prayer1
Prayer-Are Christians Being Deceived?
A woman I work with told me there was a fire in her hometown, a barn
had caught fire, killing all the animals and destroying the barn. A friend of the woman called her and told her she was praying it wasn't their house.
The fact is, the fire had already started, the barn was burning and her praying it wasn't the house wasn't going to change the fact the fire had already started. Of course now the woman who prayed believes her prayers were answered which I don't believe were since the fire had already started.
People can believe and convince themselves that the prayer was answered.
Week after week, the same people appear on the prayer list, especially
those with cancer. Not one has been completely healed which leads a
person to start asking, "Is prayer just another "cliché" to make people
feel better during times of illness? Are people being brainwashed into
believing that prayers are really answered if you pray enough?
I have talked to Vonnie about this on several occasions and I don’t
understand her answers.
Examples using Shirley as the object.
1. Vonnie says “If it is God’s will that she be cured, then she will be.”
That’s what I call a “safe” answer. If it is God’s will, God is going to do what He wants and all the amount of prayer isn’t going to change His mind.
If Shirley dies, even though people have prayed for her, is it God’s will
or the natural course of nature?
2. Vonnie says, “We don’t know God’s purpose.” Another “safe” answer. We do not know why God decided that Shirley have cancer but if it is His will, then prayer again isn’t going to change His mind. Doesn’t God already
know what lies in store for each of us and what choices we will make?
3. Some people will say, “You don’t have enough faith”. How can anyone
tell how much faith another person has so this saying is another “safe answer”.
4. Didn’t Jesus say in Luke that if you have faith as small as a mustard
seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the
sea and it will obey you. According to this statement, whether we have
a little faith or a lot of faith, the amount of faith doesn’t matter. So even
people who pray with faith as small as a mustard seed, their prayers should
be answered but yet they aren’t.
Example using me as the object
When I was trying to quit smoking, I prayed daily for two months for
God’s help enabling me to quit. I’m still smoking and don’t have the
strength to quit. Some would say that I didn’t pray long enough, how
long must a person wait until their prayers are answered?
Vonnie says maybe God has a plan for me that requires that I still
smoke. If true, then all I have to do is tell Dr. Rollett that God wants
me to continue to smoke. Knowing that Dr. Rollett is a Christian,
I don’t think he would say, ok, go ahead and smoke since it is what God
wants you to do. Dr. Rollett’s opinion would differ from what Vonnie says,
so we are back where we started, “safe answers” and prayers still
being unanswered.
How can anyone continue to believe in the power of prayer when they
never see prayers answered. If other peoples prayers are truly answered
then why aren’t all prayers answered?
We watch Cornerstone with John Hagee every Sunday morning. Some
things I can agree with him on and others I find off the wall. Example,
sometimes, he will say that he will pray for people who send in a
“seed gift” of $100.00. Say what? I have to pay $100.00 for you to
pray for me? I don’t think so. I assume this would mean that if you
can’t afford to send in your money, you aren’t worthy enough to be
prayed for. Prayer in exchange for cash! What a concept. The First
Baptist Church of Ashland could become very rich if we adopted that
concept. Of course I don’t believe in prayer for pay.
I have also read “persistence in our prayers to God is not for God’s benefit—it is for our own. We do not pray in order to change or influence God, but so that God can change and influence us. We are in need of help, not God. God does not need us to ask for the same thing over and over again—whether we do is open to debate.” This statement says we don’t need
to pray over and over for the same thing, God already knows our needs.
Would you please do a sermon explaining prayer and it’s purpose, why we should pray and how to deal with unanswered prayers. I don't
understand why we should pray when it seems pointless. I don't understand
the need of prayer. All I see are prayers unanswered. Is prayer necessary and
if so, why? Prayer should have more meaning than just as a means to
communicate with God.
Perhaps prayer is just to difficult for me to understand and maybe that's
why I struggle with it. Logic says the opposite. I really need some
guidance in this area.
John
