Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers?


Snow
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"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers?

or

Why Does God Give Contradictory Answers?

or

Why Does God Only Answer Prayers in a Way That Can’t Be Checked?

Three examples:

1. Economy is bad. People need jobs. Good job opens up. People apply. People pray that they get the job. One person gets the job - obviously the other people do not. Are we to assume that God supernaturally intervened (in answer to prayer) to cause one person to get the job that they otherwise would not have gotten, and thus also supernaturally caused the other applicants, who also prayed, to not get the job

2. A handful of millions of Mormons are convinced God has told them that their faith is correct, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other millions of people are just as convinced that God has told them that they (non-LDS) faith is correct.

3. People are ill, infirm, diseased. They pray to God to be healed. Some then get better. Was God behind it? How would you know? Why does God never heal amputees?

Follow-up question: Lots and lots of people, members and investigators pray to know the truthfulness of the LDS understanding of the gospel and get no answer. Some pray for years and God remains silent.

Why?

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Perhaps God chooses not to micromanage everything. Kurt Vonnegut once proposed the "Church of God the Totally Indifferent". Despite these thoughts, millions of people everyday say that their prayers have been answered and that they find miracles all around them.

:)

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My answer:

"Not my will but thy will be done."

Who said this and why? What were the circumstances?

When you figure this out, then you can begin to understand prayer and our relationship with Christ and Father in Heaven. Personally speaking, whenever I remember to figure out what God wants for me as part of His plan, receiving answers becomes much easier. They still don't come when I want them too, but when God deems me ready. That is the great test of faith. Eventually, the answers do come.

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Guest missingsomething

it seems to me, that you have a reoccuring problem with prayer that will not be answered to your satisfaction by anyone of us here... ironically, you need to pray about your feelings about prayer because many of us do not have the same views or opinions about prayer as you do...however, no matter what we say - if you disagree (and you being a pronoun not a specific person) will not accept the responses. To me, this is just another thread that will turn into a contentious debate of saying people are stupid etc.

Pray about it... ask God.

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God said My ways are not your ways. The answer to your question is that you have insufficient Information. Part of why God may be allowing these things today is that He may be saying, you are rejecting me and now I will reject you. Do not assume on Gods Grace. He gives and He takes away.

The Israelites are Gods chosen people. Yet they prayed, "Give us a King like the other lands" So God did that. They were in bondage for four hundred years. You cannot look at Gods actions thru the foul-able eyes of man. To do that is like saying you know as much as God. Do you know how many hairs are on your head? Can you count AND NAME the stars in the sky? Can you tell the oceans to come no further? Can you save yourself? Can you add one second to your life? Can you never slumber?

You are questioning a Holy God. The only God. The one that called you into being from dust.

Careful. God is calling to us, repent and turn from your wicked ways and return to me. We want to be just like Him. If so then take your place on the cross.

He alone is God. He need answer to no one. He is perfect and holy. Give Him the Praise due His name.

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He does. He has for me.

To answers your specific questions.

1 - He does and has specifically for me.

2 - I do not know His whole purpose. But, the first commandments in the Garden of Eden were contradictory. Yet, they served His and the eternal purpose.

3 - Why do we have a right to expect God to be checked. As a parent, I don't expect or want my children to always expect proof or reasoning behind everything I do.

So, based on the facts as I have discovered them and learned them, your arguments are flawed and incorrect. Now, whether that is based on your knowledge, your faith, or a position of argument, I am not sure. Regardless, the point remains, he does answer prayers, often for his own purposes which we only discover later.

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Read 'Hearing the Voice of the Lod' by Gerald Lund this book helped me understand and get the answers you are looking for.

Summary is that 1: We don't want to listen 2: We are not ready for the answer yet 3: He has already given an answer, normally in the scriptures, and we need to find it.

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Gatorman,

I did not say that He does not answer prayers. The person posted something to the effect that there was all these problems in the world and why. That was what my post referred to. Not that He doesnt answer.

As for your second poing God NEVER contradicts Himself. A pretty bold statement coming from one of His creations.

Third, we dont have the right to check God. I dont know what His motives are all the time but I can say this, I would rather rely on Gods plan than mine. There seems to be this prevailing thought about God the Father as though we his children will become like God. I dont agree with that. Is that a Mormon teaching?

I am glad that you qualified your last statement with according to what you have learned. That makes it all ok.

Who told you that God contradicts Himself? Who ever teaches that should step down from teaching.

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3. People are ill, infirm, diseased. They pray to God to be healed. Some then get better. Was God behind it? How would you know? Why does God never heal amputees?

What was said at one time someone was healed? "They faith has made thee whole." Does that mean some have more faith than others? I don't think so. I think some get answers to prayers and are made whole again. Can we can prove that God had a hand in it? We can't. But I also believe as Moksha mentioned that he doesn't intervene in all aspects of everyone's lives. He lets life run a natural course.

But I do truly believe that he CAN have a hand in answering a prayer to be made better.

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it seems to me, that you have a reoccuring problem with prayer that will not be answered to your satisfaction by anyone of us here... ironically, you need to pray about your feelings about prayer because many of us do not have the same views or opinions about prayer as you do...however, no matter what we say - if you disagree (and you being a pronoun not a specific person) will not accept the responses. To me, this is just another thread that will turn into a contentious debate of saying people are stupid etc.

Pray about it... ask God.

Not really an answer, but thanks for playing.

Care to address what's being asked?

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So, based on the facts as I have discovered them and learned them, your arguments are flawed and incorrect. Now, whether that is based on your knowledge, your faith, or a position of argument, I am not sure. Regardless, the point remains, he does answer prayers, often for his own purposes which we only discover later.

Okay - then what is my argument and in what way is it flawed?

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antsyl,

1 - My responses were to the OP, not to you at all.

2 - Contradictory Commandments - The first two were, intentionally. Father told Adam and Eve to populate the Earth. However, until they ate of the fruit, which they were told not to do, they could not bear children. In other words, they either obeyed the fruit commandment and could never populate the Earth OR they partook of the fruit and were able to fall. It was, in fact, part of the plan.

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Okay - then what is my argument and in what way is it flawed?

Your argument was your original post. Those 3 questions and their answers. I responding with evidence to the contrary. However, while I recognize your position and that it is either mistaken or argumentative, it is not for me to judge you or your flaws. Instead, I merely pointed out that I could, based on personal experience, disprove two of your three points. In fact, antsyl further solidified my position on point 3 in their response to me.

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My answer:

"Not my will but thy will be done."

Who said this and why? What were the circumstances?

When you figure this out, then you can begin to understand prayer and our relationship with Christ and Father in Heaven. Personally speaking, whenever I remember to figure out what God wants for me as part of His plan, receiving answers becomes much easier. They still don't come when I want them too, but when God deems me ready. That is the great test of faith. Eventually, the answers do come.

John 14 promises that whatever (anything) we ask in God's name will be done.

Now you can put an extra parameter on top of that if you want... only if God Himself agrees... but that's awfully convenient - I prayed to not starve, but God must not have deemed me ready to not starve, ergo I continued to starve - and so not terribly helpful in making sense of what has been promised.

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John 14 promises that whatever (anything) we ask in God's name will be done.

Now you can put an extra parameter on top of that if you want... only if God Himself agrees... but that's awfully convenient - I prayed to not starve, but God must not have deemed me ready to not starve, ergo I continued to starve - and so not terribly helpful in making sense of what has been promised.

Snow - In another thread, you have stated why we should not believe scriptures and made eloquent arguments to back up your point. Arguments from them being faked, forged, or manipulated, if I recall. So, why do you know believe in this one scripture to make an argument, when based on your true testimony from another thread, you know that the scripture you quote is not all encompassing. Otherwise, my prayers that your argumentative positions would become less disruptive would have been answered. Clearly, that is not within Heavenly Father's will to do, to take away your free agency to be argumentative. :)

Specifically to your 'starvation' position, what is the person praying doing for themselves to show their faith that if they do their part, Heavenly Father will answer? Secondly, can you identify what third party may be the one who is responsible for your hypothetical 'yous' situation and may be the one being judged by your blood? Or, is everything specifically about 'you'?

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Your argument was your original post. Those 3 questions and their answers. I responding with evidence to the contrary. However, while I recognize your position and that it is either mistaken or argumentative, it is not for me to judge you or your flaws. Instead, I merely pointed out that I could, based on personal experience, disprove two of your three points. In fact, antsyl further solidified my position on point 3 in their response to me.

I don't know why you won't answer the question.

What is my argument and why is it flawed. (Questions are not an argument).

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God said My ways are not your ways. The answer to your question is that you have insufficient Information. Part of why God may be allowing these things today is that He may be saying, you are rejecting me and now I will reject you. Do not assume on Gods Grace. He gives and He takes away.

While it is certainly true that there is lots we do not know or understand - appealing to mystery is not very satisfying.

You are questioning a Holy God. The only God. The one that called you into being from dust.

Careful. God is calling to us, repent and turn from your wicked ways and return to me. We want to be just like Him. If so then take your place on the cross.

He alone is God. He need answer to no one. He is perfect and holy. Give Him the Praise due His name.

Oh please. God gave us a brain - heaven forbid that we should use it. At any rate, I don't question God. I question what men say about God - it's not even a subtle difference - it's a huge difference.

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I don't know why you won't answer the question.

What is my argument and why is it flawed. (Questions are not an argument).

Your argument, from your original post.

Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers?

or

Why Does God Give Contradictory Answers?

or

Why Does God Only Answer Prayers in a Way That Can’t Be Checked?

Three examples:

1. Economy is bad. People need jobs. Good job opens up. People apply. People pray that they get the job. One person gets the job - obviously the other people do not. Are we to assume that God supernaturally intervened (in answer to prayer) to cause one person to get the job that they otherwise would not have gotten, and thus also supernaturally caused the other applicants, who also prayed, to not get the job

2. A handful of millions of Mormons are convinced God has told them that their faith is correct, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other millions of people are just as convinced that God has told them that they (non-LDS) faith is correct.

3. People are ill, infirm, diseased. They pray to God to be healed. Some then get better. Was God behind it? How would you know? Why does God never heal amputees?

My answer to why in my original post.

He does. He has for me.

To answers your specific questions.

1 - He does and has specifically for me.

2 - I do not know His whole purpose. But, the first commandments in the Garden of Eden were contradictory. Yet, they served His and the eternal purpose.

3 - Why do we have a right to expect God to be checked. As a parent, I don't expect or want my children to always expect proof or reasoning behind everything I do.

So, based on the facts as I have discovered them and learned them, your arguments are flawed and incorrect. Now, whether that is based on your knowledge, your faith, or a position of argument, I am not sure. Regardless, the point remains, he does answer prayers, often for his own purposes which we only discover later.

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antsyl,

1 - My responses were to the OP, not to you at all.

2 - Contradictory Commandments - The first two were, intentionally. Father told Adam and Eve to populate the Earth. However, until they ate of the fruit, which they were told not to do, they could not bear children. In other words, they either obeyed the fruit commandment and could never populate the Earth OR they partook of the fruit and were able to fall. It was, in fact, part of the plan.

Gatorman:

Are you so sure that your answer is right? Let's think about it. Adam and Eve were created in full-grown, adult bodies. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that they had the maturity of an adult. Angels, Jesus, God, were probably all there helping them to gain knowledge of how things both worked and grew.

God never contradicts himself or else he would cease to be God.

Having already created thousands of other worlds that followed the same play, he knew his children had a tendency to be impatient. He placed the Tree of Good and Evil as a short of shortcut (there always must be temptation) in case we couldn't wait for the knowledge that would come slowly over time.

He then commanded them not to eat it (cheaters never win.) Then he went on and commanded them to bear children. But, having the maturity of children, they didn't know how to do that.

Now it finally came to the real test. God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve (because, like I said, the whole point is free-will.) Adam straight-up refused to go against God. All there was left was Eve. I'm not saying this was her personality, but I'm just basing on what happened.

Satan told her that if she ate the fruit she would be like God. She would know of everything on both sides, and not have to go through the slow process of being taught. Eve probably yearned for knowledge, to know things, fast and quick. She ate the fruit, and then Adam ate the fruit to be with her.

We all know what happens there. The real question is what would have happened if Eve had refused Satan? Would the world still be in the terrestrial state? When Adam and Eve matured, would they know how to bear children? I don't know.

I'm not saying I'm right, but it's a thing to ponder.

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John 14 promises that whatever (anything) we ask in God's name will be done.

Now you can put an extra parameter on top of that if you want... only if God Himself agrees... but that's awfully convenient - I prayed to not starve, but God must not have deemed me ready to not starve, ergo I continued to starve - and so not terribly helpful in making sense of what has been promised.

You were probably meant to starve. That could be the way your life is to end. Excuse the example: you can't get two animals to mate when mating season is half a year away. Things happen in their own due course.

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So, if I pray for gumballs to fall from the sky, I can just expect it to happen? "Where much is given, much is required" which means that if you have perfect faith, you really could make gumballs fall from the sky, but I think if you are at that level of spirituality, you will not ask for something so trivial. Before the miracle comes a trial of your faith, and clearly you are not to the level that warrants the miracles you are asking for. There are so many examples from teh scriptures of this principle that it is seriously flawed to think that you can just get whatever you want whenever you want.

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Your argument, from your original post.

My answer to why in my original post.

You said that I had an argument and that it was flawed.

Stop playing around. I did not post an argument, although you claim I did. Prove it: What was my argument and how was it flawed.

Prediction: you can't state what my argument was nor can you explain how it was flawed.

Now - let's see how long it takes for my prediction to come true.

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No. I am not absolutely sure. It is an answer I look forward to in the hereafter. I do hold to the idea that the sin was a requirement for the plan to work. So, that in and of itself was a contradiction. Someone pointed out that the fruit was one of the only times in the bible that Heavenly Father said 'Don't do this. But, you are free to choose to disobey'. Seems like it was important to me.

Gatorman:

Are you so sure that your answer is right? Let's think about it. Adam and Eve were created in full-grown, adult bodies. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that they had the maturity of an adult. Angels, Jesus, God, were probably all there helping them to gain knowledge of how things both worked and grew.

God never contradicts himself or else he would cease to be God.

Having already created thousands of other worlds that followed the same play, he knew his children had a tendency to be impatient. He placed the Tree of Good and Evil as a short of shortcut (there always must be temptation) in case we couldn't wait for the knowledge that would come slowly over time.

He then commanded them not to eat it (cheaters never win.) Then he went on and commanded them to bear children. But, having the maturity of children, they didn't know how to do that.

Now it finally came to the real test. God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve (because, like I said, the whole point is free-will.) Adam straight-up refused to go against God. All there was left was Eve. I'm not saying this was her personality, but I'm just basing on what happened.

Satan told her that if she ate the fruit she would be like God. She would know of everything on both sides, and not have to go through the slow process of being taught. Eve probably yearned for knowledge, to know things, fast and quick. She ate the fruit, and then Adam ate the fruit to be with her.

We all know what happens there. The real question is what would have happened if Eve had refused Satan? Would the world still be in the terrestrial state? When Adam and Eve matured, would they know how to bear children? I don't know.

I'm not saying I'm right, but it's a thing to ponder.

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You said that I had an argument and that it was flawed.

Stop playing around. I did not post an argument, although you claim I did. Prove it: What was my argument and how was it flawed.

Prediction: you can't state what my argument was nor can you explain how it was flawed.

Now - let's see how long it takes for my prediction to come true.

I have, twice. Just because you are unable to understand my simple post is not my issue. I will not get into contention over this matter. I will simply agree to disagree with you.

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