Scorpion,
I by no means want to belittle your belief in prayer, even if I may view it a bit differently. I think that belief itself is powerful and can have an effect on the mind and body, as can knowing that one has the love and support of many friends.
While I was driving my son to school, I couldn't help pondering your comment:
Prayer to me is communication with God, just as a child would communicate with their parents.
I tried thinking about this in human terms. What if I had three children? One loves me very much and thinks I'm a good mom. Another doesn't quite understand why I decide as I do and isn't quite sure she's my child. She wonders if she's adopted. My third child is independent and strong-willed and doesn't want me mothering him at all.
Suppose all three children were injured in a car wreck. Would I give the most medical treatment to the child who asked me for it the most? Would I give more medical treatment to the child whose friends asked me the most? Would I deny treatment to any of my children?
The analogy falls down because God is a parent we never see. Our communication with him is usually not direct, but through mediators and written text. He doesn't speak directly to us; we can only interpret events as an indication of what he wants.
Perhaps life was easier in Old Testament days, when it was thought that God caused both good and evil. The Psalms are full of petitions for God to punish people's personal enemies. Things were pretty clear cut--if you obeyed, you were blessed; if you disobeyed, you were punished. People were also punished collectively and for the sins of their ancestors.
Now that God is love, it is more difficult to explain bad things. I well remember my thinking in JW days. Something good happened--Jehovah is blessing me! Something bad happens--maybe I'm not doing Jehovah's will, maybe it's a trap from Satan, maybe this is a lesson for me. We humans want reasons; we want things to make sense.
These answers did not satisfy me in the long run. In an average day in the hospital, why do some people die and some people live? If God plans to do what he wants anyway, are our petitions just a means to vent and express our feelings?
I can't help but think of Voltaire, who was a theist until a devastating earthquake leveled Lisbon on All Saint's Day, November 1, 1755. It is estimated that over thirty thousand people died in the disaster. Raging fires started by candles lit in observance of All Saint's Day spread throughout the city. Many died in church, praying.
Voltaire was compelled to ask, "What was my God doing? Why did the Universal Father crush to shapelessness thousands of his poor children, even at the moment when they were upon their knees returning thanks to him?"
Like you, I can't explain why God seems to answer some prayers and ignores others.
Ginny
