Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yeah but getting hit by a car is not some divine plan of some wacko schizophrenic force that likes to make people miserable to see his love. It's just bad luck.
Wait, someone just said that people that do not believe in God are in control of their own destinies. So, why can't disbelievers spare themselves from such "bad luck" if they are in control?
i agree that we are not in charge/in control of much/anything.
i want to know why we even bother to pray if there is no guarantee that it even works. i know that i have many people praying for me and i'd like to think that the more prayers the better the likelyhood that god would hear them/fulfill them but im really starting to believe it is a waste of time. why do waste our time/energy praying if absolutely nothing will come of it? i tend to believe in god (dont know why exactly, but i do) and pray (ask for help, ask god to make horrible things in the world stop) and i also thank god regularly and also ask for god's forgiveness regarding certain things i've done in the past. i ask these things with true sincerity. i don't ask for trivial things (wants/desires). i would never do such a thing. im just feeling let down.
but why wouldnt god answer my prayers? i am such a good girl. why does god want to test our limits and break us?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukeache
God answers prayers whenever and if he wishes to do so. The idea that God must answer your prayers is ludicrous. God is the Creator, he owes you nothing and because he can take your life away anytime, being humble is a big part of the process. I truly believe that sometimes God makes things happen in such way so that he can test you and your faith, people that do not understand this simple fact will dwell on problems and difficulties forever because they do not understand the bigger picture. As far as the person who said that he/she is in charge of her own destiny, Hilarious! You are not in charge of anything, you could have your life planned 30 years ahead of time, you could be crossing the street and get hit by a car, your life is over in less than a few seconds. Also, praying to God only when you need something is even more ludicrous.
Wait, someone just said that people that do not believe in God are in control of their own destinies. So, why can't disbelievers spare themselves from such "bad luck" if they are in control?
Because luck is not some random force generated by some sort of "God." Luck is simple statistics. Walking in front of a car is the statistics saying that at the very moment YOU chose to step into the road there was a car headed in YOUR direction driving at a certain speed. Any faster or slower and he may have missed you altogether, but he didn't and now you're a pancake.
However, people want to look at that and say obviously some divine force had something to do with it. Well, wait a second. What are the flippant chances that a CAR, OF ALL THINGS would be driving on a road? What are the chances that you need to cross the road? That is a simple statistic. It's a little bit of math and physics coming together to explain why you are roadkill.
As far as luck is concerned you are in great control of it as well. If you chose to walk across the street (without prior knowledge of a 3000 pound of metal screaming towards you) than you are in control of your movement, your actions, and ultimately, your death. However, it is a statistical CHANCE that by crossing the road there might be a car driving at a speed fast enough to make your ribs crunch and puncture your internal organs thereby causing you to bleed to death.
To prove that you are in control of your luck, go to the casino, head to the craps table, pick up the dice and roll them. If a 7 pops out on the 'come out' roll than you win. YOU WENT to the casino, YOU WALKED over to the craps table, and YOU ROLLED the dice. The only thing left to chance is what number will pop up. You do not have control of that, however by playing the statistical numbers correctly, craps has the best odds in the casino because if you know how to play the odds you can make them work to your advantage.
but why wouldnt god answer my prayers? i am such a good girl. why does god want to test our limits and break us?
Like I said, God owes you nothing, therefore he does not need to answer your prayers. We, humans tend to have some very stupid ideas as if we always knew what is best for us, NOT TRUE! I remember sometimes being very upset over not getting a job and I would ask Why? Why? I am such a good person! Down the road, I got an even better job and then when I thought about it, everything made perfect sense. God will set you up with challenges and downfalls throughout your life to test you faith but also to see what you do when challenged. Obviously, you have a degree of free will, therefore, every choice you make will be accounted. When you face a difficulty in your life, you always have the choice of being unhappy, bitter or you can get on your knees and say "Thank God, I realize that I am going through this hard times but I know this will get better"..If you truly have strong faith, you can honestly be happy even when everything seems to be falling apart.
What we fail to see when we talk about controling our destinies is that we don't live in a vacuum. There are others around us.
Let's pretend a moment about the person getting killed crossing the street. Was it part of God's plan that he should die? Was it just bad luck? Maybe it was part of God's plan that the driver of the car should kill someone that day. Or maybe it was just his bad luck. Maybe he had six children and God wanted them to know how it is to be raised by a single mother. Maybe he abused his wife and this was God's way of ridding the earth of a creature.
Or maybe he was just careless and didn't look both ways and stepped out in front of the car.
There is simply no way that we can look at anyone thing and state that prayer or God had anything to do with it.
Prayer helps in that it certainly helps focus the thoughts. It can shut out the world for a little while. Some call it prayer. Some call it meditation. Sometimes it works. Don't give up. But don't expect prayer to move mountains either.
What we fail to see when we talk about controling our destinies is that we don't live in a vacuum. There are others around us.
Let's pretend a moment about the person getting killed crossing the street. Was it part of God's plan that he should die? Was it just bad luck? Maybe it was part of God's plan that the driver of the car should kill someone that day. Or maybe it was just his bad luck. Maybe he had six children and God wanted them to know how it is to be raised by a single mother. Maybe he abused his wife and this was God's way of ridding the earth of a creature.
Or maybe he was just careless and didn't look both ways and stepped out in front of the car.
There is simply no way that we can look at anyone thing and state that prayer or God had anything to do with it.
Prayer helps in that it certainly helps focus the thoughts. It can shut out the world for a little while. Some call it prayer. Some call it meditation. Sometimes it works. Don't give up. But don't expect prayer to move mountains either.
You more or less made my point Padgett that we should not resort to explaining things 'supernaturally' when there is a rational 'natural' explanation for it. If I spill my coffee is it God's plan that my hand moved in just a fast enough manner to alter the state of the coffee cup, meet the laws of gravity and cause hot, dark liquid to spill all over my new carpet? I suppose I could say that God wanted me to spill hot coffee on the carpet and on my way to the store to go get carpet cleaner I could potentially hit someone crossing the road, but then, what are the reasons why that person is crossing the road? And why is it that my car, driving on that pesky road, happened to be in the right place at the right time to hit the pedestrian? Well, that's physics, statistics, and math. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road at any given moment, the chances of one being in a particular position to impact something on that road are pretty good.
You more or less made my point Padgett that we should not resort to explaining things 'supernaturally' when there is a rational 'natural' explanation for it. If I spill my coffee is it God's plan that my hand moved in just a fast enough manner to alter the state of the coffee cup, meet the laws of gravity and cause hot, dark liquid to spill all over my new carpet? I suppose I could say that God wanted me to spill hot coffee on the carpet and on my way to the store to go get carpet cleaner I could potentially hit someone crossing the road, but then, what are the reasons why that person is crossing the road? And why is it that my car, driving on that pesky road, happened to be in the right place at the right time to hit the pedestrian? Well, that's physics, statistics, and math. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road at any given moment, the chances of one being in a particular position to impact something on that road are pretty good.
Like I said, God owes you nothing, therefore he does not need to answer your prayers. We, humans tend to have some very stupid ideas as if we always knew what is best for us, NOT TRUE! I remember sometimes being very upset over not getting a job and I would ask Why? Why? I am such a good person! Down the road, I got an even better job and then when I thought about it, everything made perfect sense. God will set you up with challenges and downfalls throughout your life to test you faith but also to see what you do when challenged. Obviously, you have a degree of free will, therefore, every choice you make will be accounted. When you face a difficulty in your life, you always have the choice of being unhappy, bitter or you can get on your knees and say "Thank God, I realize that I am going through this hard times but I know this will get better"..If you truly have strong faith, you can honestly be happy even when everything seems to be falling apart.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Control is an illusion.
