by DATA-DOG 127 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I like to make distinctions between things I know and things I believe. I.e. I know the world is not flat, I believe that god has answered some of my prayers.
Edit: Vanderhoven, even though I'm not sure why you placed your hand on that lady's head I appreciate you opening yourself up here.
I prayed to see the Beatles and I did. Was it God or was it that I had a part-time job and learned to get rock concert tickets to see other people. Perhaps it was the letter to Paul McCartney's corporate company? I prayed to see the Bangladesh Concert. Even after I camped out all night to get tickets, I felt I would miss it b/c God does not want me to have fun. I wanted to go to college. Was it God or the fact that I stayed up until late learning things. My high school received extra funding b/c of the War on Poverty Elite colleges recruited.
My brother has cerebral palsy so I was allowed to hang out at the CP Center. There were some very sad cases. I guess God loved me and hated them. For every time some wish was granted, there are far more times of no action from God.
There's no reason to doubt that some people here have had multiple experiences of praying for an outcome and then experiencing that outcome. If 10,000 people prayed for things which individually had a 1:10,000 chance of happening, and one of those people experienced the incredibly unlikely thing he prayed for and came on here to tell us about it, we wouldn't know about the 9,999 because people rarely volunteer information about failed prayers (not when they still believe in God, anyway).
Most prayers are probably for things much more likely than 1:10,000, like 1:4 or 1:10. Statistics are not my strong point, but I believe that if someone prays for three things that each have a 1:10 chance of happening, then the total odds of all three being answered are 1:1000. Which means that there's a lot of lucky people out there in a world of billions.
Let's be honest, if we had enough unlikely outcomes after praying about them, or a single once-in-a-lifetime event happened after prayer, like a spontaneous remission of cancer, and this happened at a period in our life where we were searching for answers about what to believe in, there's a very good chance we would be on the other side of the discussion.
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When it comes to faith healing, it's important to remember the power of the mind. Placebo effectiveness on pain is amazingly high and, to start with, a lot of chronic pain is probably psychosomatic. For instance, one might be badly injured in some area; while that area gradually healed, there would be legitimate pain. The brain would then remember that the area is "supposed" to hurt, thus causing the pain to continue until a faith healing one day caused the emotion of wanting to be healed, and then the brain immediately reset its pain memory for that area.
Of course, the faith of a person is likely to be increased by answered prayers much more than it is hindered by unanswered ones. A desire to feel personally special and cared for (even if they "don't know why God answers my prayers and not others") can also be an excellent motivator for a selective bias that causes answered prayers to be remembered and unanswered ones to go unnoticed.
Hi,
Seriously, he must answer prayers..I'm still here....some of the stuff I've done in my younger years, may have merited me not to be here any more. There are prayers answered everyday, even for folks who don't pray..what about a drug user, that has a healthy baby. Or a druggy that kicks drugs. Somebody today just heard they were in remission of cancer or someone just had a healthy baby. Good stuff happens to good folks, bad stuff happens to good folks, good stuff happens to bad folks...& so on...when the sun is shinning does it decide who it will shine on or not shine on...the sun shines on the good & the bad..so some prayers are answered.
The thing is what is our attitude when our prayers are not answered...should we only use God in an emergency...& then other times we rely on ourselves....how would feel about a friend who only called on you when you needed something...I call that a fair weather'd friend....it's when we don't get what we want that we tend to question whether God answers prayers...there are many people in the world that are not on this Forum & many could verify that God does answers prayers....Plus it depends what you ask for....One may ask for a car & don't have a licsence the first....& has anger problems...if they pray to God for a car....should he/she give it to them so that others who pray will be struck down by this person & they won't be able to ever pray..
I'm just saying,
Legacy
Too many to mention! Everything is possible for those who believe! This is an Universal Principle! Some people calls it miracles, blessings, serendepity, coincidences, prayers answered ... like the blind man in the account of Jesus ... the only thing I know is that I was blind and now I see ... there are certain things that just are. I think prayers answered is also a estate of mind. When you heart is a good soil all the spiritual seeds spring up!
Stop looking at prayers answered from a religious point of view ... from Christianity (I guess is your background). Be one with the Universe and just believe like when you were a child! Look for the universal principles that allow us to tap into the spiritual real where all things are possible!
Laika: Thank you. Remember I was not a seasoned evangelist by any stretch of the imagination. I laid my hands on her instinctively.
That reminds me of an incident in my life several years later...after being filled with the Holy Spirit on the way to Ottawa (another story).
I had invited the guys from our old-timer hockey team (30 +) to a Full Gospel meeting at the Holiday Inn in Pointe-Claire. The speaker was an Irish gentleman by the name of Michael Campbell. I was touched by his testimony and his courage for and obedience to the Lord. At the close of his talk he invited all who needed a touch from God to come forward. I came forward with scores of people including a number of my hockey buddies.
As he went down the line laying hands on people, many collapsed "allegedly" under the power of the Spirit. When he got to me he stopped to share a few words while he laid hands on me. He said this: "I love you. God loves you. You have been a witness at your work, among your friends and in your home....." I don't know what else he said because the lights went out....and I was on the floor.
The floor is often God's operating table; He had a work to do in my life at that moment...and I was enriched by what followed. This "slain-in-the-Spirit" experience was a first and only for me.
Someone who prays frequently about things that are either mundane or only slightly unlikely is certain to have some of those prayers 'fulfilled'. The 'success' rate is exactly equal to chance.
Compounding the delusion that the 'successes' are 'answered prayers' is the fact that all the failures are either explained away (e.g. "God knows what we 'really' need"), or simply ignored altogether.
I have had prayers answered but only when it was when I was totally unable to help myself.
Who knows? I would pray so much at times it felt like they had actually come true but it was all part of the JW rouse. Concentrate on something long enough and you'll trick yourself into believing it all happened just like you'd hoped.
Don't be silly, of course she hasn't. Bitch.
