so if God were to answer, how would he do it?

Here is a list of possibilities I thought of while sitting in the club sauna this morning. If God were to answer a prayer of mine, he might...

1) speak aloud and I would hear him like I would hear another person speaking.
2) speak to me in a still small voice, still audible.
3) 'nudge' me, emotionally or intellectually, in a certain direction.
4) create a circumstance in my life where the answer would be obvious.
5) send an official emissary, like Gabriel or Michael (or Clarence), to speak for him.
6) speak through another human being in such a way that i would know it was not just that person speaking.
7) answer with silence, which means i would never know if he ever answered or not.
8) answer in some sort of encoded way that depends on me being spiritually tuned in to the right wavelength in order to get it.
9) communicate to me in a dream.

can you think of some others? any opinions on this list?

a presupposition on bible interpretation

in What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza, the author mentions three ways to interpret scripture: literally, figuratively, and contextually. having been trained at the masters level in biblical exegesis, i am familiar with all three. i believe that any person who quotes scripture in an authoritative way vascillates between all of them, often without careful precision. of the three, context is by far the most neglected. if one selects literal or figurative as the only valid way to read the bible, all sorts of problems come up. if any one passage from scripture is examined currently, there are both visible and invisible criteria used to determine whether the message applies literally or figuratively. i am questioning the criteria we use to decide what applies (now) and what does not. the neglected method, reading in context, merits more exploration. and here is what i mean. could the context of the bible as a document be more limited than first thought? using prayer as a vehicle, could 'ask and ye shall receive' exist as a valid instruction only in the context of the time it was written? and could we admit that our knowledge of that context is limited? paul once made an unambiguous statement (at least to us), 'women should keep silent in the churches'. the reality is, no one has ever applied this text completely. given the way it appears in I cor 12-14, so me it has to mean something other than what we think; it had a context, and maybe that context is lost to us?

james 5:15 the prayer of faith

here is the text for james 5:15: "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

question one: how much faith is enough to satisfy the requirement?

question two: why doesn't this work today, every time?

james 1:5-7 when you ask, do not doubt

here is the text of james 1:5-7: "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. that man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord..."

first question: concerning doubt, is it doubt that God CAN, or doubt that God WILL?

second question: is it a requirement to have the perfect absence of doubt in order for a prayer to be answered?

third question: does this prescription apply only for petitions for wisdom and not for a good parking space?

ask/receive explanations: option 8

when it comes to true honest-to-god faith, christians today live in apostasy.

'ask/receive' - option 7

option 7 - 'ask/receive' does not mean what we think it means. thoughts?

explaining 'ask and ye shall receive' - option 6

reiterating my suggestion for explaining how one can ask but not receive..."option 5: those statements on prayer were meant for a specific place and time - theirs, not ours." stuff happened in the first century that does not happen now; maybe divine response to prayers was one of them. we assume 'ask and ye shall receive' applies to us...does it? we already make similar judgements about bible content, such as women's veils or greeting each other with a holy kiss. where do we draw the line?

Luke 11:9-13 ask and ye shall receive

you knew this one was coming, didn't you? the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. that is a good thing. the response jesus gave is highly instructive to me. but then, he got to that 'ask and it will be given' idea. i don't know what to do with that. it seems plain enough. i don't have to open up a new mineshaft into the scriptures and dig deep to find that idea. i don't pluck verses out of context to construct that notion. it is right there. it says God knows how to give good gifts, even the holy spirit, to those who ask. it gives every indication that God has, does, and will give answers to prayer. and the recipients will obviously, absolutely, and in all other ways know they have received an answer. ask dad for the car keys to go on a date; how do you know if he answered or not? he says no, or says yes, or maybe hands you the car keys in silence. a normal human being expects no less.

Homer Simpson talks to God

Just had to get this on the permanent record...

Homer Simpson talking to God: “Here’s the deal: you freeze everything as it is, and I won’t ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. [no response] OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, please give me no sign. [no response] Thy will be done.” The Simpsons: And Maggie Makes Three (Fox television broadcast, Jan. 22, 1995).

making a list of possible answers

let's make a list of what we think are possible answers used to explain why God does not answer our prayers. i will start with a few here, and we can build on it.

1. praying for the wrong thing.
2. he has not answered yet.
3. silence means 'no'.
4. he has answered, but the petitioner has not seen it.

updated:
5. the petitioner has sin in their life that hinders their prayers.

updated:
6. those statements on prayer were meant for a specific place and time - theirs, not ours.

updated:
7. 'ask/receive' does not mean what we think it means.

updated:
8. when it comes to true honest-to-god faith, christians today live in apostasy.

re: what to pray for

generally, i agree with the previous comment about what to pray for. believers are way too preoccupied with remedies for physical ailments. what about this question: is the bible account of prayers prescriptive or descriptive? exegetically speaking, all we may be able to say with authority about the bible record on prayer is 'this is what they appeared to do'. then, we might could make some preliminary and tentative judgements on what we ought to do, based on that record. but, the bottom line for me is this: regardless of what i include in my prayers, how do i explain the lack of response from God?

What to pray for

I recently did a study of New Testament references to "pray for" and similar phrases. The goal was to learn the kinds of things that NT Christians prayed for or were encouraged to pray for.

I was surprised to see relatively few references to praying for the physical concerns that are so commonly mentioned in prayers today (e.g., sickness, injury, safety, etc.). Here's a quick summary of "Biblical Things to Pray For."

1. Enemies (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:28). These passages don't indicate WHAT to pray for. It seems that Jesus is urging us to have a positive and supportive attitude toward enemies.

2. Disciples (for their faith - Luke 22:32; for their unity - John 17:9-11; that they may receive the Holy Spirit - Acts 8:15; in general - 2 Cor. 9:14; for their restoration -2 Cor. 13:9; for knowledge - Col. 1:3,9-10; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thes. 3:10; to be worthy - 2 Thes. 1:11; for the power to interpret - 1 Cor. 14:13; for healing; relief; rain - James 5:13-18; Acts 28:8; for good health - 3 Jn. 1:2)

3. Apostles/Ministers (for the spread of the gospel - 2 Thes. 3:1; see Rom. 10:1; Col. 4:3; cf. 1 Thes. 5:25; Heb. 13:18-19; 2 Cor. 1:11; for Peter in prison - Acts 12:5)

4. Self (Jesus in Gethsemane, praying that "your will be done” - Matt. 26:44; Simon the magician, praying for protection - Acts 8:24; sailors, praying "for day to come" - Acts 27:29)

Yet, Paul issues the general admonition to constantly pray and give God our anxieties and concerns: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Phil. 4:6; cf. Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17-18)

Bottom Line: The vast majority of passages discuss praying for spiritual concerns, not physical ones. Very few mention praying for physical concerns. Jas. 5:13-18 seems to stand out, almost oddly, as the lone proponent of praying for physical concerns.

I don't mean to suggest that praying for physical concerns is somehow wrong. But something is out of whack when 90% of biblical prayers are for spiritual concerns, but 90% of common church prayers today are for physical concerns.

I think God wants us to lean on him and openly thrust our anxieties heavenward. It's just a healthy practice that keeps us constantly aware that we cannot control of so many external circumstances.

In my experience, I find that God grants physical requests extremely rarely. And when someone claims that God granted such a prayer request, I quietly question if the positive outcome came from God or purely from good fortune (dumb luck).

On a practical level, I have dramatically re-oriented the content of my prayers to address spiritual concerns (peace, wisdom, inner strength, forgiveness, patience, etc.). If I pray for a physical concern, it's usually because it's a class/group situation where another Christian requested that I pray for such. Inwardly, I protest such a prayer, but outwardly, I grin and bear it.

I have more to say, but it's your turn ...

tdubya of Illinois.

let's get started

the subject matter here is 'how does prayer work'. my original idea was to teach a bible class at my church using prayer clips from popular movies. it sounded like fun, it was fun, and the class went well. looking back, it was actually a cover for my quest to find an explanation for why my prayers were not being answered. maybe, i thought, in the process of investigation and discussion, some clues would begin to surface. so far, no clues have materialized, but i have not given up. instead, i have decided to expand the arc of my net-casting to see what turns up.

here is how i began my research originally. while i gathered the movie clips (thank you blockbuster online), i wrote an email to a few of my friends, asking this question: "how do you explain unanswered prayer? no pat answers or church cliches allowed." in future posts, i will share with you what others shared with me.