An experiment in prayer

Iwonder17

So I was just reading another post about prayer and I wanted to see what everyone thought about this.

I am a parent and as most parents I would do anything for my kids. Whenever studying the JW books and it would talk about jehovah, I could always liken it to me and how I would treat my kids ( or at least try to treat them ) A few years ago when I really started to have doubts I asked jehovah to give me a sign that I am on the right course and if so then I would stick to it for life and never question it again. Here is what I did.

The scripture in Judges 6:36-40 about Gideon asking God to make the Fleece wet and the ground dry and then the following night he asked for the ground to be wet and the fleece dry.

Well I figured that god would want me to know the answer to my prayer. I promised him ( and he knows that I would keep that promise ) that if he answered my prayer that I would never speak a word of it to anyone.

My request was that he change a simple thumb tack on my wall from yellow to black. I didn't care how it happened, or even if someone else replaced the tack. All that I cared about that the tack would one day be black. Now I know that some people will think that this is testing god, but if your child was in agony wouldn't you help them? Well I am in agony as to what to believe and I think that he would answer me.

What are your thoughts?

jaguarbass

He's answered you.

He's not there. There is no one home.

Why aren't you keeping your end of the bargin?

Your on the wrong course looking for a biblical God.

The Gods of the bible were men from Nibiru.

no more kool aid

I am sorry, I think your tack is still yellow isn't it? Mine is too, it's ok.

oompa

I now realize that my food taste the exact same whether or not i pray and thand god for it or not.........oompa

thebiggestlie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6ILZAaAMI

im sure someones posted this before as it's quite a popular one on the interwebs...

tbl

musky

Thanks for your thoughts.

Being raised as a Witness, I never Questioned that Jehovah was hearing my prayer. Now, I figure maybe he wasn't listening or maybe did not even exist. For years I have tried different variations of praying to God to give me a sign that I was being heard. I prayed that a deer might cross my path. I prayed that the phone would ring during my prayer in the middle of the night. Didn't happen. So I figured that God must really dislike me and I tried to ask God to use my innocent child to get his message through to me.Nothing happened. Sometimes I think about Doubting Thomas and maybe I should just believe. I just don't think its rational thinking though. With that reasoning, I could believe that anything was true. A friend of mine is a born again christian. He told me about his experience of becoming born again. It was very tangible/real to him. No doubt in his mind. So I figured I would become born again and say the words that a person becoming born again would say. " I know I am a sinner that needs saving" etc. I said the words and became born again,but I still was not sure that God was there. I did not have that experience that my friend had. So I figure maybe I did something to get God really mad at me and He will not ever acknowledge me until I turn my thoughts or behavior around to the correct way. I know I do some things that are considered sinful, but nothing major though. I want so badly for there to be a God and a paradise in heavon or on earth. Doesen't matter to me. But now, I just don't know.

thebiggestlie

what you just describe is the familliar "mindfuck" that i know and have experienced myself and still face from time to time. I too prayed that god would give me a sign. I have kicked myself for being so faithless and have felt guilty as my firends and familiy seem so convinced whereas i alwayhs struggled to have any faith at all.

"i want so badly for there to be a God and a paradise in heavon or on earth"

Why? the life we have can be so wonderful and beautiful as it is? If there is no paradise nor heaven nor afterlife then what? In all reality these places are just ways for people to cope with mortality. Animals and plants and all other life grow old, get sick and eventually die but only us humans are uncomfortable with the finality of this idea. We want there to be something more and we waste our lives preparing for it, When the witness say they have a spirtitual paridise i think its true for SOME indviduals. My mother for example finds quite a bit of comfort from her belief she is in the "truth" and on the right path. "the new system of things" keeps her going onward and motivates her to get out of bed in the morning. I think a lot of witness and christians and muslims and other relgions minded folks use the concept of the hereafter as a coping mechanism. But there is so much to life for. "eat, drink, be merry for tomorrow we shall die" maybe they had a point there....or perhaps there is some sort of existence outside of this life. i dont think so but i dont discount the possibiliy. But i also don't let unvarifiable concepts that i dont have faith in control my life....

Life is beautiful. Look at little children playing, go to the beach or get lost in the woods. One must not look to superstition for meaning but find meaning in the natural world around us and make meaning in our own lives through our interactions with others, our creations and accomplishments and our own personal sentiments and attachments and loves and desires.

tbl

MissingLink

You're forgetting that god's time scale is different. A thousand years are but a day. So, just keep watching that tack for a thousand years or so, and I'm sure you'll feel better when it eventually changes. God's just a bit "slow". (imagining god on the short bus wearing a hemet)

musky

tbl said "Why?"
I want to believe in a paradise because there would be no more pain, no death, no sickness, no end to life, true happiness knowing that our loved ones will never get old and die. I know just believing doesen't make it so. It is difficult to change my mindset after being raised as a witness and told that I would never get old and die. I remember as a young boy I told my mom that if there was no god I would not see the point of living anymore. She basically agreed by her response. tbl, I agree and appreciated your comments. Why worry about something we have no control over? I probably will always have doubts, But trying to make the most of the life we are currently experiencing is a great thing. I don't understand that "Jehovah's people" are supposed to be happy. Happiness in sacrifice is what it is. It is the belief that sacrifice, sadness and pain now, means great happiness in the future. Sort of like saving for retirement. Sacrifice now for happiness down the road.

WTWizard

I have news for anyone that thinks that God answers prayers. That was a stock example that Jehovah provided so that He would not have to do a damn thing for anyone today. We are supposed to just guess, get it right, or else we will all go to Hell or be destroyed without a trace--and Jehovah does not give a f***.

If I am going to believe in any Original Sin, it would be the one that Jehovah committed by creating things to exploit and then throw away like that.

An experiment in prayer

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