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Why does God answer some prayers and not others?

566 replies

locationforna · 30/12/2022 20:59

Just this really.

If you are a Christian, please can you tell me why God answers some peoples prayers and not others?

For example, one woman could be praying her baby survives. Baby dies. Another woman with the exact same situation of an unwell baby - Baby lives. Both prayed, they prayed a lot

Why is it you say 'God is good' and 'God does answer, this is a miracle' and 'we are praying for you'

Do you really think that if the first person prayed hard enough, her baby would've survived? Or if not, and it's just chance, why pray?

I believe in God by the way. I have been studying for a while and seem to lean towards Judaism but notice a lot of 'God is good, he answered my prayers. It's a miracle'

Why some prayers and not others? Why do people think He's helped you get a job offer you really wanted but not answered a woman across the road's prayer not to be raped?

There is suffering throughout the Bible. Jesus himself suffered according to the Bible. That's not what I mean - I mean specially, why some prayers can be answered and not others that are equally in need?

OP posts:
Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 04:27

Good and bad things happen to us all. That cannot be a reason to doubt the existence of God unless you think God only exists if life is perfect for everyone we consider to be “good”.

The existence of God does not equal the non-existence of bad or evil.

It is impossible to look at nature and indeed all around you and think that all of this came about without an intelligent designer. Something or someone must exist outside of time, space and matter to have created time, space and matter in an incredibly ordered and intelligent way.

Science cannot answer that. In fact it is unanswerable by its very nature. Hence comes faith in who it could be and what our purpose here is.

We will never know but there is enough around us to tell us that an intelligent designer exist.

The book of Daniel in the Old Testament is a very interesting and challenging book for those who do not believe. Why? Because the prophecies all came to pass and all history books are testament to that fact. The only way non-believers can handle this book is by saying it was written after these historical events.

It is worth reading Daniel and relevant secular history books on the historical events documented in Daniel. Let it take you on a journey.

Many will say it is unintelligent people believe in religion but I think it is probably fair to say the same about those who refuse to see the obvious. Even Stephen Hawkins admit something had to create the time, space and matter. The question is what. Since science has yet to provide an answer then a system of belief about who or what the creator is or wants seems very sensible. What we also know is whoever that creator is, they want good and bad to coexist and they want us to have free will.

loveramadan · 01/01/2023 04:27

Also, people need to really understand this -
"God's religion only brings unity and good. If you don't see that, then that's not God's religion, it is something else."

TomPinch · 01/01/2023 04:30

AllOfThemWitches · 31/12/2022 21:05

Why should people be respectful about religion though? Considering the many problems it's caused and continues to cause? I get that, once upon a time, people used 'gods' to explain what they didn't understand. We have science now though.

Because science by itself clearly isn't enough. It's great at measuring what it can measure, and at increasing human knowledge, but it's not fundamentally designed to tell us what humans should then do with that knowledge. Eugenics? The nuclear bomb? Pollution? Scientific discoveries have, ironically, brought the world to its knees. That's not to say that science is bad, but it's possible to imagine a world in which we used those discoveries better.

We've had a hundred years of major societies with governments that are indifferent or actively hostile to belief systems that involve a notion of God (ie religions.) If climate change causes societal collapse then I don't think history will judge them very kindly. If the story of the magician's apprentice survives the cataclysm then I expect it will have a new retelling.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 04:32

Judaism, Christianity, Islam all believe in the same Abrahamic God. The main divergence is around the role of Jesus / is he the Messiah / Son of God, a prophet or troublemaker.

One thing is for sure, Jesus definitely existed as per Josephus historical records. So the history books, quite apart from religion, confirms that a man called Jesus walked the earth and was killed.

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 04:32

honeyfox · 30/12/2022 21:09

I was raised christian by lovely and religious parents. Myself and God parted ways when my 15 year old brother died of a brain tumour when I was 12 despite the prayers of hundreds of people over several years. I was done with him/her/it.

I am so sorry,
Exactly my thinking, god is cruel if he lets children suffer.

TomPinch · 01/01/2023 04:33

Hawkins001 · 31/12/2022 21:40

But then how many pagans were at the mercy of Christians ect ?

Whataboutery.

And in historical terms pagans have done their fair share of persecuting.

Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 04:43

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 04:32

I am so sorry,
Exactly my thinking, god is cruel if he lets children suffer.

If you were God how would you have design this world? To only have good and for humans to have no free will? Then what would be the point? Imagine a world designed like that.

When bad things happen it is often when we are reminded of God. Until then, we enjoy the good times and even attribute them to our own doing. Yet when things don’t go well, we blame God. He cannot ever win when we hold such a view. Good is our own doing and anything bad is God’s fault. As much as he is blamed for the death of a baby, is he ever blamed for the good things that happens? Is he blamed for the millions of babies that survive serious illnesses or os he a write-off if a single unhappy or devastating thing happens to us.

If you think life should always and every time be a bed of roses, never a moment of sorrow then you will never be able to understand the nature of God.

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 04:54

Why do you talk in riddles?

Just reply simply to my question..

Why does 'god' let children suffer in the most horrific ways?

newusernamegloria · 01/01/2023 04:55

I haven't read the whole thread as it was long so sorry if this has all been said.
I have a couple of thoughts. One is that Judaism and Christianity are not mutually exclusive. You said you were drawn to Judaism but struggled to deny that Jesus is the son of God. There are lots of Christian Jews, Jewish people who believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Jesus was a Jew.
My other thought is about prayers that are answered with a yes versus a no. I think that the world is full of sin and natural consequences, like cancer, abuse, natural disasters, death. So suffering happens because of the natural way of things. God doesn't make bad things happen to people it's just that we live in a not perfect world. It makes God sad to see us suffer. Most of the time he does not intervene. He can be with us in our suffering, use it for good, work in us, but often he does not intervene to stop the bad thing. Sometimes he does and that is when I think it's hard to understand, why sometimes over other times. I don't believe it has anything to do with one persons prayers being more righteous or important, but just that God in his wisdom sometimes intervenes but more often does not. This world is very temporary and Gods view is eternal and the big picture. God is Love and is good and I guess that's where our faith has to come in.

Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 05:19

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 04:54

Why do you talk in riddles?

Just reply simply to my question..

Why does 'god' let children suffer in the most horrific ways?

What is the riddle? I have not answered in riddles and you have not answered my questions.

Why do you blame God for the bad things but not the good? Why do you blame God for the bad things that happen but not science?

Look where science has gotten us. A world that is so polluted, food and drinks that are killing us, causing cancer and other illnesses, diseases created in labs, climate change and who knows what else. It is okay for us to use science to destroy ourselves but blame God for our poor choices and use of science?

A baby or anyone for that matter suffering a horrible illness or death is not something caused by God. If you expect him to intervene like our personal genie and stop everything bad from happening then you clearly do not understand the nature of God. In fact, you are asking for heaven on earth where there is no pain or sorrow and where everyone is good. Just bliss. Well there is a heaven just not on this earth.

It’s is very striking that the only way you can conceive of God is if nothing bad ever happens to babies or even good people. If you take that expectation to its logical fullness, where does science, free will, human responsibility and accountability fit in. Can you describe the world we would be living in where nothing bad happens to babies or good people and where, by virtue of becoming a Christian, nothing bad will ever happen to you in this earth.

Timspam · 01/01/2023 05:34

I was brought up Catholic but stopped believing years ago. My beautiful Mum was a devoted Catholic and went to Church every week without fail, even when she went on holiday she'd find some tiny village with a Church to go to. Aged 54 she died from the most violent unpleasant brain tumour and was in agony, I just thought well that's some thanks for her devotion isn't it, yet Peter Sutcliffe lived into his 70's. It's also the statement I hear a lot, God won't give you more than you can handle ? How does that apply here then it killed her ?

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 05:36

Timspam · 01/01/2023 05:34

I was brought up Catholic but stopped believing years ago. My beautiful Mum was a devoted Catholic and went to Church every week without fail, even when she went on holiday she'd find some tiny village with a Church to go to. Aged 54 she died from the most violent unpleasant brain tumour and was in agony, I just thought well that's some thanks for her devotion isn't it, yet Peter Sutcliffe lived into his 70's. It's also the statement I hear a lot, God won't give you more than you can handle ? How does that apply here then it killed her ?

This is awful 😞
And also explains my question to @Maximinimalist

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 05:40

Timspam · 01/01/2023 05:34

I was brought up Catholic but stopped believing years ago. My beautiful Mum was a devoted Catholic and went to Church every week without fail, even when she went on holiday she'd find some tiny village with a Church to go to. Aged 54 she died from the most violent unpleasant brain tumour and was in agony, I just thought well that's some thanks for her devotion isn't it, yet Peter Sutcliffe lived into his 70's. It's also the statement I hear a lot, God won't give you more than you can handle ? How does that apply here then it killed her ?

To be fair @Maximinimalist will come and reply with some ridiculous quotes from the bible, and her version/beliefs! She cannot reply to one simple question..says it all really! 😂

TomPinch · 01/01/2023 06:16

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 04:54

Why do you talk in riddles?

Just reply simply to my question..

Why does 'god' let children suffer in the most horrific ways?

This question is as old as Christianity itself. There have been various arguments that attempt to answer it over the centuries. I'm not going to paraphrase them here.

Speaking as a Christian I simply don't think about it that much: that matters is my response to my own or anyone else's suffering.

Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 06:19

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 05:40

To be fair @Maximinimalist will come and reply with some ridiculous quotes from the bible, and her version/beliefs! She cannot reply to one simple question..says it all really! 😂

I have not quoted the Bible. Where did I quote the Bible?

The problem here is you asked a question and the premise of your question is fundamentally flawed, which makes it impossible for you to logically respond to my questions because there is no logic in the premise of your question. Instead you talk about me speaking in riddles or quoting scriptures, both of which are untrue. Can you show me the riddles and the Bible quotes?

  1. you conclude before any critical analysis that an innocent baby suffering or dying is attributed to God not existing or him not being good yet you refuse to apply the same thought process to science or more broadly human actions. Your logic goes: baby suffers, if God is good baby should not suffer. Because baby suffers, God is either not good or he does not exist.
  2. Okay so what would things look like if God made sure no baby suffered. He would need to put a stop to all scientific endeavours and remove all human free will. Is that what you want because that is the ONLY logical conclusion to make sense of the premise of your question.
  3. if you are going to take God to task, why not take science to task? Scientific pursuits have leashed all manners of ill on innocent lives, including diseases that wreak havoc on innocent lives. So many modern day illness are attributed to our Western lifestyle. The drugs we take, cause damage generation after generation to babies, air pollution the same, etc. To stop babies suffering the consequences of human free will, you are basically asking for God to put the breaks in all of this.
  4. Do you ever get mad at us, our world collectively for the destruction our human choices bring to innocent lives? Or are you only prepared to blame God for the bad that flows from our choices but claim all the good is attributed to our human goodness? Are you prepared to put human choices and science under the same scrutiny for an innocent baby dying? Or is your critical thinking only confined to God?
BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 06:32

He's distracted from helping all all those millionaire footballers score goals I suspect.

Helpful to know if he does exist where his priorities are.

TomPinch · 01/01/2023 06:53

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 06:32

He's distracted from helping all all those millionaire footballers score goals I suspect.

Helpful to know if he does exist where his priorities are.

Well, they don't include stopping the proliferation of the bad bogan haircuts that I see in my neighbourhood.

mrssunshinexxx · 01/01/2023 06:56

Because god isn't real how could 'he ' possibly be. If there was something so powerful then all the senseless tragedies wouldn't occur, it would be murderers , rapists and paedophiles that died of cancer , strokes , car accidents not innocent loved ones.

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 07:02

mrssunshinexxx · 01/01/2023 06:56

Because god isn't real how could 'he ' possibly be. If there was something so powerful then all the senseless tragedies wouldn't occur, it would be murderers , rapists and paedophiles that died of cancer , strokes , car accidents not innocent loved ones.

The simple Epicurious theorem:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

TomPinch · 01/01/2023 07:10

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 07:02

The simple Epicurious theorem:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

This.

(although I believe in God regardless)

stbrandonsboat · 01/01/2023 07:24

MyLoveIsYourLove0xO · 01/01/2023 05:40

To be fair @Maximinimalist will come and reply with some ridiculous quotes from the bible, and her version/beliefs! She cannot reply to one simple question..says it all really! 😂

To be fair, she did reply, but you didn't understand the answer.

You need to be able to comprehend and have an understanding of the concept of Free Will in the first instance.

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 08:01

Pinkbonbon · 01/01/2023 04:05

He doesn't really 'answer prayers' in that sense. He's not genie lol. Whatever will be will be.

Praying is mainly to give moral comfort to the person praying in trying times. Or strength or...to make you feel less alone...or whatever.

It's about bringing you closer to God during trying times.

I mean I'm not saying mate he maybe doesn't sometimes work to odd miracle. But generally speaking - praying should not be treated as wish making.

So hes not a prayer answering genie but instead a figment of one's own imagination they magically brings comfort yet has no powers. Riiiiiiighht Hmm

Maximinimalist · 01/01/2023 08:05

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 06:32

He's distracted from helping all all those millionaire footballers score goals I suspect.

Helpful to know if he does exist where his priorities are.

The questioning of God us all well and good if you are willing to also question the alternative.

The idea that the created should demand from the creator, whoever you conceive him/she/it is symptomatic of the very human problem. Never is the question ‘ what does the creator want from me’ asked. Instead, it is an unwavering expectation that we can use our free will to do whatever we want, destroy innocent lives in the pursuit of our individual and collective desires but then require that Hid follows us with a hoover to clean up all the bad consequences of our actions. All the while we expect the creator to answer to the created and never the other way round. The creator must do our bidding otherwise he is not good or he does not exist.

As for his priorities, you will never know because you choose not to find out. As far as you are concerned, his priorities should be your priorities and your neighbours will hold the same view even if their priorities are opposed to yours. Jim all the way in Africa will say God’s priorities in fact should be what he thinks they should be. People in developed countries will think God’s priorities should be x and those in developing countries it should be y. Men will expect it to be an and women, b. In the end, God is just an instrument of our will, which then makes no sense.

Unless God bends to our will and our own personal ideas of what he should do and prioritise, which invariably conflict with what others want/think, then he is not good or does not exist. Even a single instance of God not doing what an individual person wants is enough to render him a fantasy.

The sun total of it all is that people want God to obey their individual will and that is not only impossible, it makes no sense.

I have not delved into the Bible but I will on this occasion. The question of why bad things happen is an age old question and many of the paragons of virtue in the Bible wrestled with that question. Even wise Solomon, who is reputed to have written Ecclesiastes, dedicated the who book as we know it, to asking what on earth is all this about.

The question is one we should all ask ourselves but asking it on the premise that if bad things happen to innocent people then it proves the non-existence of God is a strange and such a premise quickly unravels into silliness.

Good and bad happens but you cannot remove human free will and the consequences of that out of the equation UNLESS you are advocating for the removal of free will or you are expecting God to obey the conflicting views and expectations of those who created, and who from the evidence and prone to self destruction.

Look at the mess we are making and you want God to obey us or simply follow us and mop up our mess?

We have brought ourselves to a place where the majority of us are suffering from some sort of mental health issue, the climate is groaning from the consequences of our actions, we’ve created things that years later we find out is causing cancer, our air and waterways are do polluted we are either dying or developing serious illnesses.

Yet we want to put the blame at God’s feet.

Tuilpmouse · 01/01/2023 08:09

@Maximinimalist

The key difference between God, and humanity and its scientific endeavours, is that God is defined (at least in traditional theology) as all knowing, all loving and all powerful.

So yes, humanity is in large part to blame for much of the evil in the world, but it doesn't claim to be any of these things. And those dictators who do try to claim degrees of these three attributes are generally condemned by those not in their thrall.

BoganKiwi · 01/01/2023 08:09

@stbrandonsboat there was no misunderstanding.

The argument made by @Maximinimalist was either against:
Capitalism
Overpopulation
The erroneous concept that humans are sacrosanct or
A fundamental misunderstanding of science. Science does not claim to rule mankind and claims to only only solve problems, it works despite religious boundaries and limitations (despite the many blocks religion may bring)