Just a guess, but are you making the assumption that an answered prayer is getting what you want? I just want to understand your definition of "answered" so I can better understand your stance on the subject
What is interesting about this thread is that the OP asked about the Power of Prayer and nowhere did Christianity get in his subject. Most people believe in prayer as something good that happens. For instance you pray for health for safety of a loved one. But you may also pray for some punk kid to stay away from your daughter. Which would be good for you and bad for him if that so called punk kid really loved your daughter. Or you could pray with totally bad intentions. The point being is that if you pray for everything you are going to see results of somethings. But that doesn't mean your prayer was answered because then the others were not. And no, a no answer, is not an answer at all.
Reb, you are a true example of someone who lives his Christian ideals, and I appreciate that. I have accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was a teenager. It was later in life that after examining the scripture with a critical eye, I lost my faith. If fundamentalism is correct, I'll go to heaven anyway, but honestly I'm not all that worried about it. That is me with the boy, thanks for the compliment. I think the fact that he exists is astounding and incredible, and it is truly wonderous how it all came together like that. But the difference between atheists and Christians is that atheists are fine accepting the fact that we don't know everything about our origins. Christians point to a book that was written starting in the Bronze Age as an authoritative source of this knowledge. Seeing that these authors were more ignorant of science than your average 2nd grader today, I take their opinions with a grain of salt. I think the very nature of Life is more incredible and complex than we could ever imagine or understand, and I sit in full wonder of the tenacity and adaptability of life. The bad church experience is water under the bridge. It just made it harder to be comfortable with my atheism because the penalties taught to us for being Apostate were more severe, but my bitterness over that experience had long dwindled before my path to atheism began. But I also have very good memories of those time and the friends that I made and still keep in touch with. Maybe my representation of my experience was portrayed a bit more negatively than I intended, and I apologize for that. The problem with reexamining the scripture with a open heart to prove god, is that it will register the same result for me. The only way to know god is faith, and faith by definition requires the suspension of what we sense in the physical realm. Since I have nothing to go on but a book, that is contradictory in many places, I don't feel like that will ever be proof enough for me. Ok, back to work for me. Have a good one
There sure are many different beliefs aren't there?:hihi: I am one that thinks that God "created" the so called "nature.":thumb:
this will be your new fave song col reb [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgTHsKQH4Ok[/media] You don't need no friends get back your faith again you have the power to believe another dissident take back your evidence it has no power to deceive I'll believe it when I see it, for myself I don't need no one to tell me about heaven I look at my daughter, and I believe. I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth I can see the sunset and I perceive
i dont know what "answered" meant to those thousands that were surveyed, but to atleast two here, "answered" was a positive (peace brought to a tense situation). but no, i dont necessarily think answered prayer is getting what you want. im sure many people pray for guidance, for example. and this is an even more open-ended prayer that will be "answered" even if you pray to jiminey cricket. isnt it doctrine that prayers that are inline with god's will be answered? so then why pray? isnt god's will gonna happen regardless? or is this about the clash of man's free will and god's will?
the power of prayer, and prayer in general is different for everybody. some people are looking for quick fixes and pray for that, when i pray, it usually just gets me to calm down so i can think through my problems with a clear head
