... If your premises is that world was a 'comfortable place for us to flourish' how is that possible. How could something be created from nothing. How was this world created, how was the 'comfortable' environment able to sustain life, how does it operate so smoothly, and the list of questions goes on and on and on.

I'm not saying believe in what I believe.....but why come on a Christian's post in a religious forum sprewing such blasphemy all over the place. I'll pray for you. And fellow Christians we should pray for ppl like this who lean on their own understanding. Our brains can not even measure. Our understanding is far too inferior to match or try to even formulate the way, the wisdom and the knowledge of an Almighty God.
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Post by mike987 »

There was a time when I feared God, but as I learned about the world, about the universe, and noticed the striking lack of God compared to the fantastic stories I read in the Bible and heard at mass every Sunday, I lost my need to fear and I can feel I'm a freer thinker now than I had ever been.
I never turned to a life of sin. I just realized that whether I believe in God or I don't, my life is completely unaffected.

To me, someone who doesn't believe, it's not blasphemy. There's nothing offensive about it. I'm talking about God the same way I would debate about the science behind any other thing. It's not hateful. And believe it or not, I'm actually a very kind person. I find Jesus in the Bible is typically a great role model, though there is just as much, if not more, horrible acts often committed by God himself, in that hypocritical book.. That just doesn't jive with me or the other positive messages about God. So, which part is wrong and which part is right? How much of what I hear about God is the truth and how much is bullcrap?

You've told me now that I'll be going to hell because of what I've said. Really?

Now I want to know, why would an all merciful God do such a thing? Surely he can understand that he hasn't made his existence very clear, and that he's inviting skeptics to denounce his presence.

I was taught that God's presence was in all things. Yet you're saying he's void in me. Why? Because I have a disagreement with him? Well whatever. I choose knowledge and non-selfish morality over the security of joining his kingdom. Is that why you guys do it? For the peace of mind that you'll live forever in heaven? That's the same reason extremists will murder blasphemers.

I argue this passionately because I care about you guys. because I think you're not idiots and you're merely blinded by your faith. .. Because we share the same pain from this horrible affliction and I KNOW there is explainable science behind it, just as there is potential for a perfectly clear understanding of what's wrong and how we can solve it.

Yes, some of my posts are a loaded because I do want to get a rise out of you. I want you to question everything. I also get tired of the cult and encourage an individual mind. What do YOU think as an individual.. that's what I'd like to hear about.


I guess you're right about it being rude to make that post here. At first I was thinking Religion forum therefore Religion debate would be fine, but I see how this section of the forum is probably intended for prayer and whatever else you guys need to do, so I'm sorry about that.

If a mod would like to delete my posts form this thread, I welcome it, but I'd sooner have you guys read it (despite the ranting-structure and load of typos, sorry) and I encourage everyone to read my questions and challenge themselves to come up with answers.
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Post by Shit4Breath »

Mike

I understand you say that you care about US and therefore are "enlightening" us on your theory. We'll I care about YOU so i will pray for you because we as Christians know this life is only temporary and you are limiting yourself to what you see here on earth. Being a former Christian you should know that in the bible these "contradictions" that you are referring to are the Old and the New testament. Yes, in the old testament sinners were stoned right on the spot or condemned for their sins. Just like when we incinerate waste and other toxic substance that can harm society. Sin was looked at the same way back then. However, when Jesus came and died for our sins, our sins were paid in full with his death. Hence the term saved or Saviour. Meaning that as long as we accept Christ and repent we will always be forgiven. That's where the New Testament began.

I have answered almost every question you have asked about God but you have not answered one question I have asked. You say that you have learned about the universe. In what chapter did you learn about how the universe was created, who created it, then who created that, then who created that,, and on and on and on. But you can't answer it because you don't know. Science can't answer that either because it is over our heads. The beauty of this world and universe is to majestic for us to comprehend, us Christians know this. That IS what I believe as a INDIVIDUAL like you asked. This being said, I will no longer respond to any of your post my intentions is not to debate God with you because I know the truth all i can do is pray for your true enlightenment.

Fellow Christians this was a religious post I've posted to keep us from straying from God. I know that the misery this ailment is putting us through can have us down in the dumps wanting to forget about everything including life, family, and even God. I've been there before trust me; but like I stated before, don't let this life on earth for 60-80 years (if we're lucky) determine where we will spend ETERNITY. Don't let the devil win! The devil works in mysterious ways also and works through ppl. This post was to lift our spirits and inspire one another but it has been tainted. I will end this post with this "There can be no natural, without SUPERNATURAL."........"There can be no created, without a CREATOR." Go with God and lean not on your own understanding. God bless! O:)
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Post by halitosisux »

What would you say in your prayers?

Throughout my entire duration in BB hell, I never prayed once - not because I don't believe in "God", but because it just never made sense to me to ask for something which, if I truly believed in God, I should have been able to accept myself the way I am.
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Post by deebo »

man , if there ever was a topic that isn't helping . This religious talk really creates stress for amongst us BB folks where we need support from each other,it divides instead , and I'm pretty sure that's not the aim of anyone's God . #-o



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Post by halitosisux »

I'd like to hear what could be said in a prayer.
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Post by mike987 »

I'm not ashamed to admit I don't have answers about the universe, and I don't think we can possibly have an answer about anything without scrutinizing every available detail.

The origin of the universe is still way up in the air and the tools to understand it aren't available to us, yet. I don't see God as a viable theory because I'm not willing to make a leap of faith to believe it. Also, anything I've learned in the Bible is not nearly as fascinating as the things science has revealed to me.

Through education, science, I've learned to appreciate all matter.. all living things, and now I value the lives of animals more than the pope himself.. I feel I'm the better person because of it. Oh, and the Pope is a politician who's ideas about religion are just as different and uncertain as all the guys that came before him.

Halitosisux, good to seen you're back!

As for a prayer, it could go something like:

"Father, please aid us in our difficult journey on this Earth, easing our burden as much as possible, though we may not deserve your grace. We thank you for all you have given us, and look forward to the day in which we may join you at your side. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

What's the point of a prayer though. Is this not God's plan? Shouldn't we shut up and endure it? If there's an eternal paradise awaiting us, BB-free, then maybe this life isn't so bad eh? Certainly not worth complaining about it, if that's truly to be believed.


Sorry, I know there are a lot of religious people here who would be very interested in posting in this thread and I've been a complete party pooper. Deebo, can you delete all my posts?
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Post by deebo »

mike987 wrote: Sorry, I know there are a lot of religious people here who would be very interested in posting in this thread and I've been a complete party pooper. Deebo, can you delete all my posts?
Prayer /religion is personal ,therefor subjective in the best case. If only more ppl would see it that way and keep it that way ...
You're speaking your critical mind Mike which is always welcomed. Of course you can edit your posts down to "." if you like . Believe me , i'd like to lock this thread already ! but I wont play god , there's enough of that going on here :mrgreen:



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Post by Shit4Breath »

Deebo, I'm assuming when you say you would want to 'lock' this thread you are referring to delete this from public view? Why would you lock a religious post in a religion forum? I swear the devil is busy and has made alot of us miserable, unpleasant, and unkind. SMH!

As a SERVANT of God I want to see those who believe make it through this difficult time to the other side is HIS kingdom. If you do not believe in that then this does not apply to you.

Fellow Christians we know the devil is busy, all we can do is keep praying. I don't think this forum is the best place to post religious topics because of secular views that can disuade us, as we can tell.

Here are some good references to great forums and online bible study:

http://www.christian-prayers.com/message-board-forum/

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/

http://biblicalstory.org/home
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Post by deebo »

i've only temp locked 1 thread before to (maybe erroneously) protect another member. This 1> viewtopic.php?t=4334&highlight=pictures
things get Way too heated sometimes and cooler heads can prevail given time . Religious contention is no different . Thanks for suggesting other forums for Christians to go to rather than hashing it on a BB site s4b.


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