i dont beleive in god at all, but i do believe in the power of prayer, how ever lame this is that im about to tell you i dont care, but 3 years ago, the girl i was going out with at the time moved to florida for school...it was so hard on me, i missed her so much, and everyday she was in florida i could feel us moving apart, i was so in love with her, and i would pray every night for her to come home, and i remember one night i must have prayed for 5 hours straight no lie, i was so deep in my thoughts that i was oblivious to everything around me, all i remember is that the clock was 1:37am when i began to pray and that when i was done it was 6:24am, its hard to explain what really happened but i can remember during that time i could feel my prayers leaving my mind, it felt surreal, like total bliss, i was not hurt, depressed, sad, angry, i was nothing, i wasnt happy, i wasnt anything, i felt nothing but this feeling of relaxation, needless to say that once i realized the time and i was out of the state of mind i was in i fell asleep....the next day....THE VERY NEXT DAY i got a phone call and it was comming from my girls parents house here in connecticut, i answered it and low and behold it was her, she was home, my prayers were answered from that day foward i have believed in the power of prayer, if you pray for something hard enough, and free your mind to the state i was in, i truley beleive unexplained happens can and will occur, of coarse i realize that this could all have been one big coincidence but based on the things i went through and the things ive felt i tend to lean towards a more unnatural explanation...take my story for what it is worth, i assure you im not making this up, and im sure there must be people on this site that can relate

I dont believe in prayers.

I believe prayers work in the same way that wishful thinking or positive thinking works. I don't believe there are any supernatural powers involved.

I pray but it is not a genie in a bottle. It is something that you must have faith in. Say you are struggling financially. I would ask God to provide the door to a new job or even allow me and my child to remain healthy until we are back on our feet. This is just something you have to have faith in. I wouldn't go asking for a million dollars though. I don't this would happenn even with faith enough to move a mountain.

prayer+coincidence=miracle

Miracle:
noun: any amazing or wonderful occurrence
noun: a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of God

So how is this just coincidence & prayer combined?

People pray to god every day. With billions of people praying, the number of individual prayers would be staggering. Statistically, a coincidence or two is going to occur. It’s the low probability coupled with the prayer that convinces people that their “prayers coming true” were a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of God.

To Seeking: What was the reason for her return?

Was it a school break? A sudden compulsion to return? Or did she 'magically" appear in her home?

A few further details would be in order.

Therefore you a saying that if I only had one dollar and went to the 7 eleven and needed to get gas but prayed God please help me and said I will buy a lottary ticket and I won $20. I can buy gas now. Is this coincidence maybe. But how can we say all prayers added to everyday life is just a miracle caused by coincidence.

I just think some things happen because it is all in a time plan. No coincidences. This is just how I feel.

In a way I believe it's mind over matter. I still don't put much faith in it.

i believe the mind over matter concept as well



well she had it planned to come back home for weeks in advance because she didnt like it in florida, and decided to not tell me because she wanted it to be a surprise, it very well could have been a coincidence

Yeah I agree with that, Coincidence is the main factor, you might hear amazing stories of prayers come true, but thats only from a few people, out of millions of people who pray. Also alot of people pray for somthing that was going to come true even without praying, then they make the judgement that them praying made it come true.

You believe in prayer.....but you don't believe in God? Whose answering your prayers then...the blue fairy?

I believe in prayer, and I believe that those prayers are answered by God.

truer words have never been spoken in this forum.

I don;t believe in god or the power of prayer.
Although i can;t explain how some get "cured" through it sometimes.

I believe God always answers prayer. He might answer with a "no" (say for example, I want a million dollars), but God does answer. I have no proof outside the Bible that this is not just coincidence, but in my mind, I don't need any more proof than that.

Until next time all

What makes everyone her think God wont answer you for financial help. God isn't against money, God just doesn't want you to make money your 'god'. When you put God above everything else, God will provide, financially if need be.

I never claimed God wouldn't answer if we asked for money. For example, I am a struggling university student. I get very little money. If I ever need money God will provide it, but (generally) what I get is enough to get me by. But if I ask for a million dollars, or the numbers to tomorrows lottery, or a new car, or anything that I don't need, he is going to say no.

agreed! as my Bible teacher said, "money's the biggest test God puts on humans."

as for the non-believers that are praying, and you Christians are wondering why, it's because God answers prayers for everybody, not just Christians and such. and for material things, go ahead and ask Him for that new car or game boy! He may not answer it right away, but as long as you keep your faith in HIm, He'll provide you with all your material needs

Yes, I've asked forr material things and God has answered.

Someone once said 'God can't buy you a house, God can't buy you a car', so, he actually went out and started satan worshipping to get the said things. Yeah, he got it, for a while, they were loaded, had money coming out of their er, ears (and I'm telling you, if satan can provide what makes you think God can't) but in the end he lost EVERYTHING afterward too. He lost his wife, his family (not because he did this, his wife did it with him!) his house, his car, his businees, all his money, etc. Not to mention, his soul. Satan will help you, but he'll take the whole damn lot back, make you worse off than before, and you'll in a sense, lose your soul (no one REALLY loses it). Why go through all that when you can ask and God will provide? Ask, and though shalt recieve. But put GOD first.

Yes, money is a test. But the biggest test is satan himself. He goes to God and says 'such and such has it too good, you ned to test them and see if they REALLY love you'. So, God gives him the authority to test you (or, ruin your life), and if you fail, God help you. Never forget that satan works for God, as an accusing angel against humanity. He loves humanity about as much as he loved being cast out.

oh yay... now we can go to the bank of god for money. i wonder what the service fees are like. let me guess, all it requires to get a card is a great deal of superstition!

gee, i wonder if i pray for the sun to come up and it does if that means there are gods in the sky too?

I thought Buddhists had 'hell bank money'. WAIT, they DO! I know, my mother decided to try Buddhism out for a while (she still believed in God, but got the urge to try another path to God...) and along the way I discovered Buddhists had Hell bank money which you burn. Funny....that didn't work....

No, God is not a bank, but if you ask God, God will help you. God has all the things you seek, even before money, God had what everyone considered wealth. Was it not angels (satan even, originally) adorned with precious jewels and gold? Funny how diamonds is mass amounts have been found in meteorites....

is it so spectacular that a universe born of one set of forces would have the same formations throughout?

It was 'God' not 'Thundercats', you shouldn't change other people's pots when you quote.

For the rest of the post, you answered your own question. Indeed it is one force, and a similar formation throughout is created by that one same force. God.

there is one force, but it is most assuredly not any form of gods (mono, voodoo, or other man-made creation).

it is more likely that the thundercats are responsible for it all, either them or the decepticons.

all praise Lion-o!

(there is a point to this you know: man made stories are man made stories, nothing more)

If we tried one experiment we could show that prayer does not work. But such an experiment would never take place because common sense tells most of us that it would end bad.

If we said " lets stop using medicine and cancer treatments and try to heal 1000 paitents by prayer "

99.99% of those patients would DIE ! Its extremely rare that the body will resolve the problem, although it has in rare cases.

One force. God.

Now, as for Cancer 'treatment', you of course do realize that with this so-called 'treatment' that if the Cancer doesn't kill you, the 'treatment' Chemotherapy assuredly will, in about 99% of the cases. In fact, recently when a doctor came out with a new 'cure' for Cancer, Radiotherapy, he said that if you'd had Chemo, it's too late, as Chemo, like that other 'miracle cure' Penecillin (of which there was recently a warning in the papers NOT to take, except in very severe cases) kills off the good cells as well as the bad.

Yes yes, doctors are real miracle workers. More people have been cured from Cancer through prayer than through doctors or Chemo.

statistics?

if you going to claim voodoo works wonders you better have hard evidence to back it up.

don't fret though, we already know the diagnosis and treatment error levels that lead to death from post-mortums, so your 'random luck' gobletygook can even pretend some more!

yes! all unite behind the ONE force, Lion-o!

i believe everyone is thier own god, everyone is in control of thier own lives and thier own destiny, i believe in my self...not god, but anyway when i pray i dont pray to a supernatural being, its more of a meditation, a concentration on what im praying about, i put my self in a zone with no outside interference

like i said previously a "mind over matter" type situation, i beleive the mind is a very powerful thing, i also believe that your own mind can trick you into beleiving things have happend that you've prayed for, i do feel coincidence plays a big roll in prayers comming true, its just that in my situation that i originally posted there was no way i could have known she was comming home, and yet the very next day she was home, it all molded together perfectly, which to me is enough to say that prayers do come true...not to say that prayers come true through supernatural means, but nonetheless they do come true...

seeking:

exactly. it is the power of the mind. either the power to effect change in one's life, or the power to draw conclusions with anecdotal thinking. as they say, 'look and you shall find". such is the way with prayer. the preconditioning is the 'power'. prayer in itelf is no more a miracle than the effect of pavlov's bell.

Mind over matter in physical ailments is one thing. Humans have the ability to stop pain by a natural 'morphine' at the base of their necks, humans can fight off disease with their immune system, etc.

Humans CAN'T control other people with their brain. Humans CAN'T control outside cirumstances, like 'fate'. God CAN.

And I assure you seeking, you are no God. Move a mountain with your 'powers' for me, make the sky fall, make yourself a millionaire! You and I both know these above tasks are way out of your league. Leave that up to the Big Guy.

Praying to yourself eh?

You know, there are times when Heaven is closed to humanity, but alas, hell is always open.....even on Christamas. Which level where you booked for again...7th or the 10th?

ashley:

this god can not even make popcorn!

more likely megatron will show up and move a mountain than this 'god'.

the problem with your line of thought is it belittles humanity. everything 'great' is the act of a 'god', everything mondane is credited to humans. humans have more potential than you realize. 'wake up and smell the coffee, man!' , and while you are at it, put on the transformers. you may notice a striking resemblance between biblegod and megatron!

Actually, MeTatron is the angel Enoch became, and speaking of mountains, it was said tht it was Metatron who spoke for God in that burning bush with Moses.

Humanity is capable of alot of things, it's the ONLY intelligent mortal species on the planet, but it does not have superpowers, and like all other mortal species dies and becomes dust after a certain period of time.

prove it is the only intelligent species on earth.

"transformers, more than meets the eye...."
i guess this god would make a good decepticon then? well he has the megalomania, and the deception part down....

Er, have you seen any talking dolphins around lately? Or a giraffe building a skyscraper? Humans ARE the only intelligent life on this planet.

prove it!

all you are doing is claiming because humans can do something, that makes them the only intelligent species.

prove that humans are the only intelligent species!

come on..... show me how a species like the crocodile is not intelligent. surviving as long as it has, what is that to you?

ever think that it is humans that are not so intelligent? look at the quandries created by mixing a cerebral cortex with the the reptilian and paleomammilian 'brains'.

i would like to see you prove something.... just once, at least.

As my Critical Thinking professor always said: "It all depends on how you define (insert word here)".

There are many definitions of "Intelligence", by some monkeys and dolphins DO qualify, by others they do not(Along with some of the folks around here too).

As for the topic at hand; yes I do believe that there is power in prayer or meditation. Giving a great deal of quiet focus to a given subject/problem/idea / whatever is going to lead to a different result than if no focus was given to the subject.

Whether or not the power in question is an inside power or an external force(Or a combination of the two) is open for debate; I have a gut feeling that there may be more to the world that what we can see or feel, but I do not know that for a fact. As for some grey haired old man sitting about in heaven checking his prayer email on a regular basis; I doubt it.

Who knows though...

Wow what a topic..... I believe in God and I DEFFINTLY believe in prayer, I hope enough people pray so God can hear, He wont answer yes to all he may have other plans and thinks he is doing what is right by all the earth and its creatures,,,,,,,,,

I believe that if a large enough collective of thought can be focused on the same thing, such as healing or moving mountains, etc...; that it is possible to change our physical environment.

But, of course, I belive that dolphins do communicate with each other...

can you prove that? can you even prove your god is god? when you can do that, you can then tell me that i am not god



since when does that qualify you as a god? i havent seen any other "gods" move mountains for you



again, your god cant do that either!



now that one is easy, almost every millionair in the world was self made, with the dedication anyone can become a millionaire...hey sounds like with dedication people can control there fate too....hmmmmm



actually the "big guy" cant move mountains or make the sky fall either, and as a matter of fact he cant become a millionaire, however there are lots of humans who are......wouldnt that put the human one step above your god...sounds like it



who else better to pray to?



please post heavens office hours


do us all a favor and dont open your mouth when you dont know what your talking about

Hyperactive & Fluffybunny,

Of course animals have intelligence, but in the term of 'intelligent lifeform' as in creating technology, etc, it is not the same intelligence. Animals don't make atomic bombs, animals don't destroy the environment, they don't use money as a means of survival, etc. hey are intelligent in their own way, but they aren't human.

Seeking, you do ME a favor and stop pretending you're a god. God can move mountains, God can make the sky fall, sends floods, wipe out this, and any other planet if He s wished. What you believe is your on affair, but I can tell you now you can do NONE of the above. As for self-made millionaires, I'm talking more along th lines, since you claim to be a god, of praying to yourself and winning the lottery, or creating money out of thin air...can you do that? For what purpose would God ned money for anyway?

Now, are you any of the following:

1. mortal
2. created from mortal parents
3. not responsible for the creation of any planet, universe or any thiving thing whic is not of the origin of anothr living thing
4. have no superpowers
5. cannot help anyone beyond yourself
6. canot actually help yourself in any way beyond that or any other mortal being

If you answered yes to any of the above, you assuredly are NOT a god. Come on now, even the 'gods' of Greek mythology had superpowers.

Not yet...



Why do no one the witness all this anymore?

Partly because such claims can be investigated easily and shown to be false because of fast travelling ability, media and scientists. In the biblical days if an event took place you would have to take ones word for it. You could not do much investigating because of the large travelling distance. So myths were around for a very long time without being proven correct or false.

Well, miracles happen everyday, with witnesses, but until every home is honed in by some 'Big Brother' nerve centre, the entire world can't view it.

Unfortunately, they are unverifiable, biased witnesses of questionable credibility.

No, that's entirely untrue. There have been as many athiests witness such things, or experienced themselves which has changed their mode of belief, as Christians dropping out for lack of.

In fact, even within the belief system, this occurs. To assume every witness to a paranormal event is biased is biased and predjucial in itself.

I agree. Not all witnesses to a paranormal event are biased. However, no miracle that I am aware of has ever been verified, except of course the grilled cheese sandwich. I also agree that many occurrences may appear to be miracles, but there will always be a sound explanation. I find it amazing what the human mind can rationalize.

I have always found that "miracles" and the effects of prayers, are purely subjective events, that are interpreted according to ones point of view.

As an example, Seeking posted how he prayed for hours to have his g/f return. The next day, SHAZAM! there she is. To him, his prayer was answered, even though his g/f had been making plans to return home for some time.

It is the same with 'miracles'. Remember the image of Mary that 'appeared in the roadway underpass? To believers, it was a miracle and a sign of God. To others, it is the effect of road salt, and erosion that forms an intertersting pattern.

In a sense, both points of view are correct, depending on one's belief system.

as soon as your god stops pretending



i havent seen him do any of that...have you? has anyone?




neither can "god"



ive never tried it, i guess i could if i wanted




i am all of the above



ive saved my brother from choking on a piece of bread...id say thats helping someone beyond my self



i am that as well



can god answer no to any of those questions, lets ask him....hey god are you...

1. mortal
2. created from mortal parents
3. not responsible for the creation of any planet, universe or any thiving thing whic is not of the origin of anothr living thing
4. have no superpowers
5. cannot help anyone beyond yourself
6. canot actually help yourself in any way beyond that or any other mortal being

ill be waiting for your reply all powerful one

God has more important things to do such as;

Making millionairs even more rich

And watching all the starving kids die of hunger

dont forget bringing the missing kids of rich families back home and completly ignoring the middleclass children