Is Your Prayer Life Acceptable to God?

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: Jesuslives4u
God is spirit did you not know that?

No kidding ....

And you have misinterpeted the quote anyway;

Nope.

then you quote outside the Bible......

'Cuz not all truth is contained in the bible. The bible even says so.

The thread is 'Is your prayer life acceptable to God?'
Answer - yes mine is.

Then God bless you. I will not fight or argue with another Christian for Christians believe in the same God and if I caused you to stumble I hope you will forgive me.

I want to thank everyone for a great debate.

It is time for this old fart to get to bed.

May God have mercy on us all....... I think we are going to need it .....very soon.

less praying, more doing. unless it feels more helpful to ask that someone else spend time fixing what you noticed was broken. too bad we dont all do that.

a reply to: Akragon

God does not always answer prayers despite what the "good book" says...

Whatever that reason is... is HIS own, and not for our knowing, or understanding

sounds like a buffer system designed to keep it from being effectively tested. in other words, a rigged game.

Jesus makes it clear that all prayers are answered. He never implies that "sometimes the answer is no". Which is something some Christians like to say in defense of prayer. What is actually implied by Jesus is that you'll get exactly what you ask for so long as you have enough faith.

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Mathew 7:7

For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Mathew 17:20

I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Mathew 21:21

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
John 14:12-14

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Mathew 18:19

So how come not all prayers are answered? Did Jesus lie? Is there not enough faith from those who pray for miracles? There are many who believe that God has answered their prayers but is God really behind it and not confirmation bias?

Why won't God heal amputees? (A legit question)

Does God answer prayers? If so, then how do we explain this disconnection between God and amputees? What should we do with the piece of empirical data that amputees represent? We need to somehow explain why God would answer millions of prayers on earth, yet completely ignore prayers for amputated limbs.

Answered prayers = confirmation bias, imo. Where are the real miracles?

Where did the belief that "sometimes the answer is no" come from?

originally posted by: Jesuslives4u

originally posted by: stirling
Pray all you want...............the difference is what you DO.....Not all that genuflecting physically and mentally.....Get out and spend the praying time doing something positive,....and youll see how fast things then improve for mankind......
Religion is the opiate of the masses.......

Prayer is a very powerful tool when used properly and those who believe know the power of prayer. It does work... ye of little faith.... try it for 30 days .... it will change your life forever.

Spare me the rhetoric "brother"....praying and doing don't even compare to each other....have a little faith, get off yer knees and practice the way....
In all reality, God is like, "Don't call us....Well call YOU....Youre supposed to be out there BEING your faith".....just a personal take....

First, you must define what you mean by prayer. Is it meerly beseeching a supreme being for your will to be done? Is asking that the supreme beings will be done in all things. Is it a recgnition of gratitude to any highter being or a specific one?

As an atheist I pray a lot during the day and practise the presence of life. I pray to many God's - traffic gods, technology gods, communication gods and offer thanks for any and all assistance throughout the day. I don't believe in a single 'creator' god. I believe the universe has always been here and is a wonderous creation with beings of all types and levels of understanding and wisdom all playing their parts, seen or unseen, to help all others on their journey.

I believe that rather then being created by a god, we humans create the god(s) in our image. I digress.

I think the intention of prayer is the important part more then time but also believe in maintaining an awareness of the divine at all times (when I can quiet my egoic mind). I consider that prayer.

Doing good work for the benefit of others, without thought for self is prayer (and the road to happiness).

What does prayer do for you? What need has any god of prayer unless we make them in our image of self-centeredness. A loving god, loves you without need for supplication.

Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation are tools to awareness, joy and understanding. Doesn't have to be 'acceptable' to god, it just has to work for me and life.

I've had time to read through the thread, now.

OP, you speak like a person who has very small experience of prayer. The experience of prayer for me is quiet and soft and about relinquishing control to what or whom is immaterial. It's about being truly present at home, at work, in traffic, at school, at the grocery store and being okay with whatever is.

That's my experience. My thoughts about prayer are much more involved, control-ed,-ing, and generally of no use whatsoever as, for me, it's just another face of my own self-centered ego talking at me (and others). It's just the stories I tell myself and others to puff myself up.

I happen to be in the "be careful what you pray for camp" and have had some interesting experiences with prayer - both while trying to 'really believe' in a creator god and since.

I'd suggest Emmett Fox for a great take on prayer. His "Sermon on the Mount" is superb.

originally posted by: Jesuslives4u

originally posted by: Akragon
a reply to: Jesuslives4u

She's simply stating that faith does not always give you what you pray for...

God does not always answer prayers despite what the "good book" says...

Whatever that reason is... is HIS own, and not for our knowing, or understanding

God ALWAYS answers prayers...... most can not hear the answer.

Except when he doesn't...

Many prayers go unanswered my friend... and in many cases the answer is no...

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: Akragon

God does not always answer prayers despite what the "good book" says...

Whatever that reason is... is HIS own, and not for our knowing, or understanding

sounds like a buffer system designed to keep it from being effectively tested. in other words, a rigged game.

Well as I've said in my previous statement... many times the answer is no...

And some people just can't accept that as his answer...

a reply to: Jesuslives4u

God ALWAYS answers prayers...... most can not hear the answer.

Is it more like a dog whistle then?

a reply to: Jesuslives4u

Pat Robertson is NOT a man of God..... he is an entertainer like most pastors on TV

Good to hear you say it

Too bad his ilk doesn't get called out more often by his own clan - loudly and very publicly

My point is pretty obvious I think - but as long as I'm here...seems to me prayer would be a very personal and private thing

When you ask if our prayer life is acceptable to God - you make it sound as if you know the answer to your own question, and as though it might be something that can be measured by the pound

Which puts you in the same position as Mr. Robertson. It's a little like tithing - how much is enough? 10 percent? Pretty specific. Do you get better results with 15 percent?

If there is a God - I imagine it to be less officious, demanding and greedy than the view I most often see. But, that's just what I imagine

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

God doesn't want money... only the church does...

mind you im sure some "offerings" go to good causes... of that I have no doubt

These churches that require you to give a percentage of your pay every week are scam artists...

Some will even tell you 10% is biblical... which is a lie...

One should give what they can or even what they wish... there is no requirement

a reply to: FlyersFan

That's some seriously bad theology there. WOW. He's telling that 80 year old woman that her prayers and faith were like money in a bank that she was investing and now God owes her and she should be able to collect and get some $$$.

Bad theology - and then some

I think of these poor elderly folks doing without and eating catfood before they'd shortchange their Lord - while this mean-spirited, criminal son of a bitch is living like a king

I could wish for things to be different all I want - I could pray for it maybe too - but there will always be someone around to take advantage of faith

a reply to: Akragon

God doesn't want money... only the church does...

I'm out of my element here Akragon - I'm pretty sure

:-)

But trying to guess what God wants or doesn't want seems like a fun enough way as any to pass the time

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

Its written in our hearts... deep down we all know what God wants...

a reply to: Jesuslives4u

When I pray I get straight to the point and I have total faith that my prayers will be answered. And...I am glad to say (at certain times) I have seen evidence of those answers.

God looks at your heart, soul, spirit and your intentions; your reasons; your motivations; and If you are being honest with yourself and others. That is my opinion...and I am sticking to it!

a reply to: Jesuslives4u

I do not automatically say the bible equals god's truth. It is a book that might help you find the source but god has created other religions that also go to the source.

I know that some Christians have a hard time seeing both Buddha, Krishna, Nanak, Jesus and Rumi as finding the same divine. But to know Buddha and understand Buddha is to understand the hidden in plain sight messages that Jesus left behind in the bible for those who have eyes and mind to see.

I do agree with Jeremiah 33:3 and Matthew 7: 7-8. But sometimes the soul knows god and god knows the soul better than the people trying to persuade a person to join a religion. Some people like Pat in the above example is probably the last person you should seek spiritual truths from.

originally posted by: Akragon

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: Akragon

God does not always answer prayers despite what the "good book" says...

Whatever that reason is... is HIS own, and not for our knowing, or understanding

sounds like a buffer system designed to keep it from being effectively tested. in other words, a rigged game.

Well as I've said in my previous statement... many times the answer is no...

And some people just can't accept that as his answer...

as much as i look down on posting articles from "confirmation sites"...i challenge you to refute the study.

www.patheos.com...

It’s no surprise that prayer can have a positive effect on those who believe in it. If you pray, it can relax you and make you feel better. If you know others are praying for you — that others care about you — you feel better and your body might actually respond to that positivity. None of this has anything to do with a god answering (or even listening to) the prayers. It functions more like meditation. Prayer can have a calming, healing effect for those who buy into it. But what happens when others pray for you and you are unaware of it? To no atheist’s surprise, this has never been shown to work. This idea has been tested repeatedly — usually, the studies have flaws. And even when the results show that the intercessory prayer has no effect on anyone, those who believe in it will look at the hits and ignore (or rationalize) the misses.

a reply to: Cogidubnus

Lets go away from religion and for a second not care what god and divine is and just look at how intent->manifestation propagate around us.

Some people have access to the light/chi on the level that they can use it to benefit others and themselves. Miracles are in a way only intent->manifestation where probability is set to something that is not very probable. You can see it like chi/light influences a probability field/synchronicity field around the person flowing the chi/light.

You can use it for instance in laying of hands/reiki so that they body have a higher probability of self healing and the body will also relax from the energy. You can achieve telepathy by willing the information to be available to another soul. It might not be easy to achieve but it is possible.

Meditation is a good tool to achieve the flow of energy if you do not have another tool that suits you better.