Pr0ton:


And what rationalmind wouldn't come to such conclusion?












A quote says, "The invisible and non existent are much alike"

that quote isnt scripture.

frank317:


He doesn't have my time? U wish u are God don't u? Lol... U know the creator who created me does not have my time? Are u really okay? Or u just say whatever u feel and call it God.
Wht do u actually mean by sincerly and honestly seeking him? I am yet to understand that concept u guys quote indiscriminately.
I just let u know the doubts I have in his ability to answer prayer yet u say I didn't seek him sincerely. What's that? Do u mean I am not sincere in my doubts? Pls b more clearer, like I said, I intend to engage u, pls do understand I read through every word and try to make meaning out of everything u say. Thanks.

God doesnt hav time for sceptics and never will. Think of all d people tht hav dared God to prove Himself- why hasnt God responded? Cuz He is no fool neither is He one to be manipulated by cheap tricks.

But a sincere heart , He will respond to.
This is an insight into the nature of God.
Humility,sincerity,politeness appeals to him over stinkg arrogance.
E.g
wen Jesus was on earth, the pharisees heckled Him. At one point, they said "if you are the Son of God give us a sign that we may believe you"(paraphrased). And straightway, Jesus said watch this , performed a jaw dropping miracle? No. He turned their question on them, and ignored them.
Why? because of their heart. Their Hearts were tauntg,critical and jeering.
God looks at the heart.
On the other hand, nichodemus,
visited Jesus at night, He had questions but he believed Jesus was divine. Did Jesus brush Him off? No. They had a conversation and their words bcame scripture u and i read about today.
2.
The theives on d cross:
one said ,snidely, if you are the Son of God, bring yourself down from d cross (somethg like that).
How did Jesus respond to Him? Ignored him.
But the other said,
"please, remember me when you go to setup your kingdom".
And Jesus responded how?
You were once a christian,you know how it ended.
That fella gat a express ticket to heaven just like that.

Even in real life u see this. Rudeness and sarcasm will not get u very far with people.
God is like man in many ways - except the sinful ness.

A counter-example:
prophet Elisha had just prophesied that the next day,theyd b an abundance of food in the beseiged city.
A king's gaurd retorts sarcastically.
The prophet replies,that He will see it but not benefit from it.
Result. The kings gaurd got it bad.

asalimpo:


God doesnt hav time for sceptics and never will. Think of all d people tht hav dared God to prove Himself- why hasnt God responded? Cuz He is no fool neither is He one to be manipulated by cheap tricks.

But a sincere heart , He will respond to.
This is an insight into the nature of God.
Humility,sincerity,politeness appeals to him over stinkg arrogance.
E.g
wen Jesus was on earth, the pharisees heckled Him. At one point, they said "if you are the Son of God give us a sign that we may believe you"(paraphrased). And straightway, Jesus said watch this , performed a jaw dropping miracle? No. He turned their question on them, and ignored them.
Why? because of their heart. Their Hearts were tauntg,critical and jeering.
God looks at the heart.
On the other hand, nichodemus,
visited Jesus at night, He had questions but he believed Jesus was divine. Did Jesus brush Him off? No. They had a conversation and their words bcame scripture u and i read about today.
2.
The theives on d cross:
one said ,snidely, if you are the Son of God, bring yourself down from d cross (somethg like that).
How did Jesus respond to Him? Ignored him.
But the other said,
"please, remember me when you go to setup your kingdom".
And Jesus responded how?
You were once a christian,you know how it ended.
That fella gat a express ticket to heaven just like that.

Even in real life u see this. Rudeness and sarcasm will not get u very far with people.
God is like man in many ways - except the sinful ness.

A counter-example:
prophet Elisha had just prophesied that the next day,theyd b an abundance of food in the beseiged city.
A king's gaurd retorts sarcastically.
The prophet replies,that He will see it but not benefit from it.
Result. The kings gaurd got it bad.

Well I am a sceptic a hard on for that matter, I was made that way and can't do anything about it. Skepticism has helped me in life, I doubt and ask questions and have achieved a lot through it. Your God hates skeptics so why are you skeptic about other religion and believes? Your God hates skeptics that means you should be skeptical about anything. Why are u suddenly skeptic about evolution theories.
We must be skeptic about certain issues that does not go well wit our sense of natural order of things. You do it and I do it. That's our human nature. There are somethings u find doubtful and that does not make u a bad person but others might feel the same way.

What makes a heart sincere? When its not skeptic? Are u for real, I think the sincere heart is a skeptic heart because it seeks the truth.

You want me to just believe things I find doubtful? Well I will do that the day u believe things you find doubtful like evolution or Islamic believes. Why don't u follow ur own advice.

@ OP
I understand perfectly well how you feel... You are not the only one that has th@ feeling buh people do not voice out what they think...

I believe in God not because I was convinced to believe in my creator but because I have experience him..

My dear prayerz are answered. I might not be able to convince you buh all d same the truth is unchanging.

I have testimonies of answered prayers but we need to really insert faith wen we pray, if u lack ask the lord to give u and sincerely u would notice.

I have lists of answered prayerz...
Wen I was in 100l I wrote an elective exam (psy) even though the course was very hard it was a 4credit unit course I was shocked when I saw my result I had F9...I never anticipated I wud start my 100l with having a carry over...
I went back to my hostel and cried my eye and started my early morning session of prayers(aint a praying type) gueSs I did dat for 1week..
Lo and behold a new copy of my result was sent to my dept and I had A...
Even though I knew i worth the A becos am an " above average student" God used dat to draw me closer to him...

Pray genuinely for faith.

kozaic:
@ OP
I understand perfectly well how you feel... You are not the only one that has th@ feeling buh people do not voice out what they think...

I believe in God not because I was convinced to believe in my creator but because I have experience him..

My dear prayerz are answered. I might not be able to convince you buh all d same the truth is unchanging.

I have testimonies of answered prayers but we need to really insert faith wen we pray, if u lack ask the lord to give u and sincerely u would notice.

I have lists of answered prayerz...
Wen I was in 100l I wrote an elective exam (psy) even though the course was very hard it was a 4credit unit course I was shocked when I saw my result I had F9...I never anticipated I wud start my 100l with having a carry over...
I went back to my hostel and cried my eye and started my early morning session of prayers(aint a praying type) gueSs I did dat for 1week..
Lo and behold a new copy of my result was sent to my dept and I had A...
Even though I knew i worth the A becos am an " above average student" God used dat to draw me closer to him...

Pray genuinely for faith.

How did u experience God? What really did you experience and why did u think it was God?

My dear to be honest with you, the story you described above is not a proof that your prayer was answered. It is you who is attributing the change of result to the prayer u made.
You can't tell me that such turn around of things have not happened to someone who didn't pray. I have experienced so many positive turnarounds even without praying. If I had prayed I would have said my prayers were answered just like u.
If prayers were answered we all wouldn't be depending on chance and other peoples response to our actions. We wouldn't need to work hard. We wouldn't need to struggle. We wouldn't even doubt it. If prayers were answered the world would have been a better place.

frank317:


How did u experience God? What really did you experience and why did u think it was God?

My dear to be honest with you, the story you described above is not a proof that your prayer was answered. It is you who is attributing the change of result to the prayer u made.
You can't tell me that such turn around of things have not happened to someone who didn't pray. I have experienced so many positive turnarounds even without praying. If I had prayed I would have said my prayers were answered just like u.
If prayers were answered we all wouldn't be depending on chance and other peoples response to our actions. We wouldn't need to work hard. We wouldn't need to struggle. We wouldn't even doubt it. If prayers were answered the world would have been a better place.

Deary! Believing whether prayerz are answered or not solely does not change the fact that God answers them...

I have had situation where I find relief when am either sad or down casted after praying..


Nd abt my result, I really think I made history for my result which was changed frm f9 to A1..
My lecturers do not belive it till 2day..

I like peeps like you God will surely visIt.

kozaic:


Deary! Believing whether prayerz are answered or not solely does not change the fact that God answers them...

I have had situation where I find relief when am either sad or down casted after praying..


Nd abt my result, I really think I made history for my result which was changed frm f9 to A1..
My lecturers do not belive it till 2day..

I like peeps like you God will surely visIt.

I will be waiting for him, trust me, I will never doubt him if he does visit me.

By the way, to me when prayer are not answered it changes the fact that God answeres prayers. It makes me wonder if we just the ones making it up that he answers prayer. And ones I have reason to douby , then itbcant be God.
Ur story up there is not a proof that God answers prayers.

Does God really answer prayers? Yes, HE does and I have experienced it several times. All we need is to believe.

candy:
Does God really answer prayers? Yes, HE does and I have experienced it several times. All we need is to believe.

Share your testimony here sister!





























And lets see if it's really a miracle

Pr0ton:


Share your testimony here sister!





















And lets see if it's really a miracle

It's a whole lot and believe me; it takes special grace to identify a miracle if you are not inclined towards christianity and miracles. I respect your views but I don't wanna open a chanel for arguments because you still won't believe bro, you won't believe!

Hmmm.... Seriously, does God answers prayers? After two years. I still think the answer is NO!!

Reality says that prayers are usless.

Mr frank... Are u still alive if?.... If yes then come and tell us if u av found the truth or you re still in the dark... Thank God seun or lalasticlala never see this post dem for dn close am.... Till 2020

My own conclusions are as follows:
*There is a supreme being called God
*He blesses people either you pray or not
*He is no respecter of your religion/ belief that's not His criteria to bless you
*He does as He wishes since no one to challenge Him
He is Alive

JideJamez:
My own conclusions are as follows:
*There is a supreme being called God
*He blesses people either you pray or not
*He is no respecter of your religion/ belief that's not His criteria to bless you
*He does as He wishes since no one to challenge Him
He is Alive

The source of the universe has no gender. We all have portions of this source in the atoms that make up our bodies.

I still believe that the source is a quantum observer which exists in the form of a micro subatomic particle. This allows it to be everywhere at once.

That's the extent of my knowledge. Notice I used the pronoun it instead of he or she. That's because an intelligence of this nature is so far divorced from our own to the point that it becomes incompatible with our ideas of gender assignment.

Weah96:


The source of the universe has no gender. We all have portions of this source in the atoms that make up our bodies.

I still believe that the source is a quantum observer which exists in the form of a micro subatomic particle. This allows it to be everywhere at once.

That's the extent of my knowledge. Notice I used the pronoun it instead of he or she. That's because an intelligence of this nature is so far divorced from our own to the point that it becomes incompatible with our ideas of gender assignment.

I think I've driven home my points either it he or she

JideJamez:
I think I've driven home my points either it he or she

You did. My response was not intended to be a rebuttal. I was only throwing my ideas in the pile for consideration.

JideJamez:
Mr frank... Are u still alive if?.... If yes then come and tell us if u av found the truth or you re still in the dark... Thank God seun or lalasticlala never see this post dem for dn close am.... Till 2020

Yes I am still very much alive and I have fount the truth. I am no more in darkness.

I still don't know if God exists or not but I realized that it does not matter. His existence or nonexistence is useless to man. We are on our own, no sky daddy helping anyone.

frank317:
I grew up in a Christian home, the Deeper Life type of Christian home. My Dad was and is still a very prayerful man who puts all his trusts in God. I remember in the early nineties, during one of some of our morning devotions, dad used to concentrate his prayers on asking God to help touch the government to release his money (think he made a supply to them or something). This prayer was repeated in such a way that it became a song, the money was paid later but it took a long while, and by then the value had even reduced. All the same, dad believed God had answered his prayers. Does God answer prayers? After taking my time to consider a lot of things that happened in my life and that of people around me, I have come to form a strong opinion that God does not really answer prayers. Sorry, I am not just talking out of ignorance, but out of close observation and with a free mind.

Scripture states that God does not answer the prayers of the unrighteous; the pleas and requests and every petition of the unrighteous are tainted by their sins(disobedience/unholiness) and are hence an abomination to God. So, what is definite is that even your many pleas for the forgiveness of sins are not answered by God given that God made no special exemptions for that kind of pleas. No amount of praying can cause God to change His mind regarding that which concerns the unrighteous by the way. So if you are thinking of prescribing more prayers that only means you really don't understand or know God at all.

God, however, openly bragged about how He only answers the prayers of the righteous; He delights in granting them the desires of their heart meaning that they are those who are loved by Him. For this very reason, Jesus Christ urged His followers to seek first the Kingdom of God and God's Righteousness in order that all things— the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(holiness), answers to prayers included—shall be added on to them. And as Jesus Christ explained in His Gospel, the only way to become Holy, and then also Righteous, is by way of continuous submission and obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, god's Truth and Law in the Kingdom of god - John 8 vs 31 - 36 & John 14 vs 15 - 23. Jesus Christ is the only way. Obedience to the Truth of God is the one and only path to righteousness. No amount of praying and other religious rituals can accomplish that.

Also, you need to understand the meaning of the word "amiss" in order to realize what James was instead trying to tell you in that verse that you pulled from his epistle. If you consult Webster's dictionary, you will find that the word means to be in an imperfect state, a state that is not in the right order aka unrighteous.

Amiss

1. : not being in accordance with the right order. : faulty, imperfect.

What James was saying in that verse is that the reason you do not receive from God is that you are asking in an unrighteous state—a state that is not in accordance with God's mandate of righteousness. So, clearly, you cannot benefit anything from remaining in an unrighteous state as far as God is concerned. That is what God said, and James reiterated it in that verse there.

immaq8:
Y nt, if only u ve FAITH or a faithful intercessor.

Faithful intercessor?

■ Indeed. Why pray if it's God's will? Can our prayers change God's will? Is that even possible?
■ A few more. Why pick one random tribe above others? Sanction genocides and other atrocities? From a Christian POV, how can a 1000 people claiming to be led by the Holy Spirit, read a verse and give as many interpretations?
■ Interesting. And this is where I understand why some atheists are very violent against religions like Christianity and Islam, especially Nigerian atheists. Suffering and poverty in this world is nothing compared to the glory that awaits you in heaven. The prosperity MOG's on other hand, would rather have you believe that your 'faith' rather than your works can transform bank account for the better.
Most Nigerians believe the evil politicians will face God's wrath in hell, so they're subdued. Also, all authority comes from God. Doesn't matter if it's a dictator. All power comes from above.

1. God's Will refers rather to God's Law and plan. It does not refer to the desires of men at all. His Will, and testament, is His Law. So, why do you pray? Because His Law mandates obedience and one of the many commandments contained specifies that we pray for all that we need and desire.

2a. God did not pick a random tribe, rather, He groom for Himself and purpose the people of Israel with whom to take back dominion over the earth which He created with. If you research the roots of Israel, you will find this out for yourself.
2b. If you research history for yourself, you will find out that genocides were acceptable practices by nations at the time of the creation of the Nation of Israel, and so when God designed the National Constitution of the Nation of Israel for the people of Israel, He gave them laws of men, just as He also gave them laws that would aide them should they make the decision to become gods through obedience to Him.
2c. Humans are capable of lying, right?

3. While I understand the delusion the religious folks exist under, my question is what are the so-called atheists doing differently in that same Nigeria?

Alwaystrue:
OP,
'God answers prayers' is an understatement. He hears, He sees, He knows, he answers more than we can imagine.
I think the problem is many of us do not know how to pray aright and according to His will. Romans 8:23-27.
If only we all prayed according to His will not ours, the results we would get will outstand even us.

You see, Scripture states that God does not answer the prayers of the unrighteous; the pleas and requests and every petition, praise, offering, work, plea, sacrifice, etc., of the unrighteous are tainted by their sins(disobedience/unholiness) and are hence an abomination to God. So, what is definite is that even your many pleas for the forgiveness of sins are not answered by God given that God made no special exemptions for that kind of plea. No amount of praying can cause God to change His mind regarding that which concerns the unrighteous by the way. So if you are thinking of prescribing more prayers that only means you really don't understand or know God at all.

God, however, openly bragged about how He only answers the prayers of the righteous; He delights in granting them the desires of their heart meaning that they are those who are loved by Him. For this very reason, Jesus Christ urged His followers to seek first the Kingdom of God and God's Righteousness in order that all things— the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(holiness), answers to prayers included—shall be added on to them. And as Jesus Christ explained in His Gospel, the only way to become Holy, and then also Righteous, is by way of continuous submission and obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, god's Truth and Law in the Kingdom of god - John 8 vs 31 - 36 & John 14 vs 15 - 23. Jesus Christ is the only way. Obedience to the Truth of God is the one and only path to righteousness. No amount of praying and other religious rituals can accomplish that.

God deals indirectly with the unrighteous, the same way He deals with the unbelievers including the wicked and the ungrateful and that is by pouring out His mercy and kindness on them daily. So every time as an unrighteous you feel that God has answered your prayer know that at that same moment, or moments before that, God also provided the same mercy or similar to someone else across the world — or maybe just across from you— who does not even believe in God, nor asked God for anything. So, if answers from God are what you seek, then do what Jesus Christ said you should, which is to seek first the Kingdom of God(holiness), and then God's righteousness, in order that all these things —the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(including answers to prayers) can be added to you.

Was it God's will that rain be suspended in Israel for three years?

Elijah, a righteous man, desired it, and God granted him the desire of his heart. Elijah's will is not God's Law/Will, however, but a manifestation of God's promise in His Law to the righteous. .

frank317:
■ from your post, God answers only some kinds of prayers... according to his will. how does a hungry man pray according to God's will? if not to kneel down and ask God for favour.
■ besides since God already has a will, why wait for you to pray first and when u do it wrongly he holds back? what do we think God is? a human?
■ the best way we can pray is according to our will. if you ask your father for money how do you askin him according to his will. almost all prayers was answered in the bible. Jesus said that even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, you shall move mountains. why then all these controversy.
■ why must it be difficult to get answers from a loving God and easy to get from a devil who hates us. those who invlove in ritualism just do all that is asked and gbam, they are sailing. but for a loving God, you must pray according to his will and wait till his time. ok, what is exactly according to God's will, teach me please

Not here to hold brief for the one who's post this is in response to but wanting to clear some things up

1. So long as the hungry man is unrighteous God will not answer his prayers.

2. God's Will refers to His Constitutional Law in the Nation which He has invited people to become a part of and it is only those who live their lives in continuous submission and obedience to His Will that His promises are made out to. So, you cannot simply live according to your own law while expecting God to answer to your every beck and call. That never works.

3. Your will has no effect as far as God's Will is concerned. God's mandate to all is obedience to His Law and commandments.

4. God's Love is also reserved for those who abide under His Will, so assuming He loves your sin and all is a fallacy since He never did say that.

You see, Scripture states that God does not answer the prayers of the unrighteous; the pleas and requests and every petition, praise, offering, work, plea, sacrifice, etc., of the unrighteous are tainted by their sins(disobedience/unholiness) and are hence an abomination to God. So, what is definite is that even your many pleas for the forgiveness of sins are not answered by God given that God made no special exemptions for that kind of plea. No amount of praying can cause God to change His mind regarding that which concerns the unrighteous by the way. So if you are thinking of prescribing more prayers that only means you really don't understand or know God at all.

God, however, openly bragged about how He only answers the prayers of the righteous; He delights in granting them the desires of their heart meaning that they are those who he loves. For this very reason, Jesus Christ urged His followers to seek first the Kingdom of God and God's Righteousness in order that all things— the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(holiness), answers to prayers included—shall be added on to them. And as Jesus Christ explained in His Gospel, the only way to become Holy, and then also Righteous, is by way of continuous submission and obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, god's Truth and Law in the Kingdom of god - John 8 vs 31 - 36 & John 14 vs 15 - 23. Jesus Christ is the only way. Obedience to the Truth of God is the one and only path to righteousness. No amount of praying and other religious rituals can accomplish that.

God deals indirectly with the unrighteous, the same way He deals with the unbelievers including the wicked and the ungrateful and that is by pouring out His mercy and kindness on them daily. So every time as an unrighteous you feel that God has answered your prayer know that at that same moment, or moments before that, God also provided the same mercy or similar to someone else across the world — or maybe just across from you— who does not even believe in God, nor asked God for anything. So, if answers from God are what you seek, then do what Jesus Christ said you should, which is to seek first the Kingdom of God(holiness), and then God's righteousness, in order that all these things —the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(including answers to prayers) can be added to you.

frank317:
I grew up in a Christian home, the Deeper Life type of Christian home. My Dad was and is still a very prayerful man who puts all his trusts in God. I remember in the early nineties, during one of some of our morning devotions, dad used to concentrate his prayers on asking God to help touch the government to release his money (think he made a supply to them or something). This prayer was repeated in such a way that it became a song, the money was paid later but it took a long while, and by then the value had even reduced. All the same, dad believed God had answered his prayers.

Does God answer prayers? After taking my time to consider a lot of things that happened in my life and that of people around me, I have come to form a strong opinion that God does not really answer prayers. Sorry, I am not just talking out of ignorance, but out of close observation and with a free mind.

I believe that God exists, not because I have seen him or because I have experienced him. Even people who claim that they have experienced God knew what it took them to form such opinion and believe that what they experienced was God. Well, the fact is that anybody can experience anything and call it God. But the reason I believe in God is just by simply looking around me and wonder how all these came into being. I just don’t have idea what, how or who he is. I don’t believe God has two legs or has feelings like us but if he does then he is not God.

I think the bible and a whole lot of books we read are the source of confusion in the world today. I have tried to wonder why God who created heaven and earth, who is so mighty, should want to communicate with his creation through a book. And this book makes him look like nothing but just a greater human who gets angry, jealous, regrets and reacts without thinking. Why does God need to be all that? Why does he enjoy our worship? Why does he plan to throw us in hell because we didn’t worship him?

I believe this world is very mysterious. There is so much about it that we don’t know about it. For instance how do we talk of a friend and all of a sudden he comes around or he calls u on the phone? How do u explain telepathy and ability to see the future? Some people sure have gifts and how they come about it only continues to be a mystery. I don’t bother about the spiritual or after life (how can we talk of after life when we have not fully grasp the present life), because the spiritual is a mystery (if it exists) how does spiritual things we talk of everyday looks like?

I don’t believe prayers are answered but I believe in miracles. Yes miracles occur because of the same mysteries in the world. But we chose to call it God in action. You see belief is one human capability that we have that can control our lives. What you believe in is what you see rules you. If you believe that Mr. John is a thief, maybe because someone told you so, you will see that whatever he does will make you assume he is actually a thief. He might just tell you that he loves keeping late nights, all you will do is conclude and think, ‘I knew it, he keeps late night because he uses that period to steal’. Believe me, if Mr. John is actually not a thief it will take a lot to make you change your mind about him.

That’s how we form opinion about God, after reading the bible. We pray and the answer comes after ‘our efforts’ we say it’s God. But chances happen to everyone. From observation people who pray hard still go through what people who don’t pray do. The only difference is that people who pray always go back to thank God for answering their prayer when their effort is positive.

But think, if God delivers you from a terrible accident, and others die, does it mean that he chose not to deliver them? To me, if you pray against death, why should God deliver you against it, when eventually you will die? You might say so that you fulfill your destiny (which we never know), but we have seen so many young prayerful people die when they haven’t fulfilled their destiny, yet we say Gods time is the best. We chose to make him win whether outcomes favour us or not. But does he really have a hand in all these? Did he tell us so? Even after reading the bible, we continue making assumptions about God as it pleases us.

My dad always prays till today. He never sleeps, he is always praying, yet he has lost his wife, his kids are still on the average, he is struggling, life is really not easy for him. What is happening to all his prayers? Life is all about chance, your decision and how it affects other people’s decision and how other people’s decision affects yours. No prayer can change that about life; if not can you pray for a job as an accountant in NNPC without being a graduate and get the job?

Importance of prayer
There is a lot of reason why prayerful people can’t stop praying. Prayer gives us hope. It makes us feel that there is a powerful being who has heard us and is in control of our situation. Such thinking can make us energetic in our endeavors, but energy, effort and wise thinking make things happen and not prayer.

Prayer can make us relax a bit. Relaxation helps gives us a clear picture of what we are doing. After praying, there comes a sense of focus since we now believe our thoughts are now controlled by a divine being. This is natural, have you ever wondered why people chose to associate with celebrities and rich and powerful people. Having them as friends makes us believe we can think like them and become like them.

Prayer is like wishing ourselves well. Everybody does that. Prayer is just a more intensive act of well wishing. Or have you seen anybody who wakes up in the morning and wishes that he does not get the contract he seeks today? With this, I think everybody prays.

In conclusion my brother, everybody has right to make opinion out of life events as it pleases him. But it becomes a problem when you see people with different opinion as evil or lost.

People always ask why atheists attack Christians. It is because, Christians have a psychological way of making other religion look bad or lost (Islam on the other hand uses physical means like violence and rejection). They just plain believe that other opinions are wrong and they think telling you is an act of boldness and working for God. Well, the conflict will continue to exist as long as beliefs are used to make others feel bad. Christians need to learn to preach with UNDERSTANDING.

Hello Frank, I stumbled on this piece of yours written over 10 years ago, I kind of feel some empathy while reading through it
But since it's been a long time that you wrote it, do you still feel same way about prayers even today?
10 years is a long time to have a varied view, I have also changed in the last 10 years.
I will appreciate your response. I did enjoy ur view, but will like to know ur view at the moment

FreeSpirited:
■ Hello Frank, I stumbled on this piece of yours written over 10 years ago, I kind of feel some empathy while reading through it But since it's been a long time that you wrote it, do you still feel same way about prayers even today?
10 years is a long time to have a varied view, I have also changed in the last 10 years. I will appreciate your response. I did enjoy ur view, but will like to know ur view at the moment

You want to tell him that God answers prayers and will answer his prayer?

You see, Scripture states that God does not answer the prayers of the unrighteous; the pleas and requests and every petition, praise, offering, work, plea, sacrifice, etc., of the unrighteous are tainted by their sins(disobedience/unholiness) and are hence an abomination to God. So, what is definite is that even your many pleas for the forgiveness of sins are not answered by God given that God made no special exemptions for that kind of plea. No amount of praying can cause God to change His mind regarding that which concerns the unrighteous by the way. So if you are thinking of prescribing more prayers that only means you really don't understand or know God at all.

God, however, openly bragged about how He only answers the prayers of the righteous; He delights in granting them the desires of their heart meaning that they are those who he loves. For this very reason, Jesus Christ urged His followers to seek first the Kingdom of God and God's Righteousness in order that all things— the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(holiness), answers to prayers included—shall be added on to them. And as Jesus Christ explained in His Gospel, the only way to become Holy, and then also Righteous, is by way of continuous submission and obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, god's Truth and Law in the Kingdom of god - John 8 vs 31 - 36 & John 14 vs 15 - 23. Jesus Christ is the only way. Obedience to the Truth of God is the one and only path to righteousness. No amount of praying and other religious rituals can accomplish that.

God deals indirectly with the unrighteous, the same way He deals with the unbelievers including the wicked and the ungrateful and that is by pouring out His mercy and kindness on them daily. So every time as an unrighteous you feel that God has answered your prayer know that at that same moment, or moments before that, God also provided the same mercy or similar to someone else across the world — or maybe just across from you— who does not even believe in God, nor asked God for anything. So, if answers from God are what you seek, then do what Jesus Christ said you should, which is to seek first the Kingdom of God(holiness), and then God's righteousness, in order that all these things —the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God(including answers to prayers) can be added to you.

So did God later answer ur dad's prayer?