Praying

[Slippery Slope]

Hi SlipperySlope.

There are no easy answers to the questions about prayer...but there are biblical guidelines and examples....here are two that I have no doubt about.

1.)  For a Believer the number one thing is to know that G-d actually hears your prayers...however pathetic they may be at times...He looks at the heart of a person and responds to faith and not just words.

Hebrews makes this point...

11:6  And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

2.)  We are also called to be persistant in prayer and not to give up.  This is a hard concept to grasp sometimes even for a Believer and opens a veritable Pandoras box of sub-questions...but it is a vital part of developing an effective,challenging and rewarding prayer-life...Much of this goes on in the privacy and intimacy of an individuals prayer-life that is known and recorded only by G-d Himself.

Luke 18:1-8 Covers this very well...and verse 7 says.

"And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night to Him, though He has been long-suffering over them?"

The thrust of this is that somehow through prayer G-d weighs and tests an individuals heart and so much more goes on than we might truely understand and there is no easy formula that will guarantee results that is not connected to faith and persistance anchored in relationship to our Heavenly Father.

Having said that ....in direct answer to your inquiry..

SS...

Interesting, so if you pray for someone to be healed and they aren't do you assume you didn't pray well enough or do you chalk it up to gods mysterious purpose which you aren't meant to understand? How do you know which it is?

Answering for myself I would have to say that many times I do not know why someone may not be healed...it could be from lack of faith on behalf of the ones praying or the recipient...It might not be G-ds timing or plan...I try not to second guess G-d but to be obedient to whatever situation I am in....I have gone through some great disappointments and struggled to understand why nothing has happened at times.

Hope this gives you a clue. Kind Regards. Botz

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you for your thoughtful response Botz, I'll consider what you've said.

Still waiting

-SS

[ellie]

edited

[Slippery Slope]

The results are always up to God.  I do my part by praying, He does the rest.  Whatever the results are is up to Him. 

Didn't I read a post of yours a while back SS saying that you had the hang of this Christian thing?  It doesn't seem to me that you quite have a grasp of it just yet.

Understanding the Christian fundamentalist philosophy is different than agreeing with it and I've yet to do either.

You can question God till the end of your life and what good will have come of it?

Hmm, a life time of thought provoking discussion, gaining wisdom and insight of the world, myself and others and perhaps some understanding... Yeah, your way is probably better, ummm what was it again?

One day God will question you. Why don't you just accept your agnostisim and go on with your life?

That's a tad rude.

You have had more than enough time here to have made a decision one way or the other, haven't you? 

Apparently not but thanks for your input. I didn't realize it was up to you or anyone else to decide how long it will take for me to find my own personal truth.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No one else would like to explain why they pray?

Still waiting

-SS

[Guest Thomas I believe]

Anyway, I'm hoping that the holy spirit will find me while I'm having discussions with you all.

SS, Open your heart to the truth and God will be there and you won't be waiting anymore. Its that simple !!!

[Slippery Slope]

Anyway, I'm hoping that the holy spirit will find me while I'm having discussions with you all.

SS, Open your heart to the truth and God will be there and you won't be waiting anymore. Its that simple !!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before God gets to me

I hope it's before the the treatment I get here turns me off to Xianity completely.

Anything you'd like to say about the topic?

Still waiting

-SS

[ted]

I have and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before God gets to me

[Slippery Slope]

I have and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before God gets to me

[Botz]

Hi Slope...I think Ted is trying to show you that you might feel a bit put off by the way some Christians here have treated or responded to you...and it has ovviously upset you a little bit (understandably)...and Ted is just encouraging you that if you think people have a go at you now...wait till you become a Christian and then you will really see what being a target is all about.

Sorry that some of us have perhaps said things in an unloving fashion to you at times SS..I guess we are not perfect and there is always room for change..I hope you will persevere with your search and your very reasonable questions..

[ted]

Yes, Botz. My point exactly.

SS, I'm not trying to preach, just giving you another perspective. Before I accepted Christ and His work, I had it figured that God was working on me pretty hard. Someone, at one point said to relax and listen. God's work was already finished at the Cross. All I had to do was believe and accept it.

It kinda changed the way I thought about the situation.

That's all I was saying.

Peace,

t.

[yomotalking]

Hi SS, I have been reading this thread, and decided to put down my thoughts for what they are worth!

I don't want to go on threads talking about what happened to me, as I have already spoken about it on this site, but I hope it might be helpful.

I was born in Romania, 13 years ago. My birth parents lived near the Russian Border, in an area that was affected by radiation fall-out. As a result of this, I was born with various problems. I had facial deformities, part of the roof of my mouth missing, (still have), floppy fingertips (which is embarrassing when I play the piano!) , coordination difficulties, and deafness ( I nearly said "daftness" which probably fits me as well!)

I weighed under 2lb at birth, and was promptly deposited into an orphanage.There

I would have stayed until I died. But thousands of miles away, in another country,

some Christians who had seen my photo were praying for me.

As a result of prayer, I am now their daughter. I've prayed about many things since then. Some things have been answered, some have not. I have been healed in some areas, but there are things that I would dearly love to be healed of, but it hasn't happened.....YET!

All kinds of bad things do happen. We live in a world that is affected by sin, and because of that, it can affect us! What other people do can affect us, also.

God gives us free will. We can accept Christ, or we can turn away from Him.

People are praying for you because they love you, and want you to turn to Jesus. Moreover, Jesus WANTS you to turn to him!

Some people think there is a fence they can sit on, in the middle of the decision on whether they recieve Christ or not, but there is no fence! You belong to Christ, or you don't. It's as simple as that!

You sign your posts,"still waiting" , but God is waiting for you!

I hope you find Him soon.

Yomo.