Question for Christians #3
- Thread starter Patrick
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Do you say yes to every favor asked? Plenty of deep questions to be asked (and you're asking some of them) but this isn't 1 of them.
I can't grant every favor because I'm not God. God, being all-powerful, can. You're not suggesting God can run out of favors - are you?
If that's so, then many people are probably confused over its purpose, as they ask for cures for disease, etc. Also, God doesn't need anyone to encourage that He does His will - He will anyway - won't He?
We pray that mankind will do his will, something that mankind has a dismal record of.
As for people seeking cures: Again, if it is his will. But, suffering has a redemptive value, something that our medicated society cannot grasp. Mankind always excels during times of adversity, and likewise he ususally gets apathetic during good times. Suffering can bring about amazing good things whci may not be apparent right off the bat.
A five year old kid dies of cancer, after suffering for awhile. What exactly is redemptive about that?
What if his parents use that as motivation to start a cancer foundation that ends up curing millions of kids?
What if that incident turns them to God, and they in turn turn others to God? What if the kid himself, in his pain, turns to God in a way he had not before?
The possibile ripple effects are countless. Your "whats in it for me" outlook is too myopic and stems from a POV of selfishness.
What if the parents DON'T start a foundation? Then what was the point? Also, if cancer didn't exist, which surely God can arrange, there wouldn't be any need for such foundations, would there?
First, the prayers of Christians.
John 15:7 says "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you".
Matthew 17:20 says, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Mark 9:23 says "everything is possible for him who believes".
And Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
So if you truly believe and have faith, and you forgive others, your prayer is answered. The problem is that some do not have faith, really believe, or are living in sin (such as not forgiving others).
Second, the prayers of non-Christians.
1 Peter 3:12 - "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil"
John 9:31 - We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
God does not hear the prayers of nonbelievers.
Why doesn't God simply snap his fingers, and end cancer once and for all? After all, HE created cancer in the first place. This would make him a mass-murderer, and you would seek to follow such an evil being?
That's your response in defense of your God? All your God's existence does is prove one Lucifer correct. God IS in fact evil.
What about the people who prayed for a cure for a child with cancer, but the child died anyway - were the prayers inappropriate?
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