If prayers go unanswered....?

The answer from a believer is 'NO!' to all of the above. GOD didn't let you down, you didn't pray incorrectly and it has nothing to do with how much faith you have or don't have.You can see part of this in the Lord's Prayer, something we do take seriously.Right up there in the beginning, right after the salutation, it says "Thy will be done".When you ask for something specific, the request always contains that proviso, "Thy will be done". If you don't get the answer you wanted, then it's because that was not GOD's will.Why it wasn't GOD's will is something we will never know (at least in this life). But for a believer, even if we don't know or understand the reason, we know and understand that there was a reason.God is not a Fairy Godmother, bringing us glass slippers and turning pumpkins into carriages. Life is not a fairy tale, it is real and immediate. And we are not all-knowing, we are not aware of all the factors in any event or incident, or capable of making decisions where our own best interests play no part.We will likely question such incidents, bewail and bemoan them, perhaps even curse them, but if we are true to our faith, we will accept them. There's nothing to reconcile. GOD did not simply shrug us off.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Not really.It's not that GOD has a plan and everything happens in some pre-ordained fashion.What happens, particularly things like wars, are things we do. It's not GOD, it's you and me, the folk down the street, the folk across the water, that create most of the problems in the world. Not at all. Bad things like desease and accident are simply natural. But most bad things are things WE do.The issue is that we can't know enough to make the right decision. It's not that there's a plan, it's that we are like children. When a child gets that first crush, the big love bug, the parent may well know all about the pain that's to come, but the person involved could never see it. Well GOD is unknowable by us mere humans if you mean to know and understand Him completely. Maybe someday we'll get there but not for quite a while. It's not the master plan that we can't understand, that's pretty simple. It's that we can't see all of the ramifications of any event or decision. It's not just unintended consequences, it's a simple lack of data and the ability to collate all the data if we did have it.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Both and neither. As a human you of course want a desired out come. That's simple human nature. But there are additional levels involved.First there is an acknowledgement that you are not capable of understanding all of the implications of what you ask. It's like the child who wants more ice cream. From the child's perspective there is absolutely no reason not to have the fifth bowl of Cherry Garcia, but the adult knows that the result will be pain and suffering later.Second, the prayer is a request for understanding if possible. Again, we may or may not be capable of understanding the answer. Even if we are given the answer, it may well lead to an unending series of "Why's".Finally, there is the underlying hope that we will be able to accept the result, even when we do not fully understand the reasoning.Please understand that I am only responding as a believer. Some of what I say may well seem strange, perhaps even illogical. I am not trying to persuade you to accept anything I say, but only hope that it will help you understand the mindset that leads to such beliefs.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I think, again from a believers POV, that a little more needs to be added to what you said. Perhaps this is excess or unneeded, but it makes me feel better to bring it up.Pain and suffering, whether of a believer or non-believer, are just part of life. IMHO GOD has given us many ways of dealing and alleviating much of it. We learn more each day about desease, its treatment and prevention, and also more about how to alleviate less understood pains such as metal anguish, regrets and concerns.But there is more as well. Often, the strengths a person develops when dealing with trials makes the person better. Courage, sacrifice, striving, ambition even cooperation, inspiration and innovation are often the direct results of such challenges.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I think the issue you bring up in your last paragraph is a very important one. I've discussed part of my position on it in other threads, perhaps with you, possibly sidelined, brian, schraff or one of the others. When you get old your memory tends to come and go. Hopefully you're there on those few occasions when it drops in. All too often I find a note from my memory saying "I stopped by but no one was home."Found a note in my pocket the other day. It was obviously old, but not very old. Said "be sure to bring home two. "?????? Did I? Should I? Two what? This is not the best place to expand into the area of why there is pain, suffering and desease but if you ever want to start a thread on it I'd be happy to participate.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well, thank you for an enlightening and challenging discussion. I always enjoy such moments when folk can discuss differing positions without resorting to name calling.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion