Noncommittal Prayers

by Lore 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Lore

  Anyone else notice the growing trend towards prayers among witnesses to not actually ask for anything specific in prayers.

  Phrases like: "Please help my husband get home from work safely today"

  Have changed to: "Please be with my husband today"

  That way if he dies in a horrible window washing accident, you can still convince yourself your prayer was answered.

  Someone gets disfellowshipped: Don't ask for him to come back.
  Someone gets sick: Don't ask for him to get better.
  Someone gets kidnapped: Don't ask for them to be found unharmed.
  Car breaks down: Don't ask for it to be fixed, or to get a new one.
  Trying to get pregnant: Don't ask for it to take.
  Loosing faith: Don't ask for a special sign.

  According to the Bible, they're doing it wrong. You can pray for a specific sign, like a damp/dry rag , you can pray for the sun to stand still or go backward, you can pray for super strength to kill a bunch of people, you can pray for a tree to be uprooted and hurled into the see, you can pray for a mountain to be moved from one place to the next, you can pray for someone to be healed, you can pray for someone to come back to life, you can pray for ANYTHING.

  Worst case scenario: He won't answer the prayer. But that doesn't mean you can't ask for miracles or specifics.

  When you have so many biblical examples of people praying for very specific and miraculous things, why do witnesses never pray for miracles?
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  Iamallcool

  That is a very good question. I have never thought about it til now. (bookmarking)
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  sizemik

  I guess after years of praying for things . . . prayers that never get answered.

  If you pray for nothing . . . at least it gets answered.
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  Morbidzbaby

  From what I gather, JW's don't believe in modern miracles. Any miracles performed today are from Satan, not Jehovah. Praying for a miracle is praying for something you KNOW isn't going to happen.

  Praying for help, praying in a general manner for Jehovah to "be with" someone, is basically saying "Whatever your will is in this situation, let it happen". Everything you ask for in prayer, according to JW's, will be answered IF it is in harmony with "Jehovah's Will".

  And of course, this flies in the face of Jesus' teaching that anything you ask of god you will be given.
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  outsmartthesystem

  This is another issue that drives me batty. This is from the March 15, 1988 WT (p7):

  One of Jehovah's Witnesses was reading the Watchtower in his car when someone suddely grabbed him around the neck. He prayed fervently to Jehovah God. The attacker became motionless and his grip slackened. The Witness started up the car, bade the man farewell, and left him standing like a statue in the middle of the road. In a world of increasing skepticism and doubt, lovers of God and truth can take heart from teh positive assurance that prayers offered to Jehovah God through the right channel, in the right manner, and with the right attitude of mind and hear are heard"

  We have examples like this and countless other "testimonies" at meetings and assemblies. They range from ridiculous (above example) to down right boring (I needed a part time job so I could continue to pay the bills while pioneering....I prayed....and my application at McDonalds was accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely that was divine intervention!)

  Anything good that happens was arranged by Jehovah. (although in the same breathe the Witnesses will admit that God does NOT cause miracles anymore) Anything bad was time and unforseen occurrence. Billions of people around the world pray and sometimes their prayers are answered.....yet witnesses claim that it is either coincidence or perhaps Satan arranging things to make them THINK they are being directed by God. Assinine.

  What I'd like to know is....if Jehovah protects some dude in his car from being attacked simply because he prayed......or Jehovah gives some pioneer a job at McDonalds to help pay the bills then what about those that didn't get help? What about the Witness sister that was beaten and raped? What about the young family whose home was foreclosed on? Did these ones not pray fervently enough? Why such disfavor upon them?
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  Terry

  As far as I can tell Prayer goes like this.

  Pray for rain.

  It does/does not rain.

  If it Rains; the prayer was "answered".

  If it doesn't rain; perservere in prayer. (Keep on asking...)

  Eventually, of course, it rains.

  Prayer answered.

  That is one kind of prayer.

  Another is like this.

  Pray for an entirely unlikely event beyond any normal circumstance.

  It doesn't happen.

  (Not God's will.)

  It happens.

  God answered with a miracle.

  Finally, there is this kind of prayer:

  HELP!

  Whatever happens...happens.

  Result?

  Who can say God didn't?

  Now, out of the three above the miracle is the most interesting.

  What constitutes a miracle?

  Our definition of possible! Our definition of hopeless!

  Example: An accident victim is declared "dead".

  They awaken!

  Was it a miracle or a faulty diagnosis of condition?

  The doctor declares the cancer patient only has 6 months to live.

  Then, total remission!

  Was there a miracle or a faulty diagnosis?

  If you flip a coin a billion times....somewhere in all that flipping there will be a series of times in which all tails or all heads comes up repeatedly.

  If you merely isolate that series in time......statistically it is a miracle!

  Food for thought.
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  Lozhasleft

  I used to get told off for making specific petitions as a JW...I still do it ...it works for me. You're spot on though...they've made their prayers kind of lukewarm gestures.

  Loz x
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  WTWizard

  It's all to forward the illusion that Jehovah, that Almighty Lowlife Scumbag, answers prayers. In the format, there is nothing that definitively proves that he didn't answer a prayer--nor is there room to get pxxxed when he doesn't answer or does the opposite of what you needed. You just give an endless series of polite requests, and when they don't work, you continue doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome without realizing that Jehovah is actually maliciously preventing what you want from happening, while still trying to get praise he doesn't deserve.