Does God answer all prayers? Shooting at Joel Osteen's Church as example.

[AgnosticBoy]

I don’t believe Christians are immune from tragedies. If we were, we’d live forever. We would never have deadly diseases, or be involved in deadly accidents. It comes down to God’s will. God has a time determined for everyone to die. I believe God protects everyone (saved and lost) until that appointed time.

At least your answer goes with what we see in the world. Christians are obviously not immune to tragedies and that's true even for the ones that are faithful and that always pray for protection.

A lot of other explanations from Christians seem so far removed from reality than they are hardly believable.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

The video of the shooting at Joel's church has been released. Watch at your own discretion...clearest part of the video starts at the 12:30 minute mark..

Perhaps part of God's answer could have been letting security handle the situation. But still some were hurt.

 

[Scooter]

God uses people to accomplish His will. He used the apostles to spread the Gospel. He uses missionaries today to reach people. So He absolutely uses security personnel to protect churches.

Some were hurt, but God has a purpose for that as well. I can't say I know what that purpose is, but He uses hurt to help heal others.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

God uses people to accomplish His will. He used the apostles to spread the Gospel. He uses missionaries today to reach people. So He absolutely uses security personnel to protect churches.

That's an important example. If anyone would've had God's protection, you would think it would've been the 1st century apostles since they knew him personally (during his physical life on Earth) and were doing probably the most important of God's work, which was starting Christianity. Yet, they were still persecuted and some of them were executed. That should be enough to show anyone that bad things can happen to good Christians.

I can see reasons why God would allow evil and why he wouldn't always allow someone to live without any harm. But I also can see where many Christians get the idea from that God can protect them from harm or even heal them. Jesus healed many and even brought someone back from the dead. So based on that, I think it's natural for some Christians to expect the same. But those same Christians should also keep in mind that the answer may be no to protection and healing. I think that's a tough answer for many to accept.

 

[Scooter]

One of the oldest questions is why does God allow good people to suffer. That is the subject of the story of Job. Job suffered the loss of all of his material wealth, his children and his health. Yet through it all, Job never cursed God. As a result, God blessed Job with more at the end of his life than what he lost.

Tradition has it that all of the apostles were killed for their faith and testimony of Christ (except John). Faith in Christ does not keep believers from trouble, but faith gets us through the troubles. In fact, Jesus said His followers would be persecuted, so we should not be surprised when trouble hits us.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

1. Does God answer all prayers or does he sometimes ignore prayers? What would you say his response was in the shooting at Joel Osteen's church?

I'm not a believer so I'm only speaking for experience of the real world mixed with some info. from the Bible and convos with other members here.

I would say that if God exists, he definitely doesn't grant all prayers. Countless of Christians have prayed for healings and what they asked for did not happen. It's hard to say that he gives a "no" answer to prayers because that seems to be consistent with not answering at all, as if the prayer wasn't being heard by anyone. I wonder if the Bible gives any examples of God not granting a prayer, and it explains why he answered no. For now, I'm on the fence about the "no" answer vs. no answer at all.

2. Does God ignoring prayers prove that he doesn't exist?

It creates problems for an all-good God, but in my view it's not enough to show that Christian God doesn't exist. I think the explanations regarding free-will and the potential consequences of that are enough to show why the world being contrary to God's nature.

 

[Scooter]

There is a perfect example of God not answering a prayer. In 2 Cor. 12, the Apostle Paul describes a thorn in the flesh that afflicted him. Three times Paul prayed for God the remove the thorn. Instead of answering Paul’s prayer, Jesus told Paul that His grace would be sufficient to see him through.

Also, 1 John 5:14 tells us that if we ask for something according to His will, God hears our prayers. Not all of our prayers are in His will no matter how sincere and good the prayers are.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I wonder if the Bible gives any examples of God not granting a prayer, and it explains why he answered no.

There is a perfect example of God not answering a prayer. In 2 Cor. 12, the Apostle Paul describes a thorn in the flesh that afflicted him. Three times Paul prayed for God the remove the thorn. Instead of answering Paul’s prayer, Jesus told Paul that His grace would be sufficient to see him through.

Also, 1 John 5:14 tells us that if we ask for something according to His will, God hears our prayers. Not all of our prayers are in His will no matter how sincere and good the prayers are.

That's a great example because it goes into details beyond just the "no" answer. It also gets into the "why" question which I'm sure many Christians would want to know why God would ever say no to healing someone. I'll quote the relevant passages:

2 Corinthians 12:6-10

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited,

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In general, I can agree that someone's suffering can keep that person from doing something bad. The easiest example is if someone gets liver disease due to heavy drinking and that forces them to stop drinking or else they get worse and die. But if God healed the person of their liver disease, then they may go right back to drinking or worse. They may even start to take it for granted. Because of this scenario, I also don't think God should say "yes" to everything even if it is good because people would surely take advantage and think of God as their personal genie. This answers a wealth of questions I believe that involve the problem of evil, like why God allows bad things to happen, why he says no to some prayers, etc.

Good work finding that passage, Scooter!