Does prayer really work?

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Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
The Lord works in mysterious ways and this is a case in point.

THE PASTOR'S CAT
A true story about the pastor of a church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.

The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.

That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.

The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.

The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?'

She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.' She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.'


I think prayer works and that they are answered, but lots of us refuse to hear the 'No' answer we are given.
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
As far as I know. Say a prayer to yourself. Will not hurt you. Follow your hart. But be careful then discussing this topic with others. Do not expect what non believers will be easy to turn around. After all, paying is something personal between you and your god.
 

Thread Starter

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
I offer it hope that someone besides me will find a smile from the story.

I'm nota militant christian, nor am I one who insists on 'preaching' to anyone.

I'm also not a 'turn the other cheek' kind of guy, either. If you are offended by this post, then I'm very sorry. Unless you plan on accomodating my needs and wants and desires, and doing away with the things that you do that 'offend' me. Then that's just to F'ing bad. Life sucks for a person who is 'offended' by the life of others. Everywhere you go, there is someone living a life DIFFERENT that yours. If you think, "they should be like me", then you can get the hell away from me. I ain't changing for anyone but me.


Sorry if any of that OFFENDS you.

NANNER nanner nah nahh,


Love and kisses,
Kermit
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
Well, yeah... Huh...hold your horses now. Who is offended? Very little then it comes to religion offends me. Ok if some people postulate that the earth is only about 6000 year old, and humans used to ride on dinosaurs. And this theory is only based on some holly book. I might get somewhat resigned. But praying has never agitated me at all.
May Peace be upon you!
 

steveb

Joined Jul 3, 2008
2,436
Very little when it comes to religion offends me.
Yes, luckily we scientists have little to be offended by with modern religion. Let's "pray" that we never see another Inquisition.

"In 1633 Galileo was formally interrogated for 18 days and on April 30 Galileo confesses that he may have made the Copernican case in the Dialogue too strong and offers to refute it in his next book. Unmoved, the Pope decides that Galileo should be imprisoned indefinitely. Soon after, with a formal threat of torture, Galileo is examined by the Inquisition and sentenced to prison and religious penances, the sentence is signed by 6 of the 10 inquisitors. In a formal ceremony at a the church of Santa Maria Sofia Minerva, Galileo abjures his errors. He is then put in house arrest in Sienna. After these tribulations he begins writing his Discourse on Two New Sciences.

Galileo remained under house arrest, despite many medical problems and a deteriorating state of health, until his death in 1642. The Church finally accepted that Galileo might be right in 1983."

http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node52.html

Hmmm, and I see my quote below has some relevance here.
 

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
I don't believe in prayer. I have a lack of belief in gods, goddesses, whatever you want to call them - because so far, no one has convinced me that either these exist, or that religion has any positive effect on society.

I don't have a problem with people's individual beliefs, as long as they are not detrimental to society. For example I'd be perfectly happy for a Christian to believe in God, but I wouldn't like it if they began to claim things like "the earth is 6,000 years old" or that "evolution is a lie."
 

Blackbull

Joined Jul 26, 2008
70
Does prayer work; IMHO – Yes.
Organised Christian Religions lost the plot centuries ago.
That quote of “turning the other cheek” IMHO is always interpreted wrongly. It was actually an act of extreme brave arrogance, Christ was actually saying that he cared nothing for Pilate’s power. Christ was no softie, recall his anger at the money changers in the Temple.
The Bible never said that the world was created 6000 years ago, but man was.
Science is the pursuit of truth and truth is the cornerstone of Christianity.
I am awe inspired by the knowledge and talents of the posters on this site, yet none could make a living cell or a working eye, am I to believe these things made themselves? I am not sure that Newton or Einstein believed it either.
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
The Bible never said that the world was created 6000 years ago, but man was.
Science is the pursuit of truth and truth is the cornerstone of Christianity.
I am awe inspired by the knowledge and talents of the posters on this site, yet none could make a living cell or a working eye, am I to believe these things made themselves? I am not sure that Newton or Einstein believed it either.
Would you define yourself as "Young Earth creationism" supporter?
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I agree with Kermit2. It is a great story. I'm happy for the girl too. My mom never let my brother and I keep a dog, so I can empathize. Was God involved, who knows.

As for the power of prayer, there have been numerous controlled studies in the medical field, and none of them has shown a positive effect. I haven't followed all of them, but an early one did show a slight negative effect. That was apparently not due to the patients being sinners, but to trusting faith and not following directions as well as they should have perhaps. Of course, you can't prove a negative. Faith does have a place in medicine.

John
 

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
So tom66 believes in Darwin's evolution theory
Yes, I do. It is not just the work of Darwin but of countless scientists, and Darwin was only the one to suggest the mechanism of natural selection and evolution - he certainly was not the first one to suggest evolution. Also, you can prove evolution (the theory at least) with a simple program - I have done it countless times. Evolutionary algorithms are very important in financial markets, and in programming. I used one to solve a word split problem.

And to the others, the Bible states life was created aroundabouts 6,000 years ago. It has since been prove to be around 3.8bn years ago that life (primitive cells) began, and humans have been civilised for more than 6,000 years; basic civilisations have been discovered dating back 10,000 years.

I don't want to get into a religious debate, these are people's individual beliefs, mine is backed by science and observed evidence, yours is backed by a holy book and faith; whatever works for you.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
@tom66

My intent was not to argue about any exact time frame for the dawn of civilization. I was just pointing out that anatomically "modern man" evolved several tens of thousands of years before civilization.

No one has yet identified the genetic change, if there was one, that created the spark of civilization. In considering the magnitude of that event, I am willing to grant a few thousand years leeway between different oral and archeological histories.

John
 

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
@tom66

My intent was not to argue about any exact time frame for the dawn of civilization. I was just pointing out that anatomically "modern man" evolved several tens of thousands of years before civilization.

No one has yet identified the genetic change, if there was one, that created the spark of civilization. In considering the magnitude of that event, I am willing to grant a few thousand years leeway between different oral and archeological histories.

John
I watched a documentary that said that cooking could have been the breakthrough; it increased energy going to the brain allowing greater development. It was a Horizon documentary.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Documentary? I have seen documentaries about visits by aliens, cross-insemination by aliens, the great flood, Noah's ark, etc. to say noting of Worlds in Collision. The brain metabolizes glucose. It gets what it needs, even in starvation. Eating cooked food, with possible exception for a short time of over indulgence with Hershey bars, versus raw meat and vegetables does not change glucose levels in the brain. Let's stick to science.

John
 

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
Documentary? I have seen documentaries about visits by aliens, cross-insemination by aliens, the great flood, Noah's ark, etc. to say noting of Worlds in Collision. The brain metabolizes glucose. It gets what it needs, even in starvation. Eating cooked food, with possible exception for a short time of over indulgence with Hershey bars, versus raw meat and vegetables does not change glucose levels in the brain. Let's stick to science.

John
Horizon is a very respectable scientific documentary show that has been running nearly for 40 seasons in the UK. I don't care for pseudoscientific things like you mentioned.

Here's the science bit: cooking food helps release certain nutrients. By learning to cook, the theory is that humans developed additional energy sources, and this allowed their brains to develop more. Here's the trailer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JuMTlZVvM, perhaps you can find a way to watch the full version in America.
 

R!f@@

Joined Apr 2, 2009
9,918
OK... Humans and living things evolves. This is something like adapting to it's habitat.

I really do not understand what makes tom66 think that Darwin was correct

Darwin was way wrong, he was trying to prove something he never understood or rather did not want to believe something.

Human did not evolve from monkeys. or anything else for tht matter.

As for u suggesting what bible says, have any one of u really read the only bible tht was written first. I think what u have is the new versions or rather late edition.
Tom66 says I believe in a holy book. And yes I do. Since U have already said holy, I too respect the original bible and it is too holy. It is the edited versions that I find bogus. What they have added and omitted to their likings.

If u believe in the bible then u, tom66, shud believe in Adam and Eve..not that Darwin lunatic.
It's from Adam and Eve humans came from. Bible says tht. If u cannot find it, then I suggest u find the original one.

We Muslims follow the bible in more ways than a true christian. u can say that I am a believer in Christ. And I do follow Christ teachings. In fact I am a better christian than any one out there.

As for the topic.

Prayers are answered in ways that u cannot even imagine. I believe in prayers and I believe my prayers are answered according to my actions.
I can tell u things tht u cannot even comprehend. But I cannot make u believe. Cause humans are given the gift of free will.
 
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