The New Diary of Winston Smith (page 7)

WinstonSmith

"Jehovah's creation"

I've heard this phrase about 5 times this weekend. Friends got back from Thailand and put their photos on Facebook. Then they put up another album from the same trip called Jehovahs Creations full of pics of all the animals they saw. Sitting at the beach last night with some friends watching the sunset and we hear "Oh its moments like this that really make you appreciate Jehovah's creations."

Etc.

Dunno why but this phrase is starting to grate on me.

Don't mind me. Just venting.

WinstonSmith

Hello everyone,

Hope you are having a good week!

Have had a very interesting series of chats with my sister over the last few days. Her and her husband (both pioneers and he is a MS) have been having some trouble in their marriage lately. They have just been through the wringer with the elders and the CO, and my sister has come out of it absolutely exasperated at the way she was treated. One of her comments was "I just want to tell them all to go to hell!" This has been festering for over two years and has now come to a head.

Let's just say Winston is endeavouring to eeeeeeever so lightly prod and point out the unscripturalness of what she has been told. I'm playing on the whole secret elders book / women are a second class citizen / opinions of men angles. I'm taking it from a "I used to be an elder so I have some inside info on all this for you" aspect.

Watch this space....

In the meantime, here are some notes from a recent public talk. These are just notes and not necessarily my opinion. I am reporting, not supporting.

What Kind of Prayers Does God Answer?

Pretty much everyone these days has a mobile phone.
They are useful, but they come at a cost.
All of us have a way of communicating that is free and the person we speak with is always there and ready to pick up.
Sadly not many people know how to use this way of communication, so their prayers go unanswered.
1986 was declared as a year of peace and many religious groups got together and prayed for this peace to come. Obviously these prayers went unanswered.
One reason prayers don't get answered is that they go to the wrong person.
Acts 2:21 says that those who call on God's name receive help. There are many different religions and they all have different books, but only our book tells people what God's name is. People's prayers don't get answered because they are praying to the wrong person.
Psalm 115:5, 6. People think they are praying to God, but they aren't because there is no reply.
Is there a channel that people need to go to? John 16:23.
Prayers must be offered through Jesus or else they just go nowhere.
Our motive is important too. People often turn to God when there are natural disasters and pray for the safety of the families. If the family member has died, then God gets blamed and that is not fair. Our motive needs to revolve around God's will.
When we make an emergency call, we have to be specific to the operator on the details of where exactly the ambulance or police need to go. Our prayers should be specific too.
Remember though that Jehovah will not answer prayers such as those that some make to win the lotto. It is better to pray for God's kingdom to come. For the preaching work to be successful. These are the things with which Jehovah is concerned.
Jehovah blesses the efforts of his faithful servants, so it is important that we follow through on the things we pray about.
Psalm 119:105. The answers to many of our prayers are provided in the bible this is why we have to study the bible.
Zechariah 4:6. Holy Spirit answers our prayers too.
One lady was left with three kids after her husband died. She prayed for comfort from God's word. Next day a JW called and said in his presentation "I have come to give you comfort from Gods word." When the lady heard the exact words that she had prayed, she commenced a study and is now a JW.
In WW2 there were a number of sisters in a prison. The guards threatened the sisters one day with forcing the sisters to put their hands in hot oil. All of the sisters prayed. Most of them prayed for release and deliverance. This sister instead prayed to maintain her faith no matter what. The guards left them alone. Looking back, the sister was grateful that she prayed in a way that focused on Jehovah.
One sister was a successful pioneer and then she came down with depression. She prayed for help to get over it. Soon after she received an invitation to go to Bethel. She was not sure if she could do it due to her condition. She decided to go anyway. A few months later she realised that her depression had disappeared.
What prayers does Jehovah listen to?
Those that are earnestly seeking Jehovah.
Those who have faith that he will answer.
Those that want to have a relationship with Jehovah.
Those that are specific and followed up with actions.
Isaiah 55:6.

Aussie Oz

ugh!

Prayer...one of the first things i realized as I lost my faith was that prayer is nothing but talking to the ceiling.

Not one single wonderous thing has come from prayer. All that has been good and bad in my life is a direct result of my own efforts.

Oz

edit: actually. I can't think of a more stupid concept really. Prayers are never answered how you want them to be, every thing that may be considered an answer is ambiguous and sketchy. If it's a good outcome the prayer was answered if not then Jehovah had his reasons...It is as bad as the old ''god works in mysterious way'' nonsense.

oh, and all the best with your sister!

Aussie Oz

''One sister was a successful pioneer and then she came down with depression. She prayed for help to get over it. Soon after she received an invitation to go to Bethel. She was not sure if she could do it due to her condition. She decided to go anyway. A few months later she realised that her depression had disappeared.''

I realized as a successful Pioneer and Ministerial servant that i was dreadfully depressed. It became worse after I stopped pioneering to raise a family. I prayed and prayed and prayed...

then I abandoned my religion, left my wife, never went to another meeting and within a few months I realized my depression had disapeared!

THANKYOU JEHOVAH!

oz

WinstonSmith

Hey Oz!

You are so right mate, I went through a phase of calling prayer 'talking with your eyes closed.' People only see what they want to see. When something goes their way they say Jehovah answered their prayers. Yet they conveniently forget the thousand other times the subjects of their prayers never materialised.

I tend to waver between faith and not being sure about anything. Does that make me agnostic? Not sure. I think it makes me human. I do believe in being good to others to whatever extent we can at any given time. I believe that there are some words of Jesus that we should live by, namely love God, love your neighbour, and treat others how you want to be treated. I'm also aware these are not necessarily ideas that are original to the bible. On the odd occasion when I do pray it is generally addressed to God, Jesus, Gaia, Buddha, Mother Nature whoever might be out there. It's more of an inner monologue than anything specific. Other times I'm like "thats a big ol' empty sky up there."

Hey, I'm just a dude doing the best I can with the tools I've got.

WinstonSmith

We just got invited to an "International Dinner"

Everyone is going to "Bring a dish from their country of nationality" and we are going to eat them while we "enjoy christian association"

Please, please, pleeeease let Armageddon come before the weekend!

Black Sheep

Take Witchetty grubs

WinstonSmith

I ate huhu grubs once. They taste like crunchy peanut butter.

Maybe, since I'm a kiwi, I'll just take some fush n chups....

Giordano

Prayer works if you pray for the right things! For instant when I was 8 or 9 I prayed for a new bike. Every night I prayed and every morning I looked around and no bike! Something's wrong I thought. I asked my parents if god answered prayers, yes my mom said, not every prayer but some. Does god forgive us our sins? Yes she said for instance if you pray for forgiveness he will forgive you.

I didn't pray for a bike that night......the next morning I went out and stole one......that night I prayed for forgiveness. That was one fine bike!

WinstonSmith

You know what's funny Giordano, is after the talk I told the same story to Mrs Smith!

Makes me laugh every time :-)

Hope you all have a flippin' awesome weekend!

The New Diary of Winston Smith

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