One reason it's hard to believe in prayer...

Post Reply New Topic

The outcome of praying is a random distribution of good and bad luck which is identical to not praying at all. The only good thing one can say about praying is that it makes some people feel better about their misfortunes.

The basic premise of prayer is that wishing can make reality other than it is. This, of course, is childish nonsense. Like Jimeny Cricket wishing on a star.

ruveyn

when people believe in prayer they put their loved ones in danger........lets assume in an extremely christian family of 5(mom, dad, son, and 2 sisters) their son gets sick, instead of bringing him to the hospital or PROPER treatment like they should they decide to "pray" to God to heal him.....depending on why he is sick he could easily be fine the next day th parents would claim "G0d saved my son" even though God had nothing to do with it, but instead his immune system or he can die through lack of medical treatment due to the family's religious beliefs and because they put his life in danger that is negligence of their child's welfare in accordance with US Federal Law and if they were caught they would have CPS knocking down their door for as i said before negligence of their children's welfare

and yes this type of scenario is actually very common so it is a perfectly good example

and Jesus says multiple times that it matters not what you pray for if you are a believer it will be answered
(link will be provided)

Prayer is Effective
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

"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).

"'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins'" (Mark 11:22-25).

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13-14).



http://www.allaboutprayer.org/bible-ver ... er-faq.htm


with SO many passages in the bible that claim if you believe and pray you shall receive then that doesnt explain why most dont receive even for things like AIDS or Cancer and why, when most of Africa is Christian, are they starving despite Jesus's claims of being taken care of(e says to not work, not do anything for God will provide)

“For this reason I say to you, stop worrying for your life – what you should eat, or what you should drink, not even for your body, what you should wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky; they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? And who of you by worrying is able to add one hour to his time of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Observe well how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is cast into a furnace, will he not much more clothe you, You of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se ... ersion=KJV

There's also the "be still and know that I am God" type. It's not all asking for things - sometimes it's just sitting in the presence of God.

TheKing:

please pause and think. And I wish certain lawmakers would do the same.

Two families in the same urban apartment block. Each has a child. Each child is sick - for ecanomy, they have the same problem.

One family stays home and prays. Their child recovers. I will not try to determine why, let us just say it happens.

The other family rushes the child to the hospital, where an overworked medical staff comes up with the wrong diagnosis, applies a treatment. The child dies. I will not try to determine why, let us just say it happens.

One of these families is legally negligent.

One of these families has a live child.

There is a reason even in this great day of ours many people see the hospityal as the place you go and never come out.

Many - by no means all - medical personnel are shallow thinking techs, looking to prescribe meds and do ther paperwork.

Many medical personnel are severely overworked. Hard to do a good diagnosis when you have 15 minutes available and you are exhausted.

I have learned that most medical schools have dumped the Hippocrativ oath [first do no harm?] Instead you get something like the airline ticket fine print I once read that said "we will try to fly you somewhere."

Hospitals are hotbeds of infectious organisms. Ask my mother about her staph infection and the consequent kidney failure and how she never got better after her 6 months there. No - wait - you can't ask her, she died in the nursing home.[see, we were not negligent].

Prayer for the sick: that is, yes, a gamble. If you pray to my God, it all depends on what his plans are.

Going to the medical professionals: THAT is a gamble.

We have been told the government has no business deciding who can interact sexually with whom.

Where does the government get off telling me whom I should or should not trust?

I think this one site makes a good point:
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com

I actually believed in prayer when I first saw that site, I still would pray (not to the Christian god, my spiritual choices are complicated and VERY individualistic for me to explain) but it really increased the amount of doubt I have about it.

[quote="Natty_Boh"]

Some are cured. A woman who was cured of Parkinson's is the "evidence" for JPII's beatification.[quote]

when, and who was this person? i searched the internet and have found no evidence of her existence and if she was magically cured of a disease that currently has no cure that should be somewhere in the news shouldnt it?