My Belief in Prayer

by compound complex 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  compound complex

  My belief in prayer was once bolstered by my strong attachment to what I had read in Aid to Bible Understanding. My having a part in its initial prep in the factory and, later, a detailed proofing of thousands of references to it made this Bible dictionary an influence in my former life.

  Please note this extract on Jehovah's seeming delay in the answering of prayer. How would you, in your years as a JW, have been influenced by this explanation?

  "The seeming delay on God's part in answering some prayers is not due to any inability nor to a lack of willingness. . . . In some cases the answer must await God's timetable. Primarily, however, it is evident that God allows his petitioners to demonstrate the depth of their concern, the intensity of their desire, the genuineness of their motive. . . . Similarly, while Jehovah God cannot be pressured by numbers into acting, he evidently takes note of the extent of concern shown by his servants as a body, taking action when they collectively show deep concern and united interest. Where apathy, or a measure thereof exists, God may withhold action."

  Aid to Bible Understanding, PRAYER, THE ANSWERING OF PRAYERS, page 1331
• 

  Tara N Seals

  During the summer of '73, great with child, I read the Aid encyclopaedia from Aaron to Zuzim.

  I did not agree that God requires us to "prove" our genuineness in our petitions. Neither did I believe the assertion that He answers prayers collectively.

  Why didn't I simply walk away back then?

  P.S. CoCo, did you see what I did there with reference to the Aid to Bible Understanding publication?
• 

  Magnum

  As a believing JW, I think I swallowed the explanation. I reasoned that it fit well with the JW teaching that Jah was going to fix all problems in the future and that it wasn't time yet to fix all problems (issue of universal sovereignty, etc.).

  Now, though, after being more aware of the vast, sometimes horrific suffering that is going on now and has gone on for eons, I can't swallow it.

  I really don't like this: "...while Jehovah God cannot be pressured by numbers into acting, he evidently takes note of the extent of concern shown by his servants as a body..."

  So, if I am one of Jah's servants and am being boiled alive in oil by myself, he might not respond to my pleas (screams) for help, but if a dozen of his people are being boiled together and are all screaming in unison for help, he might help??? That doesn't sit well with me. Suppose I see a freezing, starving orphaned kitten, and I don't help it because there's only one. Oh, but if there are three (no, wait, maybe five?), then I will help. The suffering of the one is not enough to move me to help?

  The explanation provided just makes Jah seem cold, as if he sits back at a desk like an accountant or businessman and makes judgments based on numbers. If makes it seem as though the individual doesn't matter. I get the same feeling sometimes when I read about animal conservation. Sometimes, the implication is that suffering by individual animals doesn't matter; only the preservation of the species (the genes) does. I don't like that.
  
• 

  EverApostate

  When I was a DUB and whenever I came across a soul that is suffering, a quick flash would hit my mind. Why does Jah permit this and remain silent? Why can’t he alleviate this suffering?

  Very soon the usual Celtic thinking kicks in. "Jah permits suffering to prove his Universal Sovereignty" What a crap of a belief.
• 

  compound complex

  P.S. CoCo, did you see what I did there with reference to the Aid to Bible Understanding publication? -- Tara N Seals

  That you read every entry, from the very first to the very last?

  ********************************************

  As a believing JW, I think I swallowed the explanation. I reasoned that it fit well with the JW teaching that Jah was going to fix all problems in the future and that it wasn't time yet to fix all problems (issue of universal sovereignty, etc.). -- Magnum

  Swallowed, hook, line, and sinker! Leave it in Jehovah's hands, etc.

  *********************************************

  Why does Jah permit this and remain silent? Why can’t he alleviate this suffering? -- EverApostate

  I'm still working on that one.

  *********************************************

  THANKS!
  
  

  
  
• 

  Tara N Seals

  No; that I spelled encyclopedia the other way.
• 

  compound complex

  Very erudite, Tara!
• 

  Tara N Seals

  LOL.
• 

  Spiral

  Just goes to show that the JW god is a cold fish, indeed. Probably, maybe, sometime, if he feels like it, he might act. Otherwise, you humans just try waiting a few centuries longer for help.
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  For awhile, I solved the unanswered prayer conundrum with the thought that sometimes the answer to your prayer is, "No."

  Then I realized that with the answer being, "Yes," sometimes and , "No," others, the result wasn't materially different than God not being involved at all.

  I still kind of miss the situations I had imagined in my head:

  "She wants a husband? Oh, I don't think so! She needs to get herself together, first!"