Praying for a Sign

  • Thread starter Thread starter mariagoretti24
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mariagoretti24

Guest
One of my friends told me he recently came to the conclusion that God must not exist, because after months of praying for a sign from God that He exists and cares for him, he didn’t receive any sign or consolation. He’s torn up about it, and said deciding that God doesn’t exist was the hardest thing he ever did. But he’s decided that if an all-powerful God can’t perform one little sign to show that he cares, then either God must not exist, or if he does exist, God must not care about him, in which case he doesn’t want anything to do with Him.

I know that praying for him is the best thing I can do, and anything I can say probably won’t convince him, but do you have any advice for things I could say to him? I would be especially interested in hearing from people who have gone through a time a doubt, and what pulled them out of it and convinced them of God’s existence and care for them. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
**Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.

:highprayer:**
 
I am not sure if he would be willing to hear any verses from scripture, but I think these are good ones for those looking for signs:

Psalm 95: 8-11
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert.*
There your ancestors tested me; they tried me though they had seen my works.
Forty years I loathed that generation; I said: “This people’s heart goes astray;
they do not know my ways.” Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”

Matthew 16:1-4
The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
He said to them in reply, “[In the evening you say, ‘Tomorrow will be fair, for the sky is red’;
and, in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to judge the appearance of the sky, but you cannot judge the signs of the times.]
An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”* Then he left them and went away.

Does God really owe us a sign after he offered His only son to us? For your friend to say that God doesn’t exist, he must not believe anything in the Bible is true, and therefore does not believe in Jesus. I would make sure that he knows exactly the large leap he is making
 
mariagoretti24 said:
One of my friends told me he recently came to the conclusion that God must not exist, because after months of praying for a sign from God that He exists and cares for him, he didn’t receive any sign or consolation. He’s torn up about it, and said deciding that God doesn’t exist was the hardest thing he ever did. But he’s decided that if an all-powerful God can’t perform one little sign to show that he cares, then either God must not exist, or if he does exist, God must not care about him, in which case he doesn’t want anything to do with Him.

I know that praying for him is the best thing I can do, and anything I can say probably won’t convince him, but do you have any advice for things I could say to him? I would be especially interested in hearing from people who have gone through a time a doubt, and what pulled them out of it and convinced them of God’s existence and care for them. Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Take him to a Catholic Church, have him look at the crucifix, and if that doesn’t convince him, I don’t know what will.

I know you friend wouldn’t want to hear this, and I doubt you would want to say it to him, but God isn’t some kind of celestial organ grinder’s stunt monkey, who performs signs and does “tricks” for his creation. God has revealed all we need to come to a life with him in Scripture, the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, and the teaching tradition His Son’s Church. That is where his answer lies. I think he is going to need a bit more patience.

As Jesus said to Satan in the desert, “you shall not put your God to the test.”

Shalom
 
Oh, and continue to pray for him, and for all like him who question, wonder, and doubt.
 
What proof has your friend given to God to show that he desires Him?

You don’t ask your parents, spouse or children to prove their love to you; it is that same with God.
 
Aquinas, Argument from Design. Consider the moon, the stars, the sun, the majesty of the earth. Did any of these things cause themselves to be put into motion? Did your friend, in his wildest imaginings, put them into motion? If not, there has to be something outside of your friend’s mind that did. What person or persons could do that? “What is man that you are mindful of him…”

Argument from First Cause. Did your friend’s life begin by itself? No, he had a mother and a father. And they had mothers and fathers. And so on, and so on, back to the first form of life, the first blob of amoeba protoplasm if you like. How did the spark of life come to pass in that very first life form? And how was that spark of life imbued with intelligence? “I am fearfully, wonderfully made…”

A few counter-arguments, and fillers, can be found to the basic arguments on Wikipedia.

The generation that asked for a sign was given only this one: a babe, in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Other faiths offer signs, such as personal revelation, the burning in the bosom as an acknowledgement of credibility, or visions/gifts like tongues. The Lord is not in the windstorm. The Lord is the still, small voice.
 
As previous posters have said, all the proof we need is in the Bible. Encourage your friend to read the gospels.

I had it all figured out once when I was young. I needed to know which of 2 courses to pursue, so I asked God to send me a letter from out of state if it was choice 1, and from in state if it was 2. I got letters every day, so I figured it would be easy, and God could easily communicate his will thru those signs.
For the next week, I received absolutely nothing in the mail.
I take that to mean that God wants to communicate with us through a relationship, not through some kind of “fleece” or sign.

Give your friend a rosary, and a booklet on how to pray it, and encourage him to ask the Virgin Mary for her help.
He is giving up way too soon.

/
 
Twice, I asked for God to give me a sign, and twice, he did. God’s miracles are everywhere you look!

There are some good movies to help convince a person of the existence of God, “God’s not Dead”, and I hear there’s a new movie out, “The Case for Christ”, which I haven’t yet seen. There’s also the documentary, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”.

Praying for your friend.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top