Do prayers really work and if they do is it fair?

[Anonymous]

Some interesting perspective from a Jewish blog I read:

When a loved one cannot be healed, perhaps a time comes when we stop asking God for healing. We can ask for perspective, for strength, for loving care. We can ask God to be with our loved one and help them find blessings in each day. We can ask for comfort, for some sweetness to mitigate our loved one's suffering or grief. We can ask God to be with their caregivers, and to strengthen the work of their hands. We can ask for what is possible, and that has to be enough.

https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2014/11/in-need-of-healing.html

[Anonymous]

Please get yourself a more sophisticated theology than you are expressing here.

God isn't magic and you suffer from a lack of imagination.

[Anonymous]

Even the theologian responses in this thread say no, it does not work -- at least not the way most people think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God is like a parent. Sometimes two siblings might want the same thing, but the parent better understands what each child needs.

God is a parent who understands EXACTLY what you need. And sometimes it’s not a life where everything goes exactly how you want and nothing bad happens to you.

and sometimes that is deadly cancer for one person and a long life of health and luxury for another. Sort of like luck, except a deity is being consulted.

If there is a God and an afterlife then death is not as bad of an outcome as a long life of luxury that leads to eternity in a bad place.

If your soul will exist for eternity, then Everything on Earth is so tiny, including your suffering.

The person who lived a long life of luxury could also go to heaven -- a great life on earth and a great reward in heaven too!

The Bible discusses this in some detail- I recommend you bother to read it!

The Bible is a big book -- can you direct us to the verses that cover this issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never understood why prayer cured cancer but never regenerated an amputated limb.

Only things that can happen in nature (or with the help of modern science) can happen in prayer

Animals regenerate amputated limbs all the time. That's nature. And humans are animals.

And it sounds like you're limiting God's power. Who told you only certain things "can happen in prayer"?

Aren't we talking about prayers for humans here? Plus, there's no reason to pray for an animal to regenerate a limb if you know they will do it without prayer.

The point is, if god can make it so animals regenerate limbs he could certainly do it for humans. But apparently he chooses not to.

[Anonymous]

Some do, some don’t. You’ll never know unless you pray

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some do, some don’t. You’ll never know unless you pray

Which ones do, and which ones don't? And how do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very often when we pray, what we are changing is *ourselves* We make what we are envisioning a reality. So you focus on having strength and patience and you gain strength and patience.

If there is a God, it is more complicated than an old guy with a white beard in a robe who grants wishes like fairy godparent.

Nature is part of the divine and we all know nature, red of tooth and claw, isn't always beneficent.

Yet this is the god that so many people pray to, and who many people think has answered their prayers.

And when he doesn't answer their prayers, they have ways of explaining it.

God doesn’t answer all prayer. What if I prayed for my neighbor to die? God just says “ok!” and sends an airplane crashing into her house to take her out?

I mean talk about a simpleton....

Maybe kids could pray for their meatloaf to turn into ice cream and their brothers into frogs.

Then we could all pray to win the lottery.

Happily ever after, the end!

LOL I prayed for my neighbor to move to florida and she did!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God is like a parent. Sometimes two siblings might want the same thing, but the parent better understands what each child needs.

God is a parent who understands EXACTLY what you need. And sometimes it’s not a life where everything goes exactly how you want and nothing bad happens to you.

and sometimes that is deadly cancer for one person and a long life of health and luxury for another. Sort of like luck, except a deity is being consulted.

If there is a God and an afterlife then death is not as bad of an outcome as a long life of luxury that leads to eternity in a bad place.

If your soul will exist for eternity, then Everything on Earth is so tiny, including your suffering.

The person who lived a long life of luxury could also go to heaven -- a great life on earth and a great reward in heaven too!

The Bible discusses this in some detail- I recommend you bother to read it!

The Bible is a big book -- can you direct us to the verses that cover this issue?

You can totally google this on your own. Or better yet, read the New Testament or gospels yourself. Maybe if more people actually did that this forum would less mediocre. I have faith in you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God is like a parent. Sometimes two siblings might want the same thing, but the parent better understands what each child needs.

God is a parent who understands EXACTLY what you need. And sometimes it’s not a life where everything goes exactly how you want and nothing bad happens to you.

and sometimes that is deadly cancer for one person and a long life of health and luxury for another. Sort of like luck, except a deity is being consulted.

If there is a God and an afterlife then death is not as bad of an outcome as a long life of luxury that leads to eternity in a bad place.

If your soul will exist for eternity, then Everything on Earth is so tiny, including your suffering.

The person who lived a long life of luxury could also go to heaven -- a great life on earth and a great reward in heaven too!

The Bible discusses this in some detail- I recommend you bother to read it!

The Bible is a big book -- can you direct us to the verses that cover this issue?

You can totally google this on your own. Or better yet, read the New Testament or gospels yourself. Maybe if more people actually did that this forum would less mediocre. I have faith in you!

IOW" read the bible -- you'll be a better person for it and pp doesn't know of any particular passages anyhow.

Meanwhile, many people have given up religion after reading the Bible. There's some wisdom there, yes, but also some crazy stuff like what foods not to eat and clothes not to wear and the talking donkey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God is like a parent. Sometimes two siblings might want the same thing, but the parent better understands what each child needs.

God is a parent who understands EXACTLY what you need. And sometimes it’s not a life where everything goes exactly how you want and nothing bad happens to you.

and sometimes that is deadly cancer for one person and a long life of health and luxury for another. Sort of like luck, except a deity is being consulted.

If there is a God and an afterlife then death is not as bad of an outcome as a long life of luxury that leads to eternity in a bad place.

If your soul will exist for eternity, then Everything on Earth is so tiny, including your suffering.

The person who lived a long life of luxury could also go to heaven -- a great life on earth and a great reward in heaven too!

The Bible discusses this in some detail- I recommend you bother to read it!

The Bible is a big book -- can you direct us to the verses that cover this issue?

You can totally google this on your own. Or better yet, read the New Testament or gospels yourself. Maybe if more people actually did that this forum would less mediocre. I have faith in you!

IOW" read the bible -- you'll be a better person for it and pp doesn't know of any particular passages anyhow.

Meanwhile, many people have given up religion after reading the Bible. There's some wisdom there, yes, but also some crazy stuff like what foods not to eat and clothes not to wear and the talking donkey.

I actually do know exactly which verses are applicable here (namely Mark 10:17-31 and hello most of the Bible) but no, I haven’t been impressed with the amount of knowledge on this forum about the Bible. It’s basically a bunch of ignoramuses pontificating on something they hardly know. Very few people seem to know anything about the Bible other than as you say, there are rules on what foods to eat (gasp! Rules about eating in a time where there were all kinds of diseases associated with unsanitary conditions!!) and some random “impossible” thing they saw on some atheist reddit post like there was a talking donkey, which wasn’t even the most interesting part of that story.

Context matters and you don’t have context if I throw out random verses. Many people in the Bible were rich and had luxury in their time but their lives weren’t easy. Even the best humans torpedo their own relatively easy lives and have to ask God for help- this is a continuous theme in the Old Testament. Without reading the Bible you don’t understand the themes, the progression, the path. You just snark on the web and make yourself look foolish.

[Anonymous]

OP, your premise is faulty because you express a fundamental misunderstanding (on the elementary school level) of God and prayer. But there are people who share your misunderstanding, so if that is who you want to discuss this with, carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I actually do know exactly which verses are applicable here (namely Mark 10:17-31 and hello most of the Bible) but no, I haven’t been impressed with the amount of knowledge on this forum about the Bible. It’s basically a bunch of ignoramuses pontificating on something they hardly know. Very few people seem to know anything about the Bible other than as you say, there are rules on what foods to eat (gasp! Rules about eating in a time where there were all kinds of diseases associated with unsanitary conditions!!) and some random “impossible” thing they saw on some atheist reddit post like there was a talking donkey, which wasn’t even the most interesting part of that story.

Is it really surprising that people point out the parts of the book they find objectionable, contradictory, offensive, or impossible?

The problem many people have is with biblical literalists. You'll see very little argument to people who view it as allegory written by men, even if they choose to make it an important part of their life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your premise is faulty because you express a fundamental misunderstanding (on the elementary school level) of God and prayer. But there are people who share your misunderstanding, so if that is who you want to discuss this with, carry on.

Thanks for explaining it for him so he can understand.

Oh, wait...

(the irony again, it burns)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I actually do know exactly which verses are applicable here (namely Mark 10:17-31 and hello most of the Bible) but no, I haven’t been impressed with the amount of knowledge on this forum about the Bible. It’s basically a bunch of ignoramuses pontificating on something they hardly know. Very few people seem to know anything about the Bible other than as you say, there are rules on what foods to eat (gasp! Rules about eating in a time where there were all kinds of diseases associated with unsanitary conditions!!) and some random “impossible” thing they saw on some atheist reddit post like there was a talking donkey, which wasn’t even the most interesting part of that story.

Is it really surprising that people point out the parts of the book they find objectionable, contradictory, offensive, or impossible?

The problem many people have is with biblical literalists. You'll see very little argument to people who view it as allegory written by men, even if they choose to make it an important part of their life.

If you accept the premise of a creator who is omnipresent, omnipotent, etc., why would the “impossible” parts bother you at all? The entire premise is impossible without faith.

Secondly I have no problem discussing contradictions in the Bible, but when your knowledge and understanding are so superficial, you really don’t have anything of interest to say. Yes, guys, we know some innocent babies get cancer and that is super terrible, but it is really not a slam dunk as far as seeing religion as illegitimate. The fallout of free will and living in the natural world is suffering. The Bible is actually not about avoiding suffering or having the easiest life possible.

Don’t try to point out issues about something that you didn’t read all the way through without at least googling or investigating yourself. So basic!