by micheal 27 Replies latest jw friends
I recall praying countless of times about very specific things, "worked in harmony with my prayers" and nothing. Anything that remotely seemed like an answer was either coincidence or my own determination to get it done.
So, how about you? Did Jehovah answer your prayers or were you like me, did you feel very frustrated and guilty because they were never answered?
Yes!
I was always very careful to keep my prayers non specific about how I hoped they might be answered. Keep my options open. Jehovah is not very good at returning calls though so I got most of my answers when i gave up. Maybe it helped that i always addressed my prayers to "Jehovah or whoever is acting god out there". Because if there is an acting god, he was listening and i don't think he answered my prayers Jehovah style so they must not keep in touch either.
my prayers were answered, but not by the WT Jehovah. My prayers were answered by the Lord
Looking back, it seems prayers were a form of "positive thinking". Of course if you have enough optimism, good things can happen, even without heavenly intervention.
Actually, I had one really weird, pointed answer to a repeated prayer that was hard to dismiss as coincidence. I suppose it had to be though... Either that, or some higher power up there was thinking, "that girl has been saying the same damn thing every night for the past three years! Would someone SHUT HER UP?!!" LOL
It seemed that lots of my prayers were answered. I tend to chalk it up to karma these days, I guess. I haven't really thought about it. ;-)
I often prayed so hard I fell asleep!
No, I don?t think my prayers were answered, one night I was praying, and suddenly I came around thinking, ?there's no one listening to me?, and gave up, it was like a flash of light to me. I no longer pray.
I also remember praying for our dear Brothers and Sister in Malawi, I don?t think they got any relief from there terrible ordeal (membership card issue), but after reading Ray Franz book Crises of Conscience, I now know that the GB could have changed policy on this issue, and saved all the suffering. Maybe I should have prayed that the GB change policy?
frogit
..one night I was praying, and suddenly I came around thinking, ?there's no one listening to me?, and gave up, it was like a flash of light to me. I no longer pray.
Me too, Frogit. I used to think I was just talking to myself - I never had the feeling that anyone or anything was listening. Maybe prayer is therapeutic becasue it helps you to talk through your problems - and because you concentrate on those problems you are able to find a way to sort some of them out. I honestly don't think God is listening. If he is, why is he so choosy about which prayers he answers. Why answer a prayer for a brother in the UK to find a job (so I've been told) but ignore the prayers of a child who is starving to death? The brother in question wasn't destitute - in fact he was quite comfortably off - but according to him, he prayed for work and found a brill job. What about those languishing in prison camps or torture chambers, or children being abused by their parents, or wives being beaten by their husbands - the list is endless. I'm sure many of their prayers are ignored, but God listens to petty requests??
Terri
Yes, I have had my requests (different from prayers) answered. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes it seems the answer is almost spontaneous. Sometimes it takes a while and by the time the request is granted, I no longer want it. Realizing that I no longer want what I so desperately thought that I wanted has taught me to be happy with what I have and try to live in the moment.
Robyn
Hmm, I prayed every night for 8 years that my father would quit molesting me and finally when I was 12 and got my period he quit. Maybe that was the answer to my prayer??? NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!
