Re: 10 questions that every intelligent Christian must answer

A response to questions one and two

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Christian
• Free
• will
• love
• amputees
• starving
• hope

[dmncharly]

Thanx for pointing these out.... If u show a girl that u r realy rich She will just want u for the money.. I think this is the answer for Amputees....

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M In answer to your other question, if you are being sincere in your requests for money to give to the poor etc, then God will answer. But the key is, sincerity. IE he's not going to give you anything unless you are already trying to help people. Why should God help you help people if you're not doing it in the first place.

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M I'm not saying we need to depend on ourselves to end it, I am saying that if we do not do anything towards it, God will not do anything. The reason we pray is to put our faith in God and ask him to move. But it is insincere of us to ask him to do something that we ourselves are not willing to do. The reason we ask God's help is for him to do what we cannot. We however, if we want him to do that, must do what we can. If we do what we can, he will do what he can.

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M You decontexualised the verse. Read it with the next verse. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them". What this is saying is "If two of you agree on anything, it will be given, why? Because when you gather in my name, I am with you." The key is there "IN MY NAME". The verse says that it only works when you are gathering in his name. Therefore, you can't ask for selfish things, because if you are so doing, you are not gathering in his name, but your own.

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M My point is I've seen prayer answered. I'm not saying that prayer is always answered positively, but that when it isn't, it's not God's fault. This prayer fitted the correct conditions. It was in the name of God, in all the proper senses. If no one had prayed, maybe the events would have panned out differently. Who knows? I certainly don't. God does though. The point is though, that when we don't get what we pray for, it isn't God's fault. Prayer isn't a magic spell. Its more complex

[sKIPper76M]

@SFRobertsDickClarke Actually, I should be able to ask for selfish reasons since the verse I quoted makes no such restrictions. Also, let's say I am asking for money for the benefit of humanity (e.g. I'll spend the money to feed the poor) -- will my prayers be answered then? If prayer is not enough to end world hunger and we need to depend on ourselves to end it, why even bother praying? Skip the useless step of praying and let's just start doing something constructive instead.

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

Historically recorded prayer answers have a common theme. They answered when the person praying is helping the church/community. EG the amazing account of George Muller, the miraculous delivery of food for the orphans he cared for

God answers prayer, but he isn't a cosmic consignee. He's not going to do something when we ourselves won't do anything. That's us being hypocrites. How can we sincerely ask for God's help in solving world hunger, when we won't do things to help the hungry ourselves?

[sKIPper76M]

@SFRobertsDickClarke So, this is the claim you make: someone prayed for 200 pounds, then a check for 200 pounds came the next day. And this is evidence that prayer works? How were you able to distinguish this from a coincidence? What would have happened if no one prayed for the 200 pounds? Would the check not have arrived? Also, when someone prays for 200 pounds and does not get it, is that evidence that prayer does not work? Or do we accept prayer to work regardless of the outcome?

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M To continue on the money theme briefly though, you cannot ask for anything in the name of God if you want it for selfish reasons etc. That wouldn't be in the name of God. It has to be there for not sinful reasons.

We do frequently ask world hunger to end, but God isn't going to answer our prayers if we ourselves do nothing towards furthering them ourselves. The Bible says Faith without deeds is dead. God will not move in a divine way to end hunger if we don't move in a human way.

[SFRobertsDickClarke]

@sKIPper76M I have seen prayers for money answered before in the name of God. A CU event I was taking part in needed £200 to have enough money to finish. They prayed about it, and what came through the door the next day? A cheque for £200 from a church. And the church couldn't have known about that specific need then, because they had to have posted it a few days before.

I'll answer your second point momentarily