The Knock at the Door After the Prayer (page 2)

Redneckgurl

Here's the problem with these "stories", I agree that every religion has them. A coworker of mine related a personal miracle when she said a prayer because she couldn't afford her father's funeral and when the family walked into the funeral home right after that, the funeral director gave them a huge price break. She said she started crying and praising God. (no, she isn't a JW) Now, with what I have been taught, she must have had her prayer answered by Satan, right? Give me a break! God is listening to ALL of his creation, that is what I believe. I have always felt wierd about not being able to give "my" God the credit for others who had wonderful things happen to them, especially when they are thanking God for it.

Coincidence, or really angelic direction? Who knows for sure? Probably both.

Redneckgurl

bebu

ROFL, LS, sounds like God was trying to remind you (and us, through you) that there are better tests to run than the ellapsed time between a prayer and a knock. God's got to have a wild sense of humor.

Some Mormon boyz were in the other day, trying to answer my troubling questions. One of them ventured a very similar episode as this, where not too long back they knocked on a door soon after someone had prayed for God to give direction...

When I was a single chick, I was quietly, carefully looking under almost every rock and behind every tree for the "right guy". Prayed so much about it. Then, a certain guy started to take an interest in me. He wasn't too bad, really, but considering we were of different cultures, and didn't speak very fluently in each other's language... I still began to rationalize that he must be the one! I was starting to force round pegs into square holes, when a friend told me with great care that the kind of marriage I was considering failed about 80 percent of the time, and lovingly urged me to be more patient. (Akin to the adage, Don't go with the one you can 'live with'; pick the one whom you can't live without.)

6 months later, on a trip back home where I resolved to lay low and NOT keep an eye out for mr. right... I met mr. right, and I mean, MR RIGHT. 17 years ago. Coincidence, yeah, maybe; but this time I made sure I wasn't forcing myself to think it was right, and I was quite careful.

Coincidence does not 'prove' anything. The Bible says to test (or prove) all things, which is very good general advice to anyone.

bebu

Dawn

How does one argue against such personal experience?

If the knock at the door is evidence of divine direction when applied to JW's then it must also be evidence of divine direction when applied elsewhere. There are plenty of stories of individuals who prayed for help and soon after had an answer.

I do not believe that God is denominational. I believe that he reads the heart of individuals and hears the prayers of all kinds of people, mormon, JW, catholic, muslim, etc.

So if you would like, you can reply with my testimony - which is also a true story.

At a time in my life when I needed to make a final decision, should I continue going to the new church I had found, or should I listen to what my Dad had just told me - that I was being mislead and had better get back to the JW's and be reinstated. I stood next to my car in a parking lot and decided to say a quick prayer. You know the feeling of confusion that an x-JW trying to break away can go through - that's where I was. My prayer was almost word for word like this..."I don't know what to do, but I need to know if I should keep going to church now. Is this where you want me? Please give me a sign and make it really clear because I don't know how to listen to you" I opened my eyes just as a car was backing up - it had a bumper sticker that said "You are right where you belong" I know the bumper sticker is meant to be funny, but I got the message. I was right where Jesus wanted me - he knew where I needed to be to heal.

Scully

True story:

I was struggling with severe postpartum depression between late 1993 and early 1995. At one point it was so bad that I would retreat to the closet in my bedroom and cry myself to sleep there. I confided in one of the elders and asked for help to maintain my service hours because I would have panic attacks while going door-to-door. I asked if I could go on a Bible Study with one of the pioneers. The pioneers were not interested in helping me.

Anyway, one day I was so upset that I was on the verge of a breakdown. I felt so lost and alone and hopeless, and I didn't feel like I was ever going to get better. Suicide was an option that day. I don't know why, but I decided to have a shower before taking any action on my "plan". While I was crying in the shower, I began to pray. It was the most heart-rending, desperate prayer I had ever uttered in my life. I asked Jehovah to show me what I was doing wrong to make me feel so bad. I challenged him to prove to me that JWs were the most loving people on earth (like the WTS claimed), and if they were not, to show me WHO WAS. When I got out of the shower, I felt a bit better, like I had to stick around for a while and see if Jehovah was going to prove anything to me. I got dressed and made some coffee.

Within 15 minutes, I got a phone call from the public health nurse who had been visiting me a couple of times a week. She just "had a feeling" that she needed to make an unscheduled telephone call to check up on me. A few minutes after that, my neighbour across the street came over and invited me to take the children to the park with her. She had never done that before. Later that afternoon, when I picked up my mail, I received a Thinking of You card from my cousin. Not one of those people were JWs.

I tried calling one of the friends from the congregation. She was too busy to talk to me, let alone meet for coffee. I tried someone else from our book study group. Again, this sister did not have time. We ended up not going to the meeting the next night. Instead we opted to spend the evening with the children at the Tulip Festival. The next day, nobody from the congregation called to see how we were. I told my husband that they probably didn't care, and that I wanted to miss meetings for a while to see how long it would be until anyone from the congregation called to see what was going on with us. After a couple of months, I didn't need any more "proof".

I don't know if that was an answer to my desperate prayer. Maybe it was just me opening my eyes for the first time and seeing what was there all along.

Love, Scully

Dawn

((((Skully)))))

I don't know if that was an answer to my desperate prayer. Maybe it was just me opening my eyes for the first time and seeing what was there all along.

It may be a little of both. Jesus promised that if we seek the truth we would find it - and the truth would set us free. It was there all along, and when you were ready to see it you did.

rocketman

Fascinating thread. I've presonally always figured that 1) other religions would tell similar stories and 2) that since jws do a lot of door-door preaching, the percentages would indicate that at times they'd meet up with people who prayed.

Scully, your account may well prove, or at least lead one to consider, an interesting point - that maybe God works, not by means of jws or some other religion, but by means of friends, aquaintances, and even people we don't know. I am certainly glad you did get some help that day!

Gamaliel, helpful info! Thanks.

free will

to continue narunaruchans thought...if it's satans guidance, he's guiding his demons to people. guiding them to something as far from what god wants as possible. the wbts.

Satanus

Everyone assumes that when prayer seems to be answered by the actions or directions recieved from people that god must be behind it. Why would god of necessity have involvement? We are part spirit as well. We have a subconscious as well as a higher self, and guides/guardian angels.

The answering of prayers through these agencies is a simpler explanation than their answering by some god concept. Consider that when you apply for and recieve a job, the simplest scenario is that human agencies are responsible for all of the actions and services; the telephone system, the mail delivery system, the bus system, etc.

Being a chip off the old block, so to speak, we are god, so to speak. As such, we have full freedom, power and responsibility. By turning some of that control over to an outside entity, we both weaken ourselves and abdicate, to an extent.

I could liken our position to that of the us president. He has the power and responsibility, but he has advisers and aides of all kinds. None of his employees is perfect, however, so he decides which advisers he wants to call in and which advices he will follow. Then he does what he wants to do.

Or, do you guys really think that you can compel god to do little jobs in your lives through begging, coercion, sacrificing, ceremonies, etc?

SS two cents' worth

ps. Scully's experience illustrates how it works. She put out psychic signals, and got responses from those w psychic or emotional connections to her. God wasn't the central control panel for all these actions, like some cosmic puppet player. Scully was the initiater and the participater.

ozziepost

I find it interesting to hear similar stories at Christian conventions. When I do, I get "flashbacks" to the Dub assemblies.

So, are they true? Of course!

The apostle Paul wrote: "For I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." (Emphasis added)

Cheers, Ozzie

Robdar

they utter a prayer to God and lo and behold a knock is heard on the door and behind the door are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Um, that very thing has happened to me twice. I kid you not. I have prayed to find the true religion and just a few minutes later a JW knocked on my door. After the second time, I stopped asking. I didn't like the answer I seemed to be getting.

I swear, I'm telling the truth on this.

Robyn

The Knock at the Door After the Prayer

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