Just can't get this out of my head

by jt stumbler 22 Replies latest jw experiences

  • rebel8
    rebel8

    Think of it this way: How many times did you pray earnestly for something and your prayer was not answered? I'll bet a lot more of your prayers were not answered than those that were. That, IMO, indicates answering of prayers is a coincidence or maybe a very isolated random response from a diety that can't and/or does not answer all prayers.

    Another question: If the diety who answered your prayer is all-good, then how in the world could he/she send a destructive high control cult when you asked for good people to come?

    Is it out of your head yet?

  • aprilbaby
    aprilbaby

    you know this same thing happened to me many years ago. I had been disfellowshipped and was living with my boyfriend. We had a terrible fight and I cried and cried about the screwed up life I was living. I begged Jehovah in prayer to help me. The next morning 2 sisters came to my door. I was shocked/scared but still did nothing. It's still haunt me to this day and that was over 20 years ago.

  • barbar
    barbar

    I prayed for 15 years(not continually you understand, but lots of seperate prayers) for a sign or some help or direction, I was extremely soncere and almost desperate at times. I never got any help at all.

    If a God does answer prayers then he is very selective. He clearly did not like me.

  • Serenity Now
    Serenity Now

    I remember something I heard several times from the platform back when I was still a JW: we were instructed to be very careful when we say our personal prayers like this out loud because Satan is listening too! Maybe it wasn't God who sent he JW's and the LDS to your door!

  • seattleniceguy
    seattleniceguy
    I remember something I heard several times from the platform back when I was still a JW: we were instructed to be very careful when we say our personal prayers like this out loud because Satan is listening too! Maybe it wasn't God who sent he JW's and the LDS to your door!

    LOL...But another example of Witnesses giving way too much credit to Satan and Co. You'd think the creator of the universe would be able to foil man-in-the-middle attacks like that. SNG

  • Flindersgirl
    Flindersgirl

    Hey all...I forgot about the whole 'don't pray out loud because Satan hears you' line of (un)reasoning. Can you all say 'how to cover your ass' with me? If your prayer doesn't work or somehow something happens that is the opposite of what you wanted then it can always be blamed upon Beelzebub in a pinch. How convenient. Its the same thing as having a fairly smooth life could be interpreted both ways, Jehovah was either blessing your integrity or you had to wonder about your spiritual commitment if things were going smoothly. AUGH!!!

    Cheers!

  • Dismembered
    Dismembered
    "Just a coincidence? "

    Yup

    Dismembered

  • Confession
    Confession

    This brings up something I used to take note of... I was not what you might call a "charismatic JW." While I never wanted to deny the experiences others attributed to God, I was hesitant to automatically conclude that He was directly responsible for things (such as you describe) that happened--good or bad. I felt that doing so was foolish because people from many other religions experienced many of the same compelling things. We would easily pooh-pooh their experiences, while many of my fellow JWs would relate experiences that they were absolutely positive came from Jehovah. It just seemed a little disengenuous to me.

    It was also clear to me that some seemed particularly given to rather mystical thinking. Please know that I believe there's a God and a devil, but some of the thought patterns seemed bizarre. Example: my good friend, who had been born in Mexico--but who has lived in the US since he was about 9 (he's now about 46)--would so often attribute things to being the direct result of demons. Once he described how he came home and found a puddle of water on his dining room table and floor. After being unable to find a roof leak or any other explanation, he concluded that it must have been the work of demons. I tried reasoning with him, "Joe, if the demons are actively involved in trying to turn people away from the worship of Jehovah, why on earth would producing a puddle in your kitchen accomplish that? You think they just decided to come in and take a demon-wizz on your table?" His reply was always something like, "You never know, Bro."

    Is this a cultural thing? Another Hispanic friend of mine claims that the Latin and African-American cultures both seem infused by a preoccupation with the mystical, often concluding that things are either the direct work of either spirits or God. I don't have enough experience with it to offer an opinion.

    The only thing I can offer is the scripture we've read a thousand times at 1 John 4:1... "Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world..."

    Here God's Word clearly communicates that things would happen, which we might mistakenly believe to be "inspired." So if the JWs coming to your door seems like an "inspired" happening, you have both the right--as well as the responsibility to "test" it.

  • diamondblue1974
    diamondblue1974
    Hey all...I forgot about the whole 'don't pray out loud because Satan hears you' line of (un)reasoning. Can you all say 'how to cover your ass' with me? If your prayer doesn't work or somehow something happens that is the opposite of what you wanted then it can always be blamed upon Beelzebub in a pinch. How convenient. Its the same thing as having a fairly smooth life could be interpreted both ways, Jehovah was either blessing your integrity or you had to wonder about your spiritual commitment if things were going smoothly. AUGH!!!

    I forgot about this...and how right you are.

    There was another cliche...if you pray for something and you get it then your are blessed but if you dont then you must be doing something wrong...another WTS tactic to reinforce guilt and obligation.

  • confusedjw
    confusedjw

    Well, did you only pray that once?

    Try it again and see what happens maybe?

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit