Image by Zömßiè Inc. Wholesale zombies for over 20 years via FlickrYouTube - 2.1 Deconversion: Prayer
The video is interesting. To be honest I know a lot of Christians who think or have thought about prayer the same way and the only way out was a better understanding of scripture. To be honest, I can relate a lot to the question. It boils down to: If God is omniscient and knows what we want before we even ask, then why do we need to pray? Well scripture deals with this very question head on. I begin to wonder if apostates like this guy ever really read the scriptures and asked that question. Scripture knocks out the conclusion that we don't need to pray when we need something. Jesus said:
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:7-11
As a Christian who says he/she believes in the Bible, you can't just ignore this passage. There are too many scripture passages telling us to pray. So I know this bring up questions especially in light of what Jesus says:
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." - Matthew 21:21-22
So how does this work. Anyone who has ever prayed consistently knows that you don't get everything you pray for. Is Jesus contradicting Himself? No Way! You have to look at the context of all the scriptures and in 1 John we get the point plainly made:
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:13-15
The skeptic will look at this answer as convenient because it seems so pat but one needs to remember the video's author's comment that he reached the place that prayer stopped being about trying to get something from God and more about deepening his relationship with God. I agree. But one of the reasons we pray and ask God for what we need is so that we can learn how to depend on God and trust God. Look at the analogy I quoted that Jesus used in equating with a believer asking God for something he needs with a child asking his father for what he needs. A child does not necessarily have to tell their parent to feed them every time they need to eat, but in asking and then the need being fulfilled there is a deepening in the relationship - a trust is built. So it is with us and God. Just like a child may ask for something they want that is not good for them (say a motorcycle without lessons) and the parent says "No" so does God say "NO" to us.
I must also point out that the video's author makes a fundamentally flawed mistake equating intercessory prayer with praying for frivolous things that to be honest it is good God says No. Intercessory prayer is not about you it is about praying for the needs of others. Praying for your raise or for a want is not the same as praying for the healing of a sick person. I do agree that God has every right to answer any prayer as he sees fit. However he promises to do what is best for everyone he has called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)
One final point is that citing one study showing that intercessory prayer does did not have a measurable effect is disingenuous. The video author did not explain who was being prayed too or if those being prayed for were believers or not. There are other studies that show that prayer does work. Go ahead and research it. You can find experiments validating prayer just like you can find experiments disproving prayers. I really didn't like the example of prayer at the end of the video - makes no sense. Praying for a thousand dollars and having it answered by a raise or a tax return is not what I think of as a valid example validating prayer. The prayer is question should be so big...so at odds with anything nsturally occurring that no one but God could have done it for you. For example someone who gets shot in the head with three bullets, and being in a coma for 2 years and waking up and being ablt to be a functioning human being. All the while people praying for him. I? know of such a case. A couple of years ago, in another case, my cousin was shot multiple times on the freeway and the doctors gave him up but people kept praying for him but he is alive and doing better than any of his doctors ever thought. And there are other cases.
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