Why pray?

by ashitaka 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Shakita

  thinking about a friend who is having problems.

  Anyone I know? Hope it isn't Mrs. Ashi, it being her birthday and all.... Say Happy Birthday to her for me. Give me a ring later.

  Mrs. Shakita
• 

  proplog2

  Sincere prayer is a way to achieve an objective view of one's situation. Without the illusion of God Listening - you are left with the very difficult task of being brutally honest with yourself. Not many can do that.
• 

  Mystery

  I believe all prayers are answered.
  
  Sometimes the answer is No.
• 

  thegentleman

  
  I think prayer is something that is listened to but it is also up to us as individuals to come through in the clutch. Sometimes I pray just for strength to make it through difficult times. Sometimes I feel in certain situations I have lost hope only to regain it back through perserverance. When I feel alone, I realize it's up to me anyway. A person can give up because it is the easy way out, but the hard way and smart way is to keep on fighting. To me, certain days can definately be a battle, sometimes even within myself. You can be your own best friend or worst enemy. I have been both.

  Chris
• 

  funkyderek

  I believe all prayers are answered.
  
  Sometimes the answer is No.

  How is that different to them not being answered at all?
• 

  StinkyPantz

  FunkyD-

  I believe all prayers are answered.
  
  Sometimes the answer is No.

  How is that different to them not being answered at all?

  It's not different. It just makes people feel better for some reason. It means that someone else is controlling their lives, forget free will.
• 

  Mystery

  It has nothing to do with giving up free will. It is along the lines of "thegentlemen"'s comment.
  
  In my teens I prayed so hard for a JW boyfriend. With competition of 3 - 1 guy in our congeration I was the last in line. (I know a childish prayer.) I didn't think i could live without finding a potential husband. The answer was "No"; whether my subconscience decision or from God.
  
  I can pray all day for a 69' Mustange convertable - which i want so BAD!!! - unless I do as the gentleman said - i will never own one again.
  
  I have prayed for over 11 months for God to help me not give up on my 14 year old son (drugs, OD, rehab etc....) I don't know if it was me screaming for help, crying for help, telling God to screw himself, begging God to take my life to give my son back his or if it was just me letting out my emotions at the time they were taking over. But something worked.
  
  Do i believe I had no free will in the challege of my son? Absolutely not!
  
  I could have given up when 99% of EVERYONE I talked to said to send him to the detention center, send him away to one of those hospitals, send him..... send him.... send him.....
  
  Do I believe in prayer? Yes. It is to a Supreme One? I have no answer.
  Maybe he was smart enough to give us enough free will to verbalize our thoughts to someone that doesn't voice their opinion verbally. Maybe he was smart enough to make us think about what we need/want without another imperfect voice saying "what they would do if it was them". Just maybe he was smart enough to give us our OWN free will of our mind.
• 

  ChrisVance

  I have prayed and know that my prayers were heard

  Someone who would say the god has helped them when he can't be bothered to help starving children, has got to be extremely arrogant.
• 

  rocketman

  From this week's Newsweek magazine, in an article on the atrocties committed by Saddam's regime: "God I ask for your mercy, scratched one prisoner who'd marked 42 days on the walls".

  I'm not sure where praying for God's mercy got that poor prisoner.
• 

  rocketman

  Chris, your post brings up something I've thought about many times - if I sit there praying for this or that, why would God listen to and answer me while the prayers of others who are in much more dire circumstances seem to go unanswered?