If prayers go unanswered....?

That's a great question. It's related to the issue of why bad things happen.Maybe we can step through this again.Can we begin by agreeing that there cannot be good without evil?Let me start by refering to a post where I discussed this a few months ago. It can be found here.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Would you accept a rewording to Good and Bad?And no, not excited at all. I have very low expectations for it.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay. Do you agree that good cannot exist without evil?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Absolutely.But the reason I really want to delve is based on your Message 22You said: but then followed it in the very next sentence with: Before we get into prayers and answers I would like to try to address the root causes.Let me try a slightly different tack.Would you agree that sickness and accident are simply natural and part of life?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay. Now we are getting somewhere.Can we look at evil as well. Do you agree that it's just part of life, a normal if regrettable part of human nature?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Thank GOD for giving us the intellect and talents to develop miracle drugs and procedures.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

People are, well, people. Okay. Is there a problem with other peoples personal beliefs where they do not impinge on others? If they believe that GOD helped or even was the primary cause of the result, does it have effect beyond their belief system? Come on now. I've been in hospital situations and dealt with people in times of personal crisis. That's not a reasonable interpretation of what most folk are saying or believing. You're grabbing sound-bites and inserting your own spin just like O'Reilly. That may well be the feeling YOU get, and it may well leave a bad taste in your mouth, but if so, the failing is yours, not theirs. It is your personal feelings that are being ruffled, something totally internal to you and completely under your control. Try looking through their eyes and appreciate that you are seeing people that have come through a crisis, are perhaps not at their most rational, and that are speaking purely from emotion.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

If that is your belief then of course, I will accept it.I do see things slightly differently. I don't find that any of the Christians or Jews or other religios people I know closely discount human achievement. There are some like that out there but fortunately I seldom run across them. There was the incident with the kids and I have never forgiven them for that.Again, while you might believe it fostors the attitude of preferring to "pray to make things better" and "giving it up to god" instead of thinking hard and making every effort to figure out solutions to problems, I would think the number of religious based hospitals and colleges, charities and clinics would show that is not a belief held by all religious folk.But you are certainly entitled to your beliefs and I will respect them.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Absolutely true. Faith and belief are at the individual level.Prayer is a personal thing, it's a discussion between friends with lots of "thank you's" and few specific requests. I guess my most common request is for GOD to sit on my daughter's shoulder and whisper quetly in her ear. I know that it's likely she will ignore the small quiet voice but it's still comforting to me to know there is someone there all the time.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I would agree that it's not inevitable, simply that it's a characteristic of human nature.Let's move on to types of prayer.There are prayers that ask for guidance.There are prayers of thanksgiving.Many times prayers are just conversation.Finally their are prayers asking for some particular outcome.Did I leave any out?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

well, the format of prayers will definitely vary from sect to sect and church to church. I have no idea of which church you attended (but if you're from just North of Peterspatch it was probably Presbyterian), and so I assume you're lumping prayers asking for guidance in with Prayers that request something.There is also a difference between prayers that are part of a programmed liturgy and those that are individual in character and ongoing. Would you agree with that?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay.Now if you pray for guidance you either get some or not. Most folk that pray for guidance seem to believe the get it so in most cases you might say those prayers are answered. You might not like the answer but at least you get one.Are we together still?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

And the only posible argument I might make is that the very act of meditation, contemplation, is the same thing as prayer. The end result is what's important, not the path.I'm not one who will try to tell you one method is better than the other.Let's go on to the next type of prayer.Prayer of praise and thanksgiving are by definition, self-fulfilling. We are just saying thanks.So I assume you have no problems with that type of prayer?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

No, I would not try to imply anything about what you might do. Belief is a personal thing and limited to the individual. I'm only speaking about what I do. Sure. Constantly.Are there any more questions about what we've covered so far or can we go on to the other types of prayer?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

So we're clear on Thanks, Conversation and Guidance.Then there are the prayers for some specific result and that's where I think you're having the biggest problem.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion