| I have been seeing different blogs where people ask why believers pray.Some are militant atheists just being jerks, and some are really looking for an honest answer.As a believer, I know that prayer is important.If it was not necessary, Jesus would not have taught his disciples how to pray in proper context.(Matthew 6:9)?Those who question it must miss that example when they question it or attempt to mock it -- again it depends on the person.Here is an example of what they say:
(Paraphrasing) If there is a God, then prayer is really an insult to him.Doesn't he already know what you need?The answer, to the latter, is yes, he does already know what we need.They get this arguement from the scripture found in Matthew 6:8
"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."[Christ speaking]
So, while God already knows our needs, does this make prayer to him an insult?No. The reason I think that many of those who question is because they are not looking at God in the context of a father.Let's look at in context, shall we?I have a father.(His name is Joel Hayes, just in case you really want to know.)As a father, do you think he knew what my needs were?Yep.He sure did.He knew when I needed new shoes, clothing, food to eat, etc...And he supplied these things.God does the same.He knows we need things like oxygen, water, animals and plants for food, etc... so he provides those things.We do not have to ask.But, my father also knew when I needed money.He also knew when I needed a car to go to college.He also knew that I needed answers to certain questions about life that only a father can communicate to a son.Did he just give me money though?No. Did he just give me a car?No. Did he just give me answers without a question?No! I had to ask him for all those things EVEN THOUGH HE ALREADY KNEW I NEEDED THEM!Why is it so hard to apply that same principle to God?God knows when we have need of certain things.So why does he wait until we ask Him?Well, to know that, we first?HAVE to know why he created Adam.(I captilized the word "have" because if you miss this, you will not?understand anything else?I say here.)"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."Genesis 3:8-10
Adam and Eve did not hide because they had never heard God before.They hid because they knew that they were naked, a proof that they had disobeyed the only command that God had given them.To me, this proves that God came everyday, in the cool of the day, to commune with Adam.So, why was?Adam created?So that he and God could talk together!That is what the purpose of prayer is ... talking to God.This is what God desired from the very beginning!So how is prayer an insult to Him, if that is what He desires of us?It is because?prayer is not an insult.Prayer is more than just asking God for this or that.It is a sad thing?if that is all you have ever done in prayer.?Personally, I pray to God the same way I'd talk to anyone.I'm not saying that I have never brought my petitions to God, because I have.(It would be an insult to Him if I didn't.If you went to a friend over your father for a need, would not your father get offended?Mine would have.) |
| Mine would have.)But my prayer life consists of way more than just asking for stuff.Another?arguement I hear from those questioning prayer is that God knows the end from the beginning so He already knows if you will pray to Him or not.In other words, doubters of God believe more in the fallacy of predestination than believers do!There is only one scripture where I can find predestination in the Bible.It is Matthew 16:18 where this is found:
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."[Christ speaking]
According to the Bible, the only thing predestined is the church!People may come and go, tribulation will come and go, but the church will stand and will be triumphant.Just look at any account of people in the Bible.King Saul is my favorite.God had set up his people to be ruled by judges.The people came to their judge and prophet, Samuel, and said that they wanted a king like all other nations.Samuel was upset by this but God told him to not let it worry him.The people had not rejected Samuel, God said, but they had rejected Him.If God had predestined everything, then Israel would have continued to be ruled by judges.But men made a decision, and everything changed.So, so?much for predestination.Look at Jonah.God told him to preach that in a certain number of days, the city of Nineveh would be destroyed.No message of hope.The destruction would come.But the king of Nineveh and all the people repented (made a decision) before God and God changed His mind.Again, so much for predestination.So, God knows the end from the beginning of our lives?Big deal.So do I. In the beginning I had no understanding.By the end, I will have gained knowledge and have gained understanding.So, I also know the end from the beginning.Does this make me God?No! All that means is that man will be without an excuse (unless he died in infancy or had a mental disorder, of course) in judgement, because by the end of his life he should of had an understanding of God and his ways by the end of his days that he did not possess at the beginning of his life.And the last arguement people like to bring up is that if God doesn't answer prayer, then he is a liar.They base this on Matthew 21:22, which says:
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."[Christ speaking]
(Paraphrasing) So if you ask God to heal you (or whatever else they are asking for), and it doesn't happen, then that is proof that God does not answer prayer.First off, did the person asking for healing (money, a new bicycle, hair extensions, etc...)really BELIEVE?And, how do?we know their level of belief?So, if God doesn't give them whatever they asked for, that is proof that He doesn't answer prayer?Or that He doesn't exist??No!?If a person?doesn't even know the level of the one asking's?belief, then how can they pass judgement on God who they know even LESS about?The person's level of belief for the prayer to be answered is personal.Sure, you may hear someone say "I believe God will do (insert something here) because I prayed and asked Him."Well great.Your ears work.But, can you see any doubt at all in the back of their mind?No? Then you cannot make a judgement call, right?Right.God desires us to pray and to bring our petitions before Him.And if we REALLY trust and believe, we will see it come to pass.What we need to work on is our end of the deal, so to speak, and cast out all doubt.That is something only we can do.And that is why believers pray.To grow spiritually until we reach the point where we truly trust God like we say that we do and to communicate with Him on a daily basis. |
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