Why aren't my prayers being answered? (miracle, about, power, opinion)

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by max's mama

Actually I do have to say that it's very important to build relationship with God and of course I believe that thru Christ this relationship is best to be established.
I think just asking God for stuff is not a relationship. God loves communication, God loves praise, God loves gratitude - not just asking, asking, asking and then get dissapointed not to get a response. I hope we agree on this.

Right! In fact when Jesus was asked how to pray He said to start by honoring God. God is not our errand boy, when I talk to Him and start praising Him and thanking Him what He has already done, my mind gets off my problems and focused on Him.

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by nicolepsy

this is the kind of answer i feared. so you believe that god only answers "certain" people's prayers? that doesnt seem fair or right to me. god (if there is a god, im really starting to wonder lately) knows who i am and that i speak to him all the time and i dont like to think that he/she wont help me just because i am not like others. what kind of god is that? i dont believe this to be true.

I don't mean to offend you or discourage you but as a Christian, I obviously believe that Jesus is ,as He said He was, the only way to the Father. Others who are not Christians will believe differently. That doesn't mean God doesn't answer other prayers but again, I do believe that Jesus is the way to God. Can I ask you, Nicolepsy, why you don't believe in Jesus? I think He very well may be your "missing link" to having your prayers answered. In fact, I believe that through your questioning and seeking on this forum He is very likely seeking you.

Originally Posted by GCSTroop

kaykay,

I don't think that's the case. If any religious person were to look at my life they'd probably say god answered a lot of prayers for me. That's not the case. I've never asked god for anything and I have a lot of wonderful things in my life. I'm not just referring to materialistic things either. Good things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I don't think any of it is a result of prayer, or lack thereof.

Well, yes, Jesus did say that the rain falls on the righteous as well as the unrighteous. As you said, bad things sometimes happen to good people and good things sometimes happen to bad. But that doesn't mean there also isn't answers to prayers. And I agree with you too that sometimes there are things that are just plain coincidences, nothing more. But again, that doesn't mean prayer isn't answered.

Originally Posted by max's mama

As a Christian, of course I believe that it's superimportant to accept Jesus as Saviour, however, I still have unaswered prayers. God does not owe us anything, what WE should do is thank HIm for prayers that He did answer.

You are very right. I would also say that God doesn't owe us something. If it sounded like that's what I thought, I didn't communicate very well. We certainly don't bark orders to Him, but He has also exhorted us to pray in faith expecting an answer.

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA

It's ok you can disagree and I disagree with you. I believe knowing Jesus is the first step to get your prayers answered. It has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with a personal relationship with Jesus. John 15:7 (this is Jesus talking) "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you".
He is not saying I will give anything you ask for. There are two things you must do according to this verse, abide in Him and allow Him to abide in you. These two things will produce His mind in you. Your prayers will be one with His, and the purpose of your prayers will be the same as His purpose.

I think you said this very well, ILNC. This is what I believe also.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA

God is not our errand boy, when I talk to Him and start praising Him and thanking Him what He has already done, my mind gets off my problems and focused on Him.

Alcoholics drink to drown their problems, junkies get high to escape their misery and people with an eating disorder either eat to comfort themselves or refuse to eat to comfort themselves. How are all these actions different from praising and thanking Him to forget your problems?
In other words, how is praising Him and thanking Him going to solve your problems?

[lukeache]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA Alcoholics drink to drown their problems, junkies get high to escape their misery and people with an eating disorder either eat to comfort themselves or refuse to eat to comfort themselves. How are all these actions different from praising and thanking Him to forget your problems?
In other words, how is praising Him and thanking Him going to solve your problems?

People that resort to alcohol, drugs or food are just trying to fill their spiritual void with the wrong things. When you pray to God and worship God and feel a very special spiritual connection, which truly fills that void. When you pray and thank him, you are expressing humility and acknowledging the fact that he is the one in control.

[Tricky D]

When you pray to God and worship God and feel a very special spiritual connection, which truly fills that void.

My family is Christian and all they do is pray. And believe me, they are spiritually 'filled' with many quotations of the Bible.
And yet things never change, simply because they just keep denying the root of their problems.
Prayer is NOT the answer to every problem.

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

My family is Christian and all they do is pray. And believe me, they are spiritually 'filled' with many quotations of the Bible.
And yet things never change, simply because they just keep denying the root of their problems.
Prayer is NOT the answer to every problem.

That's true. Sometimes people need to get off their toosh and really do something about their problems. God gives everyone plenty of chances to do that every minute of every day.

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA Alcoholics drink to drown their problems, junkies get high to escape their misery and people with an eating disorder either eat to comfort themselves or refuse to eat to comfort themselves. How are all these actions different from praising and thanking Him to forget your problems?
In other words, how is praising Him and thanking Him going to solve your problems?

Nobody is saying that praising God and thanking God will solve their problems.
What we are saying that it's important to build relationship with God other then just asking asking asking all the time. How about being grateful for things He already gave you? That's what we are talking about. And I agree with ILNC on the term that sometimes realizing how much you already have while thanking God can be an eye-opener that you don't have as many problems as you think.

[Tricky D]

How about being grateful for things He already gave you? That's what we are talking about.

Why should an alcoholic be grateful for loosing his child? He obviously never recovered from it and the only way to cope with his loss is to drink (which caused him to become an alcoholic).
Or why should dirt poor homeless children be glad to be miserable? They sniff glue to get high to forget their misery. They already know nobody gives a s**t about them.
It is so easy to say that these people are spiritually void, or say that they should be happy with what they have (which most often is nothing at all).

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Why should an alcoholic be grateful for loosing his child? He obviously never recovered from it and the only way to cope with his loss is to drink (which caused him to become an alcoholic).
Or why should dirt poor homeless children be glad to be miserable? They sniff glue to get high to forget their misery. They already know nobody gives a s**t about them.
It is so easy to say that these people are spiritually void, or say that they should be happy with what they have (which most often is nothing at all).

Well, I think it's quite obvious that I wasn't talking about lives that are tragic and I have zero answers to any of your questions. I don't know why some children starve and I don't know why there is so much tragedy in this world.
I do know that some children who were born into poverty were able to grow up normal.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

IN MY OPINION:

Your prayers aren't being answered because no one is listening. Get up and take some positive action to make happen what you prayed for, thats the fastest most logical route to making something happen.