“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;”
??Romans? ?12:12? ?KJV??

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
??Matthew? ?21:22? ?KJV??


“Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.”
??Job? ?22:27? ?KJV??

OP, here the writers struggle with faith, prayer and belief through trials.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.”
??Psalms? ?143:1? ?KJV??

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.”
??Psalms? ?39:12? ?KJV??

“And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
??1 Kings? ?9:3? ?KJV??

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
??Galatians? ?5:22-23? ?KJV??


God loves you, here's what he says of you

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
??Jeremiah? ?29:11? ?NIV??

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
??Matthew? ?6:26? ?NIV??


“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”
??John? ?15:9? ?KJV??

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
??Psalm? ?139:13? ?NIV??



“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
??John? ?3:16? ?KJV??

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Aside from the Biblical discussion in this thread, I'm now seeing what posters mean about bringing comfort. To the family I was initially thinking about, as well as a friend now fighting breast cancer and another who recently lost her husband.

Since this thread I have also tried to go back to calming music and attempting mediation to relieve anxiety. (I say attempting, I am not very good at it. ) I am supposing prayer has the same calming effect on people.

Maybe prayer-like activities are not your thing. You could try some other calming activity, maybe something physical like walking or running, or swimming. Or something something not so physical, but repetitive, like knitting, or simple, like weeding.

OP here.

Aside from the Biblical discussion in this thread, I'm now seeing what posters mean about bringing comfort. To the family I was initially thinking about, as well as a friend now fighting breast cancer and another who recently lost her husband.

Since this thread I have also tried to go back to calming music and attempting mediation to relieve anxiety. (I say attempting, I am not very good at it. ) I am supposing prayer has the same calming effect on people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian here and I struggle with this issue sometimes some of the pp have given decent answers

First Basic background on the why bad stuff happens to good people question

1. God created things it was perfect
2. Human beings messed up and sin entered the world (world no longer perfect)
3. Bad stuff happens to all people

Also God is a jealous God he wants glory and worship and honor if everything was perfect there would be no point to worship, commune need God

Now as a Christian why am I here

1. To love God
2. To love other people
3. To tell other people about God

Prayer helps with all 3

1. Prayer can be a form of worship to God
2. Prayer can help me focus away from myself and towards the needs of others (I think practically this might be the strongest one this even goes for non-Christians)
3. Prayer can be a form of witness to others about God

Hope this helps

So we should pray to god because he needs the attention? And he purposely set up the world to be cruel sometimes so his subjects would pray to him to make it better? And even then he doesn't always make it better for the people who pray to him?

He sounds like a horrid creature.

Agreed. In this conception he sounds like an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Trump. Pass, thanks.

There are many different perceptions of God, so many that it's hard to know which one is accurate. Maybe none are. Maybe it's a matter of choosing a perception that suits you; that makes you feel better about your life and the world. Or if the idea of God doesn't make you feel better, then you can just discard it. Many people have and their lives are going along just as well or better than the lives of people who pray to god quite a bit.

Yeah prosperity gospel is a crock saying things will get better if you have more faith or whatever. The bible says the opposite this life will be challenging. Christian rewards happen after death.

How convenient. Luckily, a lot of people receive rewards during life, as well, but not all of those people are good christians, or Christians at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian here and I struggle with this issue sometimes some of the pp have given decent answers

First Basic background on the why bad stuff happens to good people question

1. God created things it was perfect
2. Human beings messed up and sin entered the world (world no longer perfect)
3. Bad stuff happens to all people

Also God is a jealous God he wants glory and worship and honor if everything was perfect there would be no point to worship, commune need God

Now as a Christian why am I here

1. To love God
2. To love other people
3. To tell other people about God

Prayer helps with all 3

1. Prayer can be a form of worship to God
2. Prayer can help me focus away from myself and towards the needs of others (I think practically this might be the strongest one this even goes for non-Christians)
3. Prayer can be a form of witness to others about God

Hope this helps

So we should pray to god because he needs the attention? And he purposely set up the world to be cruel sometimes so his subjects would pray to him to make it better? And even then he doesn't always make it better for the people who pray to him?

He sounds like a horrid creature.

Agreed. In this conception he sounds like an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Trump. Pass, thanks.

There are many different perceptions of God, so many that it's hard to know which one is accurate. Maybe none are. Maybe it's a matter of choosing a perception that suits you; that makes you feel better about your life and the world. Or if the idea of God doesn't make you feel better, then you can just discard it. Many people have and their lives are going along just as well or better than the lives of people who pray to god quite a bit.

Yeah prosperity gospel is a crock saying things will get better if you have more faith or whatever. The bible says the opposite this life will be challenging. Christian rewards happen after death.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian here and I struggle with this issue sometimes some of the pp have given decent answers

First Basic background on the why bad stuff happens to good people question

1. God created things it was perfect
2. Human beings messed up and sin entered the world (world no longer perfect)
3. Bad stuff happens to all people

Also God is a jealous God he wants glory and worship and honor if everything was perfect there would be no point to worship, commune need God

Now as a Christian why am I here

1. To love God
2. To love other people
3. To tell other people about God

Prayer helps with all 3

1. Prayer can be a form of worship to God
2. Prayer can help me focus away from myself and towards the needs of others (I think practically this might be the strongest one this even goes for non-Christians)
3. Prayer can be a form of witness to others about God

Hope this helps

So we should pray to god because he needs the attention? And he purposely set up the world to be cruel sometimes so his subjects would pray to him to make it better? And even then he doesn't always make it better for the people who pray to him?

He sounds like a horrid creature.

Agreed. In this conception he sounds like an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Trump. Pass, thanks.

There are many different perceptions of God, so many that it's hard to know which one is accurate. Maybe none are. Maybe it's a matter of choosing a perception that suits you; that makes you feel better about your life and the world. Or if the idea of God doesn't make you feel better, then you can just discard it. Many people have and their lives are going along just as well or better than the lives of people who pray to god quite a bit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian here and I struggle with this issue sometimes some of the pp have given decent answers

First Basic background on the why bad stuff happens to good people question

1. God created things it was perfect
2. Human beings messed up and sin entered the world (world no longer perfect)
3. Bad stuff happens to all people

Also God is a jealous God he wants glory and worship and honor if everything was perfect there would be no point to worship, commune need God

Now as a Christian why am I here

1. To love God
2. To love other people
3. To tell other people about God

Prayer helps with all 3

1. Prayer can be a form of worship to God
2. Prayer can help me focus away from myself and towards the needs of others (I think practically this might be the strongest one this even goes for non-Christians)
3. Prayer can be a form of witness to others about God

Hope this helps

So we should pray to god because he needs the attention? And he purposely set up the world to be cruel sometimes so his subjects would pray to him to make it better? And even then he doesn't always make it better for the people who pray to him?

He sounds like a horrid creature.

Agreed. In this conception he sounds like an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Trump. Pass, thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Christian here and I struggle with this issue sometimes some of the pp have given decent answers

First Basic background on the why bad stuff happens to good people question

1. God created things it was perfect
2. Human beings messed up and sin entered the world (world no longer perfect)
3. Bad stuff happens to all people

Also God is a jealous God he wants glory and worship and honor if everything was perfect there would be no point to worship, commune need God

Now as a Christian why am I here

1. To love God
2. To love other people
3. To tell other people about God

Prayer helps with all 3

1. Prayer can be a form of worship to God
2. Prayer can help me focus away from myself and towards the needs of others (I think practically this might be the strongest one this even goes for non-Christians)
3. Prayer can be a form of witness to others about God

Hope this helps

So we should pray to god because he needs the attention? And he purposely set up the world to be cruel sometimes so his subjects would pray to him to make it better? And even then he doesn't always make it better for the people who pray to him?

He sounds like a horrid creature.