Does God answer prayers? When & How?
Does god answer prayer? We know that good and bad things happen whether we pray or not, and irregardless of what we believe.
If God answers prayer, is said prayer answered in a way that God's response is distinguishable from no response at all? Is it distinguishable from mere coincedence? If so, demonstrate this.
If we are to believe that God answers our prayers and aids us with our struggles, we should also believe that God answers the prayers and aids in the struggles of believers who face greater difficulty, as in those struggling with diseases like cancer, progeria, aids, or feeling the ravages of famine, children facing genocide, molestation or other horrors that no compassionate adult may even be aware of.
I hear ppl state everyday how their prayers were answered or they were otherwise blessed. So I wonder how the aformentioned children of the world fit into their worldviews?
Is there any special criterion for prayers that are answered?
Yes, he does.
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No, he does not.
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The thing about prayers is that they don't work as you would expect. For example..., let's say you want a bike. Well..., you can't just pray for a bike. God helps those who help themselves. God is all about paying for your sins if you repent. What you have to do is steal a bike and pray for forgiveness ;) Side: Yes, he does.
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That's very true. God doesn't answer them like you expect. Have you read the monkey's paw? It is a short story. It is a good story that does have something like this. I always pray to god about the weirdest things that i want happening to me, they happen, they really do, just never to me. Side: Yes, he does.
'I always pray to god about the weirdest things that i want happening to me, they happen, they really do, just never to me.' then you cannot call this an 'answered prayer'. trillions of events transpire daily without the need for prayer. its the nature of the world we live in. Side: No, he does not.
'God helps those who help themselves.' How does a person with stage 4 terminal cancer help himself? How does a child born with cancer or hiv help himself? How does a teen with progeria help himself? Who really needs help to do what they can do for themselves? 'Oh I prayed for that job and god helped me get it." "god please get this stain out of my dress, it's my favorite dress.' if god only helps us to do things we can do without a god's help, how do we distinguish answered prayers from prayers that fell on deaf ears? if god only helps those who help themselves, an old shoe would appear to answer just as many prayers as god does. what you deem 'answered prayer' can be too easily dismissed as confirmation bias. Side: No, he does not.
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Side: No, he does not.
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First of all, I want to say that I am not native English speaker and i can have a lot of mistakes, sorry for it. The God helps every person who pray, just it can happens immediately or it can happens after a long period of time. Also the God can answer to prayers, but the person who prays may not notice it. Side: Yes, he does.
events occur. sometimes we influence this occurance, and sometimes events occur randomly. random events may occur at any given time, so when you say 'prayer may be answered immediatey or after a long time, your'e supporting the argument that a divinely answered prayer is no different than a prayer answered by an old shoe. what you should be attempting to show , if you believe prayer is answered, is how an answered prayer is distinguishable from a random occurence or an unanswered prayer. as i have already stated. good and bad things happen whether or not we pray. how do you distinguish an answered prayer from an unanswered prayer, an unheard prayer, an ignored prayer, or a random occurance? by your description all of these things look indistinguishable. given enough time, good, and bad things happen. so to say sometimes it happens after a long period of time is a hollow argument. Side: No, he does not.
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I believe God is the master of the 11-dimensional hyperspace, he can affect you and see you because he is in a higher dimension than you are. If the miracle of the kidney stones being removed by God is true, then he used the fifth dimension to take it out without having to cut through your skin. To understand what I am talking about watch this: flatland
Side: Yes, he does.
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Yes does answer prayers but you have to have faith when you pray. Sometimes God doesn't answer all prayers. Its His will whether or not to answer it or not. If its something that is not that important then He won't answer it. I know God has answered my prayers sometimes but not all the time He does. Side: Yes, he does.
if a person has no faith, why would they see any need to pray? we are operating under the assumption that prayers are born from those who believe. christians say "God answers prayer, and sometimes the answer is no." when the answer is no, the result of the prayer is the same as it would be if a person hadn't prayed at all, or if there is no god to hear or answer their prayers. so how does one make the claim that all prayers are answered? in this paradigm, an old shoe could answer as many prayers as god. if confirmation is made through bias, any notion can be confirmed. Side: No, he does not.
Some prayers are answered and some aren't. Its all under God's will if He wants to answer it or not. It could take weeks or months before God finally answers your prayer. Also I know He answers my prayers because I see the result. If I pray to God sometimes He answers it different ways. One of the ways He answers is if I am reading sometimes when I come up to a particular verse that actually means something it hits me because that's what I prayed for and another thing how He answers prayers is if I am at church and listening to the pastor speak sometimes He talks about what I prayed for. But not all of my prayers have been answered, so I just be patient and still continue to pray. Side: Yes, he does.
Prayer makes a connection between God and mortal men. Besides, with the help of prayer, a person has the opportunity to get in touch with his Creator, can tell him about his situation, needs and also can ask for help in difficult situations. Prayer is the need of people's souls. God responds to all religious people. There are many evidences that were written in Bible where Jesus said that God never refuses people's prayers. "What you desire, ask, and you will" (John. 15:7). Besides, Scripture testifies: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). However there are some aspects that should be clarified. A prayer has divine purpose. It is essential that we remember this, if we want to understand why some prayers are unanswered. He does not expects us to say to him what he should do. There are many prayers but every pray should come from the heart and be sincere. Thus, to get the answer of prayer, they should coincide with God's will. God hears only personal prayers, when a person ask Him in his/her own words, from the depths of his/her own heart. Solomon says:”The LORD is far from the impious, and hears the prayer of the righteous (Prit.15: 29) Side: Yes, he does.
Prayer makes a connection between God and mortal men. Besides, with the help of prayer, a person has the opportunity to get in touch with his Creator, can tell him about his situation, needs and also can ask for help in difficult situations. Why would it be necessary for an all powerful and all knowing being to be told by a mortal of thier "situation and needs"? Prayer is the need of people's souls. You have no proof a soul exists, nor that it requires anything, much less prayer. There are many evidences that were written in Bible where Jesus said that God never refuses people's prayers. "What you desire, ask, and you will" (John. 15:7). Besides, Scripture testifies: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Using a religious book as "proof" of a tenant of the religion is not evidence, it is propoganda. Evidence would be prayer actively being answered. It is not in any consistent way which could not be attributed to circumstance. A prayer has divine purpose. It is essential that we remember this, if we want to understand why some prayers are unanswered. He does not expects us to say to him what he should do. There are many prayers but every pray should come from the heart and be sincere. Thus, to get the answer of prayer, they should coincide with God's will. That's ridiculous. If there is some divine purpose in something happening, than it would happen without prayer. If there is some divine purpose for a prayer to not be answered, whatever was prayed for would not have happened whether someone prayed for it or not. You are saying that what's going to happen will happen and what will not will not. So then, one should not pray by your own admission. God hears only personal prayers, when a person ask Him in his/her own words, from the depths of his/her own heart. Again, this would lead one to believe this god was not all powerful, since there are apparently prayers he would not hear. This actually is more than a stupid statement though, it's a dangerous one. It is a tool for blaming victims of circumstance for the circumstance. "Well, if your heart was in it god would have saved your child from that well." It is a way to ignore the plight of others for your own selfish desire, and something I see in Christians often. It's a horrible thing. Solomon says:”The LORD is far from the impious, and hears the prayer of the righteous (Prit.15: 29) Again, propoganda not evidence. Side: No, he does not.
If you are an atheist, of course everything that was written by me can seem to you ridiculous and I am not going to prove existence of God and credibility of Bible because it is in vain. I do not have any power to persuade somebody that God exists and he answers people's prayers. Side: Yes, he does.
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Starting from the premise that there is a god and he's all powerful and capable of answering all prayer. We observe a couple of things: 1. Many who deserve to have prayer answered do not have prayer answered. For example kids who die of cancer, in fires, etc. 2. Many who pray but do not deserve to have their prayers answered still get what they had prayed for, whether this is god's doing or random. For example, that silly MTV show with the spoiled 16 year olds who pray for a Corvette or whatever while people are going hungry all over the world. So we have to assume if there is a god who is capable of answering prayer he either: A) Doesn't bother to answer any. B) Does so but in an arbitrary and unjust manner. Either does not put this god in a good light. If I were one who believed in an all powerful god and were trying to promote his existance, I'd downplay the whole prayer thing as much as possible lest this being's indifference/injustice be found out. Side: No, he does not.
there is no god, so prayers cannot be answered by him/her/it. It would be more meaningful to ask if a piece of paper answers prayers because at least you would be talking about a thing that has an objective reality rather than a subjective memically constructed subsistence. Side: No, he does not.
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