Why does God answer some prayers and not others?

[locationforna]

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?

Because it’s not my own opinion or viewpoint, I’m having to base my reply on my understanding what my friend has explained to me over the years. It may be that my understanding is incomplete or incorrect, so I hope both of you accept my apologies for this reply.

To give my/her answer your question, the point is it’s a test. Firstly, you need to be in a situation where you have free will to make decisions. Then you have an understanding of the objectives you need to meet to pass (I suggest they’d include things like the 10 commandments, but also just treating people decently etc. But what do I know?) And then finally you’re judged on how you respond against the set criteria.

My friend said god grants humans free will to be able to sit this test, or else, as you put it, god would already know whose making it to heaven. In fact, no one would need to make it to heaven, they’d already be there and the need and requirement for earth and life on it would disappear. Everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven is a prize and a reward that is to be earned by the righteous, the faithful and the worthy, not just given to anybody. Or else there would be no real value to it.

To add my own little worthless thought, my understanding about religion (and this is partly taken from the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (I’m telling this to be truthful, not to be blasé or to ridicule and to show how little I have devoted to the subject). It’s that, central to the concept of god and religion, is the application of faith in the absence of proof. I.e., you follow a god because you believe in them and accept them into your life, not because you know they exist and there’s a reward by doing so. And if you don’t have the chance not to believe, then surely that denies the concept of faith itself?

I’m sure I’m not explaining myself, or more importantly, my friends view very eloquently or even logically. As I said, I just haven’t really done the deep thinking and theological/philosophical searching behind it to be remotely coherent or valid. And I’m second guessing what my friend would likely write.

Tagging failed oops this was meant for @ohyouknowwhatshername

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

I think if you do believe in God then it's better not to reduce Him to the status of a pocket magician who grants wishes depending upon how much we beg. Nobody really knows whether God exists or not, whether He controls aspects of our lives or our fate, or what the purpose behind it all is, if indeed there is a purpose. If God exists I don't think He's playing a SIMS game with us though because we have free will.

I believe in the reality of good and evil. I've seen what evil can drive people to do and we can choose which path to follow.

Honestly there is too much fucking horrific horribleness in this world for something like god to exist. But there is also a lot of beauty and love. So I remain confused.

Have you got any research to back up that claim?

And you just had to shoehorn that in.

I don’t know why God doesn’t answer all prayers but I guess he has all of eternity to make it up to me.
I do think God can see the bigger picture and doesn’t view death in the same way we do.
He does understand suffering though as Jesus suffered at the hands of humans.
I believe God originally gave us a perfect world and the bad things that happen now, including illnesses, ultimately are caused because of humans making bad choices - not living in harmony with nature, not sharing by resources equally.
It’s the greed of humans (usually men) who are power hungry that causes wars, not religion.

I cannot even begin to conceive of a god who doesn't intervene with a sick child. Looking at the bigger picture is just an excuse. It's very convenient to believe in God and very difficult to realise that it's just us. Find the strength somewhere to accept that.

Come on OP...

Let's get real

God, Jesus, Allah or whatever are just characters of works of fiction written or narrated by humans

Religion is a load of bollocks, at best wishful thinking

Of course prayers go unanswered

Is laughable

Deluded and cultist

Some of the people and things you encounter are only here to play a part in this, to facilitate this testing environment. That’s why it seems unfair, and unequal. Other than the end result (whether you live a life good enough to meet the heaven entry requirements), what happens on earth is all irrelevant really. It’s just a means to an end. To use your example, the baby who died was merely a supporting actor, and has simply done their job and went off to other/better things.

Interesting theory, that would make some lives worth more than others. Or is it that the supporting actors are the lucky ones as they don’t get tested and get a free pass to heaven for suffering here. It all seems very unfair but then life is, unless the reincarnation believers have it right and we all get a turn at being supporting actors, the main character and good and bad circumstances in various different lives.

I'm atheist but I've found this thread very interesting.

What has stood out to me is the religious leaders' response to prayer 'failures.' Telling devastated people that their god must have other plans, that there is a bigger picture only god can see, it strikes me as a complete cop out.

I guess I struggle to understand religions and followers. Faith is belief without proof and I simply don't have that.

@determinedtomakethiswork I cannot even begin to conceive of a god who doesn't intervene with a sick child. Looking at the bigger picture is just an excuse. It's very convenient to believe in God and very difficult to realise that it's just us. Find the strength somewhere to accept that.

How do you know the sick child isn't in a better place ? You see , in order to understand the answer to this question you have to believe in the after life and you have to believe that the after life is much better and greater than the life we currently live in.
I believe that all the innocent people like that sick child are in heaven awaiting our arrival. This earth is merely a passing phase - the place to challenge and build our faith and character which in turn prepares us for heaven - the ultimate destination.

As my mother lay dying in horrible, gruesome agony from terminal bowel cancer, one of the final things she said to me was 'I must have been so wicked in my life for God to be punishing me like this'. She was a devout Christian.

I will never forgive the people who brainwashed her into genuinely believing that she was being punished by God for being a bad person.

Nor will I ever forgive the despicable woman from her church who told her that if she didn't get better, then it was because she wasn't praying hard enough.

I cannot, and will not, accept that such a God would allow so much suffering in the world because it is all part of a greater plan, and that he will choose to save some of the suffering and not others.

I don't know whether my mother ever got to Heaven, but in the days before her death I watched her suffering in Hell.

I loathe organised religion, and in particular I loathe the people who peddle it.

Definitely a cop out and only slightly better than the old fashioned it's your fault/you weren't pious enough/believed enough/prayed enough /did x /didn't do y.

*@LearnerCook I'm atheist but I've found this thread very interesting.

What has stood out to me is the religious leaders' response to prayer 'failures.' Telling devastated people that their god must have other plans, that there is a bigger picture only god can see, it strikes me as a complete cop out.

I guess I struggle to understand religions and followers. Faith is belief without proof and I simply don't have that.*

You may not believe or agree with our responses but I wouldn't call it a cop out ! I think it's offensive and rude if I were to be honest . It y be nicer to say that you don't agree with it but calling our belief a cop out is quite offensive I must say .

Interestingly I find it difficult to comprehend that non believers actually believe that this is life! That there isn't a higher power above looking after us with love and counsel . All the bad things in life are caused by humans - God gives us free range to make decisions- he's not a fairy with a magic wand and doesn't intervene as such - we as humans are merely responsible for the wrong doings in this world .

@JustAnotherManicNameChange
Definitely a cop out and only slightly better than the old fashioned it's your fault/you weren't pious enough/believed enough/prayed enough /did x /didn't do y.

Not a cop out - just our belief which doesn't harm anyone I must say.

@FlowerLilyFix Honestly there is too much fucking horrific horribleness in this world for something like god to exist. But there is also a lot of beauty and love. So I remain confused.

But it isnt god causing the horribleness- it's us humans. We are supposed to practice godliness - which is righteousness - pillars which are supposed to guide us into being good and righteous citizens. Instead a lot of people don't and so Inflict pain and harm to the world . God doesn't intervene in the way you think - this isn't how he operates . He is supposed to provide us with the wisdom to make things better if we seek him but he doesn't literally hold our hands and force us into action. He is a god of free will and choice . He want us to choose him and love. There is also alot of love in this world - you just have to look closely

I suppose, and this really is just off the top of my head- as I say it’s not my viewpoint- that maybe some, a lot, or even all, of the other lives that we encounter aren’t lives as we’d undertake them at all. The example that immediately springs to mind is Clarence from a It’s a Wonderful Life. Just someone sent to play a role, they are not actually what they seem to be.

Or perhaps it’s like something out of the matrix, where they are something along the lines of computer programs (not actual computer programs, but a similar concept)? Of course, that opens up a whole new bunch of questions- are the people that you know and love really real? Are some of the others in the world being tested alongside you, or is it all just a bit of an illusion, kind of like The Truman Show?

I suppose as an atheist, and reading some of the responses in this thread, the thing I find curious is how much value people who do believe place on their lives and the suffering of themselves and others. What I mean by that is, if you believe there truly is a god and everlasting life, I can’t see how any negative thing that happens on earth really means that much in comparison. Even if you live to hundred years, that’s less than the blink of an eye, relatively speaking, compared to the rest of it. So to be so affected by what happens during your life, and to treat it so, well, seriously, to me, seems a bit illogical. It’s like having mumps as a kid, to me at the time it seemed awful, but it only lasted a few days out of many years that I’ve been alive. So with perspective, not that impactful at all.

Again, I’m probably not explaining it very well, if any of that comes across as disrespectful or patronising, it’s certainly not my intent.

Results for those prayed for without them knowing slightly (but not significantly) worse than those not prayed for. Results of those who knew they were being prayed for noticeably worse than either group that didn't know. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16569567/

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn Results for those prayed for without them knowing slightly (but not significantly) worse than those not prayed for. Results of those who knew they were being prayed for noticeably worse than either group that didn't know. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16569567/

If there isn't a god why did the prayer have an effect , though negative , on those who did pray?

Do babies and small children have free will? Are babies able to make conscious decisions about life? When they are suffering in any way, is it their fault?

If god was a human being, a human father on this earth, who had knowingly let his small children suffer, did not try and help them, let them knowingly encounter danger, did not try and protect them because he thought, it’s ok, they have free will etc - you would have social services and police knocking on this fathers door. His children would be taken away and he would be imprisoned, guilty of all sorts of things. And telling the judge that it was “all part of his plan!”, really wouldn’t cut it.

@cherry2727
No one's claiming prayer affected anything negatively. That's the point. The results were exactly as you'd expect from chance, one outcome slightly more frequent than the other.

Now those are even more interesting thoughts.
I do believe in God but am not the best representative as I can’t help questioning all these things.
Thats a good point about why people who believe are concerned with suffering in this life. I suppose no one wants to see their loved ones suffering, especially children who don’t understand why and no one wants to have their loved ones taken from them or left without them, even if it’s temporary. Also the fear of pain and suffering and the unknown. Even Jesus was distressed and asked for “the cup to pass him” if possible.

If there isn't a god why did the prayer have an effect , though negative?

It didn't. The difference between those prayed for and not prayed for was not statistically significant. This means it was so small that it was what you'd expect from chance. (Imagine picking 100 buttons out of a jar of 1000 black buttons and 1000 white buttons - you would expect to get roughly half of each colour, but if you got 49 white and 51 black you wouldn't be surprised and looking for some sort of external cause.)

Believing they were being prayed for had an an effect. Not the prayer itself.

*@SnoozyLucy7 Do babies and small children have free will? Are babies able to make conscious decisions about life? When they are suffering in any way, is it their fault?

If god was a human being, a human father on this earth, who had knowingly let his small children suffer, did not try and help them, let them knowingly encounter danger, did not try and protect them because he thought, it’s ok, they have free will etc - you would have social services and police knocking on this fathers door. His children would be taken away and he would be imprisoned, guilty of all sorts of things. And telling the judge that it was “all part of his plan!”, really wouldn’t cut it.*

Is everyone's non belief based purely around poorly kids dying ? Our belief system allows us to connect with god in a way that makes our faith in his actions strong . Of course as Christians there are times when we find it difficult to give an explanation for his decisions- but our faith in him keeps us going . There are a magnitude of other elements which helps build that faith in him. There are signs and wonders that we experience spiritually which gives us hope and builds our faith in god . Those kids who suffered, suffered for you and me. So that we may turn to him and seek his face - their pain is sometimes cut short because they are taken into heaven , where there isn't any pain. As hurtful as it may be for us - for them - it's a much better place. I say this as mom with a ds whom I love dearly and would never want to lose but ultimately it is what we believe in.