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Can Prayer Help?
Posted by drjalee52 • 12 days ago • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: Government, Help, people, prayer
We are experiencing huge joblessness numbers, violence and a breakdown in families. Dose prayer help? The government has played its hand and there is little to no change. What can the average person do? Can Prayer Help?
thejoyofjesuschurchonline.blogspot.com/
User Comments
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Prayer? Absolutely not. Children die with obvious sicknesses while their parents don't bother to take them to the hospital, and instead pray that they get better. It is abandonment and abuse.-
Not even a little?
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I suppose it could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy where the individuals praying believe their prayer will come true and in turn it directly or indirectly causes and influences them to take actual actions that make their belief come true. But it really is the actions that make the difference. Prayer alone without actions, no. One can just as well motivate themselves to take action without praying.
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ABSOLUTELY!!!!!-
Absolutely!!! Can you help me with this? He made some rather interesting points. That in some cases it dose help. What can the average person do?
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It help me a lot-
This is good news.
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yes,prayer can help because it channalizes our positive thoughts into changing someone's life for the better or doing sth good-
Right you are. Hope is under valued. We must believe to achieve.
What else can the average person do?
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Prayer works best when one has faith.
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Prayer without action is hopeless. Action without prayer is efficient.
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I agree. Actions are so important. The question is what starts the action?
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You do. With or without prayer, you start the action. What ever motivates you to pray to begin with, is the same motivation that moves you to act towards what you prayed for. The prayer is an extra unnecessary step.
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@morgantj
What if you looked at prayer as a discernment process?
Is any action suitable in any situation, or should there be a way to determine right action?
For some, I would imagine that prayer is a way to weigh options and channel their energies in the most productive direction. -
I just call that "thinking" before we act. Not praying.
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I don't think prayer in itself can effect any external change, but like meditation it can change the one who is praying.-
I agree. What about the average person. What are their options?
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I don't know if I am an average person, but I think that prayers are the very first steps before words and actions (I believe very much in the power of the words :-). Like NP said it changes the one who is praying. When you change yourself you change the world ( at least people around you). In that sense prayers are effective. But there are many other ways to change yourself: Meditation, Psycho-analysis, The will, etc.. -
Study finds that prayer hurts the sick:
Per the Times of London - Praying for the health of strangers who have undergone heart surgery has no effect, according to the largest scientific study ever commissioned to calculate the healing power of prayer.
In fact, patients who know they are being prayed for suffer a noticeably higher rate of complications, according to the study, which monitored the recovery of 1,800 patients after heart bypass surgery in the US.
The findings of the decade-long study were due to be published in the American Heart Journal next week, but the journal published the report on its website yesterday as anticipation grew.
www.ahjonline.com/article/PIIS0002870305006496/abstract-
Interesting article and study! What I found really interesting is how knowing that they were receiving prayers made it more complicated for some patients!
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Hope is something that goes with faith. Sure the evidence before us is clear in its findings. What would you suggest that the average person do in an almost helpless situation?
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I would like to know your conception of faith here.
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I'm sorry dr. I wish I could help,but all I know is: I pray...not just pray,but worship to,sometimes people forget about just getting on your knees and humbleing yourself before the lord. I know I'm convicted of it. I have been trying before I go to bed to get on my knees(kinda like I do with my girls) but instead of asking him to bless this and that,I have been thanking him for his blessings...
I figured if I stayed on my knees 5 minutes a night that I can't even thank him enough for a fraction of what he has blessed me with,and so I spend another 5 thanking him for that!!-
Patience is a virtue. You will accomplish all your goals by your faith. I love what you are saying. I wish I were so strong. Thank you.
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Please don't say strong. That is the last word I would use to discribe myself in the eyes of GOD,haha
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It take courage to humble ones-self, in other words, one is finds strength in weakness...
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Yea,I see what u mean.
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It can possibly help ease the stress of those doing the praying. Other than that, I'd rather get out and do something.-
Doing something is better than nothing. Pray first and them
n take action. -
I prefer to think then act. More gets done that way. Its rather efficient.
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of course it'll help. It boosts your faith towards some thing you hope for.-
Will passionately "hoping" that violence is reduced actually reduce violence? Probably not.
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Spot on. Faith through prayer is a smart move.
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Morganti, how dose one help stop violence? Dose the heart play a role? If so, how dose one best communicate with the heart? Can prayer play some role for peace, as in pray for peace?
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No, I don't believe that one can pray or hope violence away. Education plays a role. Because it is often those that are not intelligent enough to solve a problem that resort to violence to resolve it.
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In truth, I myself am torn with the arguments regarding prayer. I just do it because it gives me a positive aura so I can hope things might turn out the way I wish for. But prayer itself is immaterial, dialectical speaking.
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airahey, thank you for your clarification and honesty.
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Prayer does help. I have seen it first hand. In other words, I have seen GOD work in my life and I am blessed to have a personal relationship with Him. As with what is going on in the world, that is what sin has caused. Because things are going on in this world that is awful, does not mean prayer does not work or there is no God. In the Bible, it talks about how this world will get worse and worse.
For the article about prayer that hurts the sick. Prayer also lines itself with faith. If I was sick, then I would pray and then have faith that God will heal me. God might heal me and He might not, it is His will for my life.-
There is no better proof than a witness.
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Can I get a RAmen! Medium, Miso...
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Why do I feel this is so fake,for some reason.
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Why would you think it is fake? Give me one reason, or if it is real you are thinking about what is true? Please tell me what you think and why? This is the only thing that is important...
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Nevermind...I guess I'm sleepy
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You are very wise. This is a serious discussion in terms of one fate. It is one thing to be right and it is an entirely different matter if one is wrong..
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I suppose it depends on the individual. If you believe in prayer, and things work out as you had hoped, then I would guess you would give credit to prayer. I don't believe in prayer, so I would have to say no. In reality, I don't think anyone can say, with certainty, that prayer makes a difference; that's the whole essence of faith or lack thereof.-
What if some one never prayed and nothing ever happened, what would one conclude and why?
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I don't think anyone can conclude anything. For example, I don't know if there's life after death because I'm not dead and have never seen conclusive evidence that anyone has been in touch with the deceased. So it's up to the individual to believe what they want, and give credit as they wish. When my wife was really sick, a lot of people prayed for her; I was grateful, in case their prayers made a difference. I didn't pray...instead, I admired her strength and perseverance. I'm not saying that those who prayed were wrong; perhaps I was. I just haven't been able to believe that prayer was what made the difference. To someone else, it may represent all the difference.
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What would u conclude?
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Great question, are you upset with me? My conclusion is without prayer, hope, and faith things never really happen, unless one believes; in other words, we are what we think. Please share with me.
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drjalee52 I'd like to share with you that I think you're loony. Wait a gosh darn minute, does that mean I am loony too since we are what we think? And If I am loony, do my thoughts still form me or have any value on you being loony as well? What does the Reverend, er, I mean Dr. Jaylee conclude on this matter of mind?
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If we are not what we think or believe, then who and what are we? Are we what people tell us we are? Therefore, are we free? There must be some bases for us to believe. There was a great book entitled, The will to believe..What makes you; you?
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Free? Not a chance. Do you really think you have control over what you believe?
"A man can surely do what he wills to do, but cannot determine what he wills." - Schopenhauer
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Sure, prayer is guaranteed to work, not just one prayer one time unless under a trauma condition. Almost anything under trauma can stamp an indelible imprint on the brain as if it has been repeated ten thousand times.
Anyone praying daily especially the same prayer causes the mind to work toward making it come true. That is the same principal "Positive thinking" is based on; you take a quote and repeat it over and over to change behavior.
That is the reason some religions has such a strong hold over its flock, they are repeating the same prayer over and over all of the time. Like the old saying: Someway somehow we all dance to the tune of a distance drummer. -
You are a smart and a wise man. It is ones goal to fight for freedom. We or one can pray for more as one educates and develops ones philosophy. We seek truth through questions. We must hope for the best while the majority of the world suffers. The real question is, what is in our hearts and is that our prayer, if we were to pray?
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Hmmmm...on that note I'm gonna hit the hay,and ponder that in my sweet dreams...
Meet y'all by the peach tree.. -
It does about as much good as wishing it were true. -
Faith is important. One must believe that ones deepest desires will become true. We pray of a better day...
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Believing in oneself is what matters and not archaic notions such as prayer or magic (after all, they are the same thing). So while we must believe in ourself, we must also work for what is desired. Work, the physical actions taken to achieve one's goals are more important than simply wishing to achieve one's goals.
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Where does the belief system start and with whom and what and more importantly, why?
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The belief system that is believing in one's self? That begins with the self. Why? Because that is what the self desires. Its really that simple.
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I believe prayer helps. If prayer can't fix something, it can certainly give you strength to get through the rough phase of your life.-
Well stated.
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It is late. I hope this discussion may continue...Thank you all for the input and insight to this subject.
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it helps but you should do your part also... -
humans have to do their part!-
This is true. We must all play our to make things right.
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Especially since you have no idea how He's going to answer it...
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Definitely cos it helps us all -
Prayer can help if one is a believer and of faith. Not everyone believes in prayer, or in God and so forth, so prayer would seem pointless to that person. However, whatever you belive to be helpful in your life by way of meditation (jogging, meditating, prayer, writing, painting..etc) will probably prove to at least be a stress reliever. Letting go of stress helps us deal with problems better and therefore more easily find solutions to those problems. It's simply a matter of stress releif.-
These are excellent comments. Your thinking is very clear on the subject at hand. Our original question has been addressed. Given, the list of stress reducers, which one would rank as most effective for the average person? Would one fine that prayer could indeed help, the mind, heart and soul if done in faith?
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Yes. Absolutely. My prayers are always answered one way or another, even if it wasn't the answer I was looking for!
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I love this response.
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Well, I'm not sure it does, but it certainly can't hurt!-
Good response!
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Faith is important. One must believe that it will happen.
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It does when children die with obvious sicknesses while their parents don't bother to take them to the hospital, and instead pray that they get better. It is abandonment and abuse.
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sure, praying to god will help us-
We all need help. We must all pray for the world, peace, an end to poverty and joblessness is worth a good prayer.
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yes, i do believe that praying helps..but i think one should believe in himself more then prayers...no doubt prayer helps, but what if u dont try to do what r u praying for??-
Where dose one get the power to believe?
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god gives power to believe to everyone..its just a matter of finding it out of urself..
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Its only a matter of what u do for this joblessness. If u think u have a job to do, at the very moment ur status changed.-
We must pray for more jobs for more people. Our attitudes can be shaped by ones prayers. I wish the best for everyone. What is it that you hope for in the world?
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WOW, what an interesting blog here. I would like to say a few things. What are you praying to? I believe in the God of Jesus Christ who came to earth to die for the sins of ALL people. As a result of Jesus death on the cross we are able to communicate / pray and know our prayers will be answered. I know, that was a loaded statement. But the point is, if you don't believe in God why pray? If you don't know Jesus why bother to pray?
I communicate with God continuously. My desire is to let others see what life is with Jesus in your heart. I go by the Christian Bible (as opposed to Muslim etc) and base what and how I pray and act on the guidelines outlined in His word with Him guiding me in all that I do. Even this writing.
If you believe what God says in His word your prayers will be answered according to the will of God. That's the catch. Is your prayer in line with God's will? If not, He may so no.
Like people pray for their team to win a football game. Well, I guarantee people cheering for the other team are praying for their team to win. Not all prayers are answered the way we want.
I had a friend praying her father would not die. God had a friend write to her and say it was time for her to let go. It was her daddy's time to die. She then knew in her heart he would die. God understands our sorrow and grief and not wanting to let go.
Many are praying for jobs, that foreclosures won't happen. Not all prayers are answered, yet some are miraculously answered. God knows what He is doing in your life to bring you to a knowledge and relationship with Him. God is God. No man can understand His ways. The United States is becoming like Soddom and Gamorah in the Bible. God destroyed these cities. The more the United States turns away from God and forbids God from being a part of our every day life the more evil prevails. Who are you praying to? The God of Jesus Christ or another God created by the devil or man. I know what you that are set in your ways that do not believe in the God of Jesus Christ are going to say. But I say, man looks to worldly answers. Believers look for Godly answers and are at peace. Even when he says no!-
I love your words. They speak to the true nature of prayer and where one may find comfort in these days of uncertainty. Thank you.
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Can prayer hurt? We can spend more time being pro-active instead of spending time praying and waiting.-
Why would you think that?
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Exactly Fatx. Actions speak louder than prayers.
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Absolutely, brother. Prayers do not command the Almighty Father, for it is His will that prevails not ours. His answers come in three forms, "NO", "NOT NOW, "LATER". Thanks -
Absolutely, brother. Prayers do not command the Almighty Father, for it is His will that prevails not ours. His answers come in three forms, "NO", "NOT NOW, "LATER". Thanks
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Could you explain your remarks a little more, I almost see your point, please...
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Yes, prayer absolutely helps. It means you are asking God to give what is best for you. But sometimes people don't realize that the answer to their prayers can be a "NO"(not good for you), "YES"(granted immediately because it's good for you), and "YES, BUT LATER"(granted at the right time may be next week, next month, next year).
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Apparently, god has determined that death is good for some people than.
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ya god might be saving them form commiting more sins..
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Funny how according to the bible we are born with sin to begin with, but you say that god kills them to save them from sinning more. Why let anyone live at all if that is the case?
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some people think like that what i said..i think the more we commit sin..the more we get the life..
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So you think sinning is good?
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nope..i haven't said that...sinning is not at all good..but there are certain times when u don want to but u still end up with commiting one...
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Yes prayers always help...-
Bless you for your affirmation of prayer. Could you share an example with us?
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I believe in prayer. There are times that as humans we don't have the power to do something or change something. We need power from God.-
You have said it well. Prayer in its simplest form is communicating with God. In God has all the power to make things right.
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I think it does. Prayer is much more than simply asking God for things - when I pray I never ask for things because God is much more than an entity who answers our needs and lacks.-
You seem to stop too soon. Could you explain your point a littlr more please.
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Remember God is not your servant. Pray activate hope. This hope can make bagger a rich. This means hope comes from God, and prays keep a person alive.
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Thank you for your hope. We need to hear your words. Thanks
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I love this quote from Meister Eckhart, a Christian mystic: "When I pray for something I do not pray; when I pray for nothing I really pray."
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Profound idea. As long as we do something positive we have done well. We all need to hope for a better day. Prayer is a tool to express such desires. Thank you. You are so wise and thoughtful.
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I guess it can help you keep positive, but that's all. Prayer doesn't do jack crap in the real world. I've been praying to win the lottery for years and it ain't done me none.-
Do you have faith. I too pray for a lotto win. Generally I win $5 per week. Wish me well. I too hope you win. Good Luck...
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Well I hit the miracle lottery jackpot... when I was told your unborn baby has trisomy 18,and is gonna be born without a brain and probably won't live past a day old.
Well I prayed,prayed,then prayed some more. I think the rest of my pregnancy was just one long prayer...
Kendall is now 5 yrs.old and tested and passed the test for spotlight. She is reading on a 2nd grade level,last time I checked you had to have a brain to read...-
The docs do their best to make the best educated guesses/predictions they can working with the information they have, there usually isn't a %100 guarantee to the accuracy of those predictions.
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This is wonderful news. Thank you.
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Regarding sin as mentioned further back this blog (or is it up???) Anyway. When one accepts the free gift of eternal life from Christ Jesus and confesses he is a sinner. Jesus death on the cross sets the person free from sin. That is all sins that person will ever commit. Past, present and future. ALL your sins are forgiven. Not just past sins, not just present sins. Future sin is already forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus. So does this mean you can go out and commit any and all sins you desire. No, if you really accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in you. You have a choice to listen to the Holy Spirit and say no to sin, or you can continue in sin. Sin has consequences. Because of Jesus Christ and you giving Him your life your sins are forgiven but you most likely will still have to pay the consequences. God does not force is to live for Him. He sends the Holy Spirit to guide us. We still choose whether we are going to live for self or God.
There is Joy in living for God and not for self. Living for self leads to sin. Choosing to continue sinning can keep you from living the life God has created you for - which brings great joy. God does not give up. He tries to get you to know Him and His will for your life through the Holy Spirit. He desires for us to want to live for Him and know His will for our life and why we were created in the first place. It's a daily walk. The more we get to know God the more we want to know God, the more we communicate with Him and realize how much He loves us. Life with God is an adventure!-
This is a wonderful statement of faith. God is love and understanding life as a gift all in Christ Jesus...
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RAmen!
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Holly, thank you for sharing. I have been praying for another child that was born without grey matter in its brain and the doctors can't explain how that baby is still alive and responding to touch! GOD IS ABLE TO DO ABUNDANTLY ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS AND COMPREHENSION!! Thanks for sharing and God bless you and your family.
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Trail of pen - can God answer the prayer of everyone that prays to win the lottery? No Is He unjust because he doesn't answer your prayer to win the lotter? No
God knows what is good for you. What is good for you is not earthly richs. With earthly richs you probably won't need God and will go off doing your own thing with no thought of God.
If your purpose for being here on earth to live a self centered worldly life. Not in God's eyes. God meets our needs AS HE SEES THEM, not as we see them.-
God Bless your words of wisdom. I would love to win the Lotto if it is God's Will. Thank you.
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Apparently, god has determined that death is good for some people than. Morgantj - Everyone dies one way or another.
"The wages of sin is death." That statement is regarding the sin of not knowing Jesus Christ. If we do not know Jesus as our Lord and savior we are dead. By accepting Christ we are "born again" into a new life. So yes, if you have not accepted Jesus you are dead.
Our earthly bodies die but our spiritual being lives on forever with Jesus Christ our heavenly Father.
Thank you, I choose life, not death. I'm not afraid for my earthly body to die for my spiritual body lives on.-
I see. So god throws us on the board, which by the way, god never asked us if we wanted to play to begin which as we didn't "choose" to be born into this world, and gives us so called "options" of playing by his rules or not, if not, he sends you to hell, if you do play by his rules you have to obey his commandments. Not much of a choice. Especially since he also "determines" that death is good for some people and not for others. We are his chess pieces. So you can pray all you want, but he is determining the movement of the pieces, so it is practically worthless to even bother praying for something when whatever is part of his plan is how it is going to be whether you pray or not.
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Morgant are you saying you believe in God now? -
jflower36, are you saying you don't know how to address my comment except for to ask me that silly question?
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Morgant, I wasn't trying to put you on the defense, and please forgive me if you took my question as offensive. I just thought it was curious that since you have said in the past that you don't believe in God, that you are now acknowledging his existence. The other interesting thing was that you seem to have the theology of hypercalvinism. I was just trying to figure out where you are coming from and if this is something new that has developed on your part. I was simply being interested in your point of view
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I don't believe. I was merely using the information provided by believers and putting it together to see what it would amount to if it were true.
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By the way, I have some opinion about this. 90% for Efforts and 10% for Praying.
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Yes -
MythBusters on prayer - www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9izVu_TtAE
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"Grant me the serenity to accept the person I cannot change.
Courage to change the person I can.
And the wisdom to know that person is me."
don't know if prayer helps. but certainly doesn't hurt.-
It does when children die with obvious sicknesses while their parents don't bother to take them to the hospital, and instead pray that they get better. It is abandonment and abuse.
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@morgan: Are people allowed to do that? Are they not sued?
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Sure there are consequences for the parents, especially when the results of this action or rather "lack of action" result in death. But the most ill consequence is the child is still dead because the parents only prayed. Now there are many other circumstances were people only pray, where it would also have negative consequences that are due to a lack of action, but go unnoticed because it's results aren't immediately fatal. Technically, "praying" is a verb and therefore an action, but when it comes down to it, it doesn't work, and is really neglect of exercising what could have been more direct actions that would of been of benefit.
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People often confuse God with people making poor decisions. God gave us freedom and choice. We must acted intelligently. Now if some (bone-head) dose something stupid, what should we expect? We must know God for ones-self.
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Ah, so just depending on prayer alone is a "poor decision" is stupid, and indeed doesn't help. We are in agreement.
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Prayer is a thought. Not an action. I am trapped in a elevator. I instinctively think "god...help..." Does that mean I take no action. No. Actions must be taken. Hit the help button. Pound on the door. Start to call out...whatever. Whether any of these work I don't know. But as stated above, having a reflexive thought - "God help...!" can hardly be condemned. Whatever one's beliefs.
I find amusing the on-going debate about "prayer in school". I don't need a law to allow me to pray. I could be bound and gagged in a dungeon cell, even that couldn't stop me from prayer. Prayer is a thought. Hey, I prayed often in school: "Oh, my...don't let me fail this test..." "Oh, god...make her look at me. I want her to save a seat beside her for me in study hall..." So forth.
Condemning prayer is fruitless. Actions can be judged. Prayers may be meditative, may be specific requests, but remain thoughts. And our thoughts are our own. -
Praying is not a reflex though. It is learned behavior. In everyday circumstance for how we consider praying, people make conscious intentions to "pray" for something, to speak with god. When one prays for a loved one to recover from an illness, it is not an instinctive response. No, they make a conscious decision to pray. And they consider the "act" of praying to be of some benefit to their loved one. Well, as we can see, the acts of praying alone and taking no other action can be tragic.
To say that prayer can only be "good" is naive. If you really believe in the power of prayer, and that god answers all prayers and intervenes, than when hijackers hijack a plane and pray to god to guide two different planes into two different towers, while everyone else is praying for lives to be spared, but god answers the hijackers prayers and not the others, than the effects are devastating.
It is cherry picking and confirmation bias to say that prayer only has positive results. -
Yes prayer requires, faith and action. We must do our part.
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I don't see how a prayer or any thought can effect a change in external reality. Only action can do that. A prayer or thought, it seems to me, can only effect the person having it.
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True. The question is, what happens on the inside, i.e. the heart, mind and soul. The things unseen are the intangibles of hope and faith. Prayer is our deepest concerns in the universe...
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YES!
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If we have faith..we believe..prayers always help:)-
Indeed.
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I think people believe it can. In my experience it hasn't really helped, but I have heard of others saying it's saved their life or helped someone they know.-
Perhaps it may work later, when you or a loved one may really need it. It is always good to store up on goodwill.
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Depends on the individual's belief.-
Keyword, belief or the will to believe is a good thing. What do you think is most important?
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Yes, Prayer is VERY powerful. I can see a big difference it has made in the life of Michael Brewer (the boy who was set on fire). He is already off the ventilator, eating, drinking, sitting up and talking. Still not out of the woods, but doing so much better than expected because of prayer.-
Great story on prayer. Thank you for your post.
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Prayer made a BIG difference for the life of Madeline Kara Neumann as well. She is doing much worse than expected because her only treatment was prayer. Actually, the results were fatal. She died.
"In the past 25 years, hundreds of children are believed to have died in the United States after faith-healing parents forbade medical attention to end their sickness or protect their lives. When minors die from a lack of parental care, it is usually a matter of criminal neglect and is often tried as murder. However, when parents say the neglect was an article of faith, courts routinely hand down lighter sentences. Faithful neglect has not been used as a criminal defense, but the claim is surprisingly effective in achieving more lenient sentencing, in which judges appear to render less unto Caesar and more unto God.
This disparate treatment was evident last month in Wisconsin, a state with an exemption for faith-based neglect under its child abuse laws. Leilani and Dale Neumann were sentenced for allowing their 11-year-old daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann, to die in 2008 from an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes. The Neumanns are affiliated with a faith-healing church called Unleavened Bread Ministries and continued to pray with other members while Madeline died. They could have received 25 years in prison. Instead, the court emphasized their religious rationale and gave them each six months in jail (to be served one month a year) and 10 years' probation."
- www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111302220.ht... -
Morgan - I agree with you whole-hearted that prayer should NOT take the place of good medical care, and I don't believe we are advocating that in this discussion. God blessed this world and nation with wonderful doctors and great medical break throughs in procedures and medicine. To refuse this would be foolish. There is no where in the Bible where God condones foolish behavior.
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FaithfulinPrayer, I think it is disrespectful and insulting to doctors to give credit to god for their skills and abilities. They put a lot of hard work, study, time, and dedication into learning how to be a doctor. They just weren't put on earth by a all-powerful entity with inherent doctor abilities. No, it takes them half a lifetime to get there, they earned it and worked towards it.
Same goes for when a doctor saves a life, and the family thanks god instead of the doctor. The gratitude is misplaced. If they really believe in god to begin with than they should know that god allowed the patient there particular illness or accident to begin with. It is like thanking a kidnapper for releasing your child after many many effort to get your child back. They are the ones that kidnapped your child to begin with, had they not of done so, you wouldn't need to get your child back from them.
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I hope you visit our group and pray for the world www.blogcatalog.com/group/the-joy-of-jesus
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Praying has a big impact. Because when we pray, we have hope that whatever we wish for will come true.
Where there is a hope, there is a way.
To feel inspired, u can check out thepositivelife.com
By d way, u gave me a nice idea, I will write an article about Prayer Power within this week-
Faith is essential to effective prayer.
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"Supplication is the essence of worship" according to Islamic belief. Also when making supplication/prayer, one should have firm faith that he is asking from God the All-Powerful, and He is able to fulfil every need.
That's when the concept of God comes in, weather you believe in 3 Gods in 1 or million Gods or simply One all-powerful, all-knowing, free from all his creation God.-
Prayer can be highly effective when coupled by righteousness.
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Righteousness & Sincerity too
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I think we all agree that prayer has the potential to give hope and motivation to the person praying. However, it also has the potential to result in anxiety.
Also, many if not most prayer requests ask for gods divine intervention for something, for some circumstance. To depend on prayer for this as many people do, doesn't help and can have tragic consequences.
People keep appealing to prayer as having benefit to give hope and motivation to the person praying, but that is not the main intentions of praying many people that do it. What they really want is that divine intervention.-
The key to prayer is the will of God. It is this understanding that all things work for the greater good.
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Please elaborate.
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In order for prayer to work "God" would have to intervene and therefore would not only have to alter the natural path of events but also the path of everyone else and everything else.
Therefore in order to save the one that is being prayed for would also mean that it will effect others around that person. It basically requires a whole universal change of events to make one simple change.
This would be against the principles of freewill and logic.
I'm sorry to offend the religious people but my opinion is that prayer is a form of wishful thinking.-
Excellent point.
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Actually, I believe prayer or any other positive intent impacts the etheric makeup. Which makes me think of a true story. In March of last year, as the first French ship full of water was making its way to Cataluña, it started raining for three days non-stop (we haven't heard the word drought ever since.) Make a long story short, my aunt - a devout Catholic - had been praying for weeks on weeks for the rain to return. She believed her prayers and those of her friends at Church had done the trick... Little did she know, groups of people had been depositing pieces of orgonite ("tower busters") near electromagnetic towers so as to inverse the etheric ouput (some more scientifically inclined, suggest this is merely the output of electrons) - from negative to positive.
Thus, their prayers had not been the principal force underlying the end of the drought. I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise... -
You are correct. There have been many odd stories of events that have reshaped history from the unexpected. We have no real control over the things that govern our lives. Yet ones faith may make things palatable.
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Harvey, God works through people, things, nature, etc. It takes a real lack of belief to see an answered prayer and attribute it to something else. Was it not God that created electrons? Could not God move people to deposite orgonite?
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Something that I find quite interesting is that people of faith believe that God is all knowing, past, present and future. Therefore in other words, before I was even born "God" knew that I would end up never believing in religion or the Bible til the day that I die, so even before I was born I was condemned to hell.
Many religious have told me that I have the chance to change, but then would that not mean God already knows if I am going to change or not?
So for prayer to work, God would have to chop and change constantly the outcome of events to suit my prayers. That's not free will!-
This has been one of my arguments for some time. The idea of free-will is not compatible with an all-knowing god.
If god is all knowing, than god already knows what you are going to do even before you do it. Since god knows what you are going to do before you do, god knows your exact path in life, than that means your path is certain to be what he already knows about. If your path is already set and known, than you cannot do otherwise. If you cannot do otherwise, you do not have free-will. An all knowing god = determinism. No free-will. -
Or is it? One never knows what may happen to ones life until it happens. The most important point is to you understand your options.Paul hated Christians and became one of the greatest. Even Cesar, Constantine became a Christian on his death bed. You never really know. What if you are right? What shall we do?
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If you believe you "never really know" than why do you hold so much value to your current beliefs drjalee52?
As far as options... what options? Did you not notice we just made a case for determinism?
Also, If we are right, you shall do what you are "determined" to do. Remember, no free-will.
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Perfect way to put it Morg. Exactly!
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I've heard an interesting counter-argument to that. God keeps revising his Book, changing His mind about people's fate according to their actions. In other words, your actions can change God's mind. So although God knows in advance what every person is going to do, He doesn't know what He is going to do. God can't predict His own actions because he is inscrutable even to Himself, lives spontaneously, perpetually in the present, so His free will becomes our free will.
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If he can't predict his own actions than he is not all-knowing and is not omnipotent.
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The point being that God is a free spontaneous Being living in the Eternal Present. He can't predict his future actions because He has no future to predict. His all-knowingness consists in seeing everything that is going on at the moment. When Abraham asked God who He was, He answered: I am.
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Since he is outside of time and everything is spontaneous and instant for him, than his book just "is" as well. There can be no "changing" of mind or "revising" it or "something he is going to do." Everything just is. If he has no future to predict, than he has no future actions. Everything is instant including his "knowing" of all of this. There literally is no time for him to change anything.
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Maybe before discussing this matter, one should refine his definition of the concept of God :-).
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I have to give you an applause there nothingprofound, I actually like that theory.
But there is a small problem I find with this.
Surely if God knows exactly what your going to do in advance but he doesn't know what he will do as he is spontaneous, that still means he knows you better than you know yourself so he will already anticipate by knowing the final outcome of every one of your thoughts and actions.
If there is such a god then he already can calculate precisely every move before you make. So this can not be spontaneous, for god to exist in the way the religions explain, free will cannot exist. Might be wrong completely but I'm open to your response.-
This is a view of God as seen from a mystic's point of view. God can't know what you are going to do in advance because for God there is no advance. He only sees the free action you are performing at the moment.
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Indeed, the First Being is atemporal, as is Being for that matter.
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We are on to some very serious thinking regarding the I Am factor. History is a better indicator of time. Mark Twain was born on the day in which Halley's Comet appeared. Seventy-two years later, he died upon its return. There were a number of founding fathers who died on July 4Th. God is indeed sovereign. He can do as he pleases. The 800 pound gorilla may sit where he wants in other words. We must do what makes sense. It is important to ask questions. What if
I am wrong? What will happen to me? However, what if you are wrong, what are your options? -
So drjalee52 are you admitting to only believing because you are worried about what will happen to you? That is your motivation for believing? You think god will reward you for that?
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@drjalee52. What if you are wrong? Pascal's wager addressed -
www.travisjmorgan.com/blog/2008/04/16/what-if-you-are-wrong/-
Great source of information. If I am wrong, I go away. This not a bad deal. However, If I am right, I win it all; eternal life in love and perfection with God. The one point I would like to clarify, one can only get to heaven by faith and grace. One can not earn ones way to heaven. My deal you can not lose. Your deal, you simply go away. Now, which door will you chose?
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You are still using Pascals wager. Did you even read and understand the content of the page that I linked to?
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Sure did you read it? Make your point.
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Did I read it? I wrote it. LOL. The point is Pascals wager is problematic. Which is the wager you are placing when you say, "My deal you can not lose. Your deal, you simply go away. Now, which door will you chose?" The page I linked to explains the problems with the wager. I am thinking that either you are not reading it, or simply just don't understand it.
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Sure , there are choices. I have made my choice. The question is what is your choice. Simply make your point. Do not be afraid to make your choice. I am responding to you. You are attempting to attack me. That is an instant loser. Make your point.
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I have made my point and I have not attacked you. I am addressing the wager you are making. But you are obviously missing that point as well as other points and I expect this one too.
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You have no point. I am not your point. What are you saying forget about me.
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I rest my case. LOL.
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The point is, it is better to pray, have faith and be saved by grace, than to die and simply go away. Thank you.
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That is not THE point. That is YOUR opinion. You have not made a convincing case to support "it is better to pray." While I have shown how it can equally have negative consequences if not more, and you just continue to ignore this information as it doesn't fit with your beliefs. This is called confirmation bias. I hope that you can free yourself from it someday.
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My mom always use to say thik hone ke liye dava aur dua dono ki jarurat padti hai....which mean one need both medicine and prayer to get healed...
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