Comment on Soycucks making peace with their Vaxdicks
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years agoI believe in prayer 100%. But I think the intent of prayer is to look inside your own heart and then follow your conscience.
I don't think prayers are magic. As they say: God helps those, who help themselves.
Spotted_Lady@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
If you don't believe prayers can work like magic, then one doesn't have real faith in God, IMHO.
Yes, you can look within, but that's not the only reason to pray. You can come together and direct energy to things. Christians used to know this, but it is like the whole faith has become cucked.
And there is little use to pray for what one can do oneself within reason. I mean, yes, pray for success and that you do things for the right reasons (kinda where you were going), but don't use prayer in place of action out of laziness. "Oh, I'm not gonna lock the front door or see the doctor for this severe infection. I'll just pray about it." Well, one just might end up seeing God quicker that way.
This ties in with AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) teachings. I partially disagree with Step 11. I get the intention, but it also robs God of a chance to show power and might. I mean, if you are a drunk and you keep praying, "Don't let me drink today," you will likely be disappointed. The Serenity Prayer sums up the whole program. It's a rather humanistic program that puts the onus mostly on us and is designed to work interdenominationally. The NT Apostles performed miracles in the power of God.
Speaking of Step 11. It goes, "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." I think it would be better to say to not pray in a self-seeking way or for God to do things that we should be doing.
One former defense attorney discussed the misuse of prayer. He said that members of a certain ethnic group that he saw the most of in his practice didn't pray that everyone would tell the truth, that they'd learn to avoid committing crimes, etc. No, they prayed for things like witnesses getting killed in a car crash on the way to court, that the judge would get sick, etc. They mostly prayed in a way to be able to do what they wanted without consequences. No, the time to pray in this context is before you commit a crime or do whatever behavior. And the true test would be if you can pray about something without hypocrisy, sarcasm, or as a way to escape consequences. I mean, blessing fornication before you do it doesn't quite have a ring to it. "God, forgive me for this gay sex I am about to have." I don't see any grace being given there, not if you willfully do something that is wrong in a premeditated fashion. I don't think anyone should pray, "Please bless this murder that I am about to commit." On that, we already have the Ten Commandments.
So I believe that prayer for miracles when the matter is God's will is valid and can be powerful with enough faith or at least enough of a critical mass behind it. But of course, on the critical mass thing, there are caveats. Ba'al worshipers went as far as to work themselves into a self-destructive frenzy in the Old Testament, and they didn't get results, and one prophet prayed for the desired outcome and got it. Or take when Joshua sent out the spies. Only 1:6 returned with a good report about the promised land, and nobody got in for 40 years. They didn't have the faith to take possession of the land.
So, I believe we all should pray for the state of the world, and not just to survive in it.
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
Thank you for putting so much thought into writing this. I enjoyed reading it.
I meant prayer "looking within", as asking God for direction. Prayer is always to God, like you said. Without God, there is no prayer
When I say prayers are not magic, I mean God is not a Genie. Just like you said, "Don't let me drink today" won't work. Wishful thinking is not prayer.
We cannot ask God for outcomes, e.g. to save a dying child. Man can ask God for strength and direction. But what happens is God's will. None can oppose it.
Thank you so much for the enlightened discussion. God bless :)
Spotted_Lady@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
I see nothing wrong with asking for outcomes, just keep it general and not try to dictate the direction. I mean, in the NT, folks did ask to save dying children. Remember the man who asked that of Jesus?
I said a lot of what I did because of the humanism I've seen creep even into the Baptist Church. Like a pastor who really didn't believe God could do anything and that prayer was really just a psychological exercise to change yourself.
So I think more should be asking for and believing in miracles. And I don't mean the used car salesmen-type faith healers. I saw a clip out of some movie (fiction) that illustrated the problem. One "faith healer" in the movie touched people on the stage to heal them, and he had pre-screeners to find out what everyone needed healing from. Somehow, someone decided to troll his system, and they fed some of the wrong data about the subjects. Like saying that someone with severe hemorrhoids had lesions on their arms. So, the "healer" is not going to ask someone with severe hemorrhoids to show everyone on stage to show him the area that needs healing. But if he thinks it is some condition that can be shown without public indecency, then he'd want everyone to see the "proof" of his "healing." So you know what happened (though this was fiction). He was embarrassed when he got the wrong profile from the screeners. "Show everyone the affected area," and to his shock, the subject is stripping out of their clothes on the stage in front of cameras.
Thank you, I've enjoyed this too.
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
My understanding of the statement was to save their soul. Maybe you are right. I am not a scholar. The Bible is the deepest thing in existence. It can take a lifetime to understand a statement. I try to understand it better day by day.
Yes you are absolutely correct. The word of God is THE WORD OF GOD. None can reinterpret or add to it. I also find the preachings in most places to be hollow. Its rare to find someone who digs at the origins, meanings and shares a deeper knowledge.
Yes, miracles exist. Only when we face tragedy, do we realise the blessings we took for granted. Being grateful to God's blessings, makes my life meaningful.