Have you ever been able to guess/figure out why God said NO to a prayer?

[Anonymous]

I don't believe that God "answers prayers" although quite a few people seem to disagree. I used to believe that somehow God answered prayers if the prayers were right for you or in line with what is generally considered "good." But, I lost that belief when my newborn infant was born and died and I heard a lot of people had been praying for her in prayer circles. Like, how does a god say "no" to giving a newborn baby a chance to live just a little bit outside of the hospital? And for anyone to say to me "it was god's will" -- well, gee that's a pretty sick joke to say "you be pregnant for 9 mos, have a baby and then 13 days later, I'm going to take the baby away from you the night before she is scheduled to come home --- psyche!!! ha, ha! fooled you!!" That's a really really dumb god who would lead me to the edge of expectation and then pull out the rug.

From that, I developed a belief that if there is a god, he's not really involved in the day to day workings of our lives even if what we are asking for is universally considered "good" (i.e. letting a newborn feel sunshine on her face and no pain from needles and being able to sleep without a million noises). If god can't be bothered with that, then I really don't believe god is the one who helped you on your physics test or kept you from running out of gas on the way home, a touchdown, or whatever. I just don't have much patience for people who are attributing things on earth to god's hand.

Recently I read a terrible report of a 4 yr. old near Philadelphia who was essentially tortured by his mother's boyfriend and the mother was complicit. They killed him and the nurses wept at the ER b/c his body was so maimed. They had hung him by his feet and beat him over a period of three weeks. This was cute little 4 yr. old. (as an aside, he was white with strawberry blonde hair and I'm sure there would have been a hundred couples willing to adopt him in an instant).

He was FOUR. He couldn't possibly have had any fault in the situation. He was tortured over weeks. This just breaks my heart from top to bottom.... and I say -- IF there is a God, WHERE WAS HE????? How can anyone think there is a God helping them with minutia of their lives when there was no help for this little guy??? I cannot reconcile it other than to conclude that God is NOT involved in our lives. A belief in a higher power may be a source of inspiration, motivation, and comfort to many people, but I do NOT believe that God answers prayers or that God is involved in any way in the events on Earth.

I would like to believe there is a God b/c it would be comforting in times of trouble... but I can't figure out how there can be a god. For now, I leave the door open to the idea just a teeny tiny bit, but it's more out of wishful thinking than actual belief. I really just don't think there is anyone on the other side of the door.

The idea that God is getting involved in some earthly matters and not others does not sit well with me. I prefer no god than a god that leaves babies/preschoolers to die while helping other people with less important things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe that God "answers prayers" although quite a few people seem to disagree. I used to believe that somehow God answered prayers if the prayers were right for you or in line with what is generally considered "good." But, I lost that belief when my newborn infant was born and died and I heard a lot of people had been praying for her in prayer circles. Like, how does a god say "no" to giving a newborn baby a chance to live just a little bit outside of the hospital? And for anyone to say to me "it was god's will" -- well, gee that's a pretty sick joke to say "you be pregnant for 9 mos, have a baby and then 13 days later, I'm going to take the baby away from you the night before she is scheduled to come home --- psyche!!! ha, ha! fooled you!!" That's a really really dumb god who would lead me to the edge of expectation and then pull out the rug.

From that, I developed a belief that if there is a god, he's not really involved in the day to day workings of our lives even if what we are asking for is universally considered "good" (i.e. letting a newborn feel sunshine on her face and no pain from needles and being able to sleep without a million noises). If god can't be bothered with that, then I really don't believe god is the one who helped you on your physics test or kept you from running out of gas on the way home, a touchdown, or whatever. I just don't have much patience for people who are attributing things on earth to god's hand.

Recently I read a terrible report of a 4 yr. old near Philadelphia who was essentially tortured by his mother's boyfriend and the mother was complicit. They killed him and the nurses wept at the ER b/c his body was so maimed. They had hung him by his feet and beat him over a period of three weeks. This was cute little 4 yr. old. (as an aside, he was white with strawberry blonde hair and I'm sure there would have been a hundred couples willing to adopt him in an instant).

He was FOUR. He couldn't possibly have had any fault in the situation. He was tortured over weeks. This just breaks my heart from top to bottom.... and I say -- IF there is a God, WHERE WAS HE????? How can anyone think there is a God helping them with minutia of their lives when there was no help for this little guy??? I cannot reconcile it other than to conclude that God is NOT involved in our lives. A belief in a higher power may be a source of inspiration, motivation, and comfort to many people, but I do NOT believe that God answers prayers or that God is involved in any way in the events on Earth.

I would like to believe there is a God b/c it would be comforting in times of trouble... but I can't figure out how there can be a god. For now, I leave the door open to the idea just a teeny tiny bit, but it's more out of wishful thinking than actual belief. I really just don't think there is anyone on the other side of the door.

The idea that God is getting involved in some earthly matters and not others does not sit well with me. I prefer no god than a god that leaves babies/preschoolers to die while helping other people with less important things.

^^ sounds compelling to me, but don't be surprised if someone comes along and explains that God works in mysterious ways you'll understand it all after you're dead, and you'd better believe in God to avoid Hell.

The pull of eternal life can be so great that people are willing to believe all sorts of things to hold on to it.