Has God ever just answered a prayer that you needed so badly?

[whenthedreamhappens]

Dh a do have been going through a terrible time with an incident that happened in work 5 years ago. It was a horrendous, difficult time. My husband was basically suicidal. Although this was such a time of trial, Gods hand was always upon us, guiding us even tho we didn't see it, and to us the days still seemed dark. After lots of prayer and years worth of worry we got a solicitor letter (out if the blue) basically withdrawing any wrong doing ir any allegations , on the same day that DH received a job offer from a dream job opportunity. We have received multiple, countless blessing that have come at EXACTLY the right time. It has been incredibly difficult yet incredibly comforting that God has always guided us through our trials and made things possible that just wouldn't have been so without intervention. Today we have received another wonderful blessing.

I think we all have our paths and life lessons to learn/give and so praying to change that course won't work.

I believe where we are now isn't the end journey, there is a better place where we can always be with our loved ones. If you ever watch NDE interviews on YouTube it's fascinating how people describe the other side.

Quite frankly though, l think anyone who believes we're it, that there's nothing bigger better than us out there way past all the other planets and solar systems, are just simple folk whose brains couldn't handle that type of knowledge.

I've always felt there was an air of narcissism from many atheists. Not people who are agnostic, because admitting you don't know or have all the answers seems perfectly rational to me. But outright saying you don't believe in God, seems arrogant to me. Maybe it's because I've seen so many arseholes on threads like these who think it's acceptable to mock people for believing in anything. Heck, not just online but even in public.

Plenty of stupid and narcissistic religious people too of course. But it's really easy to see in many who are all 'there is no god and I thumb my nose at people who believe in anything greater than the almighty me'. And I've met far more people like that than I have religious bigots.

Aww. No I haven't had any obvious responses to prayer yet but I do thank God when something changes for the better.

I don't want to be a buzzkill OP but of course we won't always get what we want. Faith consists of giving God the glory even in our suffering. Even Paul couldn't get the thorn in his flesh (whatever it was) to go. God said 'my Grace is sufficient to you' for him to cope with the pain he had to endure.

I heard an interesting argument from some Protestants on YouTube today about the 'Problem of Evil' (why does God allow suffering etc.) Someone had asked them why God had allowed a particular earthquake that killed some people. They said 'we all are worthy of God's wrath for our sins, so that he only killed a few people rather than all of us on the planet is evidence of God's mercy 🤣 I thought that was an interesting, if somewhat full on, point.

Obviously I didn’t pray hard enough (or maybe did it the wrong way - is there a magic formula?) when I begged on my knees for many hours to God to let my baby daughter live.

It was his will of course that she be cursed with a cruel lethal abnormality which would mean she’d die as soon as she was born after an already stressful pregnancy in which we knew she had a relatively minor abnormality picked up at 20 weeks and were very anxious but were so thankful it wasn’t life limiting and an operation would correct it (I actually remember thanking God then when we got the amniocentesis results back!).

So rare was it, it was only picked up much later at 32 weeks into the pregnancy (doesn’t show until late stage), no one has seen it before, and was only the 7th case ever recorded in the UK. So cruel her bones would break during the birth as she was in effect a statue but her brain was not affected and she’d be in pain. I had to give birth to her knowing that as I went into pre term labour from the stress before I could get my head around having her terminated. So cruel after taking two years to conceive her just before we were going to start investigations for secondary infertility and our 4 year old DD had already excitedly picked out her toys to share with her baby sister but we had to tell her she wasn’t coming home and instead had to pick out her coffin and bury her. No genetic reason for the abnormality either.

There was no ‘free will’ from either me or her to go through that, nor is there in any childhood diseases.

I guess he was so pissed off that I told him to go fuck himself after that that my next DC was cursed with ASD and a learning disability, then my last born was recently cursed with lifelong, life threatening Type 1 diabetes with constant blood sugar monitoring after almost dying in his sleep. All totally unrelated and no hereditary propensity.

I find the cognitive dissonance of people who believe in a loving God who answers THEIR prayers quite sickening actually. Similar to ‘animal lovers’ who eat meat.

Yes. I've recently had a MASSIVE prayer answered. It was not a coincidence because it was a specific thing. Measurable too and word for word.

On the other hand, there have been some terrible things happening amd I'm waiting on God to deliver me from those - if that is His will.

I hear you. I have experienced such things that have nothing to do with free will. In fact, if God had even allowed us to discover my child's medical condition a year earlier, they would be alive today. If bad luck is going to give them a genetic condition, couldn't God at least let us know about it before it's too late? God is cruel, if he exists. I used to believe but have seen too much. If it gives people comfort to believe that coincidences are God, good for them. I hope that one day, that faith won't prove to be so obviously misplaced.

I guess God was too busy with finding people parking places and other such trivialities to deal with the big stuff.

I’m so sorry for your enormous loss @amazonianavatar @lifeinthehills and others on this thread who have lost precious children or had terrible suffering. I can understand why you’re so angry at God (or the idea of God, if you don’t believe) when your child dies or is ill. Even as a Christian, I am sure I would have similar feelings.

Someone asked why the Christian’s on this thread are silent about suffering so I wanted to respond, if I may. I imagine that the last thing you want to hear is the intellectual theology of why God allows suffering when it’s your life, and your child, and you are devastated. So instead I’ll share about God’s character. He never wanted this broken state of the world with its many awful things in it (death of children, abuse, wars, illness, broken relationships, death). It wasn’t his plan in the Garden of Eden and He didn’t want this so much that, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17. He cared so much, He did something to change it (at the cost of His son) and address the very thing many people have mentioned on this thread.

Yes, it is only once those who believe get to Heaven where things get fully resolved and made right. In heaven, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”” Revelation 21:4.

In the meantime we are stuck with this broken world with its many griefs, injustices and tragedies and I get how that doesn’t seem to help us now…. but right now, we aren’t left alone to wait for Heaven, God is with us and we are promised that, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalms 34:18. Not only that but, He “keep(s) track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” Psalms 56:8.

There are so many verses in the Bible that show God’s love and heartache for us, “And may you have the power to understand […] how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully..” Ephesians 3:18-19. (I hope you don’t mind many bible quotes, it’s better words than my own will ever be).

But that’s all about God’s character, who care and what about me? The Psalms in the Bible are quite shocking and are full of David impolitely and passionately shouting and crying out to God with many of the statements and feelings raised in this thread (where are you God? Why aren’t you doing something? Do you not care? Have your forgotten me? Do you hate me?). They’re well worth a read, you’ll find one of the great heroes of the Christian faith (who faced great heartache and hardship as well as great success and blessings) pouring out his anger, hurt and fear to God about God. David gets to a different conclusion about God. But what we see if that God can take it - pour out your anger, hurt, sorrow on God and see what He answers with. He promises that He will: ‘If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.”” Jeremiah 29:13-14.

I am truly sorry for your loss and grief. I didn’t want you to think Christianity has no answers or comfort, it does, which is why I’ve taken the time to reply. I also am aware that you might not be in a place you want to hear this right now so forgive me if it is unwelcome. All the best, I am so sorry for your losses and suffering and I hope you can find some comfort and peace somewhere.

@Bathbath if heaven is really the place to make all the wrongs, right, why is it a sin to commit suicide to get there?

And what do you think of the very possibility that there are some truths to the book / bible, but a lot of it is Chinese whispers with lots of different stories put together, because there really isn't any concrete proof that god exists?

Thanks for answering.

@Bathbath

I just can't help but think, if Noah had the power to get every single animal being into a boat, (absolutely impossible and slightly numerous to think people believe that,) 'god' would have the power to spare me of cancer at 23 and a failing heart at 28.

He's also spare the loss of my baby last year.

Too much of it doesn't make sense, for me to ever think there's anything genuinely there.

@Bathbath Thank you for being brave enough to try to address the issue. Most will not. I do know the theology behind it all. I've studied at Bible school one time. It's just not enough.

The character of God is either that he is able to do something about it, but chooses not to. If he chooses not to, that makes him cruel. Or he is incapable. I have a lot of other thoughts that I won't put here, all which demonstrate complete contradiction of what the Bible says and reality. I wish I could reconcile this and find comfort in God, but I can't. Instead, I feel like I've woken up.

@chillibop The idea was that life is a gift from God, God has the right to decide life and death, and only God. Not humans. Most churches take a more merciful approach to the issue of suicide these days. Mental illness reduces culpability and I think that God doesn't see death by suicide as any different to death by cancer or any other illness outside the control of the individual.

if heaven is really the place to make all the wrongs, right, why is it a sin to commit suicide to get there?

@chillibop Because God allots to us a certain span for our lives and it's not for us to choose when they end. And we're to try not to despair. Oh and killing of anyone is usually wrong. We are made in God's image.

But of course if someone is mentally ill and unfortunately ends their lives, that's not quite such a grave sin as they weren't in as much control of their actions. But still, best avoided by seeking help etc.

If help seeking and loving support could prevent suicides, there wouldn't be very many.

I mean medication etc, therapy and so on. I'd say it definitely reduces the number of suicides if someone seeks evidence-based help. I have a severe mental health disability (bipolar) and meds have definitely helped me, maybe even kept me alive one way or another.

I’ve prayed since I was a little girl and will continue to do so until the day I die.Many have been answered and others not.My other half has never prayed and calls me a weirdo but my faith has brought me great comfort during the most difficult times of my life.

@chillbop I am really sorry to hear the sadnesses have had in your life so far. That must be very difficult for you. To answer your question on the bible, this is a good website on that deals with what you ask and it has questions and answers on everything https://www.gotquestions.org/contentBiblee_canon.html To answer your questions on the proof, this is a good film and book by a leading journalist who set out to prove there was no proof and ended up finding lots https://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Christ-L-Scott-Caldwell/dp/B077H3GBD2/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=84036c45-3485-4d4a-ba25-f67af265e477 … both of them at far better at answering your questions than I can do here right now. I hope that helps.

@ lifeinthehills thanks for your reply. I hear your disappointment and doubt and wish you well.

@AmazonianAvatar @chillibop Sorry for your losses. I too lost a darling baby. As a Christian I prayed for strength and found enormous support and comfort from my faith during this time.
I can't explain why I have faith, and others don't. I can't rationalise it and I understand why those without faith think Christians are irrational.
All I do know is that it gives me huge comfort through difficult times.

In the meantime we are stuck with this broken world with its many griefs, injustices and tragedies and I get how that doesn’t seem to help us now…. but right now, we aren’t left alone to wait for Heaven, God is with us and we are promised that, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalms 34:18. Not only that but, He “keep(s) track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” Psalms 56:8.

Blimey. That's a scant consolation for someone who has lost a child.

Yep. Especially when supposedly God had it in his power to prevent the broken heart and crushing of spirit in the first place.

Such heartbreaking stories of loss, some of many reasons why I don't believe. And if it was just bad things and terrible suffering happening to genuinely nice and good people that would be bad enough but coupled with the success stories of some of the most corrupt evil people, Savile, Trump etc. paedophiles, murderers and rapists then I really question the rationality of those who think a higher power answers their prayers !

And please don't come on and say they will be judged or go to hell. Hell is not a biblical concept and apparently their punishment will be not to 'know' god... Well boo boo that will just be awful for them.

At the end of my life - I’ll end up in a hole in the ground and not heaven or hell. neither exist but the concept is used to scare people about their behaviour- if you are good = heaven and if you’re bad = hell.

On what planet is Hell not a biblical concept??

I think God sent me a new bicycle for Christmas when I was 9. I prayed for it on the advice of a friend, who said it didn't hurt to supplement the note to Santa I had already composed.