Why would God care?

[onetimeposter]

If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

 

[thistle]

If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

Are you then suggesting that nobody should pray for anything because you think its a waste of time???

 

[onetimeposter]

Are you then suggesting that nobody should pray for anything because you think its a waste of time???

Is God playing favourites?

What, someone prays for their house to sell, so God uses his power to send someone to buy your house, instead of over to your neighbours…who didn’t pray.

Secondly, if God did help you sell your house, isn’t God messing with free will by commanding someone to attend your house and buy it?

Everyone talks about how God lets us do what we want, so why would he stay out of our business, except when he is making you buy some house that some person prayed for?

 

[excaliber]

If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

I know what you mean…I guess rich people are realy interested in stuff like that.

I try to pray for things that would intrest God…like something to help me spiritualy.

 

[LilyM]

If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

That’s like saying ‘don’t bother asking your parents to get you specific things for your birthday or Christmas because they already know what they’re going to give you and might well not give you what you want’.

Asking for things - any things - is actually an act of love towards your parents. You’re acknowledging, with gratitude, that they have given you good things in the past. You’re expressing trust that they will continue to do so in future.

It’s also a means of communication - you’re discussing with your parent the things that are worrying you, talking to them about what’s going on in your life.

I know I’ve gone through periods with my parents where I haven’t loved them or trusted them enough to even tell them what’s going on in my life. Lack of communication is always a sign of deeper problems.

All of this is true whether or not your parents end up doing as you ask or not. They always hear and respond, even if they answer ‘no’ or the answer is something different to what you wanted or expected.

So in conclusion - there are a whole bunch of reasons why we pray to God for things apart from simply wanting to get them!

 

[bpbasilphx]

**
If God wouldn’t save starving children**

**Jesus has specifically ordered us to feed the hungry. If there are starving children, it’s because all of us are not being obedient fo Him.

Does this help?**

 

[onetimeposter]

**
If God wouldn’t save starving children**

**Jesus has specifically ordered us to feed the hungry. If there are starving children, it’s because all of us are not being obedient fo Him.

Does this help?**

Not even remotely, what your saying is that God allows children to starve so that we rich North Americans have the chance to feed them and show that we are obedient to the word of God.

I don’t believe God would do that.

Or an abused child…a child that no one knows is being abused, therefore no one is able to help that child.

So, I’m to believe that God will use His divine power to influence the sale of a home, but not use his divine power to help a child that no one even knows needs help?!

Back to…that just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[LilyM]

Not even remotely, what your saying is that God allows children to starve that we rich North Americans have the chance to feed them.

I don’t believe God would do that.

Or an abused child…a child that no one knows is being abused, therefore no one is able to help that child.

So, I’m to believe that God will use His divine power to influence the sale of a home, but not use his divine power to help a child that no one even knows needs help?!

Back to…that just doesn’t make sense to me.

You really think God NEVER provides food for a hungry person? What about the manna and quails He gave for the Israelites when they were hungry in the desert, or the water He gave them to drink?

He still performs such feats of miraculously providing food for the hungry today, I’m sure, although people may chalk it down to ‘luck’ or something instead. They don’t make the connection that it’s God who provides for them.

Same with abused children - you think He never intervenes to see that an incidence of abuse doesn’t occur or that abuse isn’t discovered and stopped? Of course He does - again, it’s just that when it happens people tend to call it coincidence or just not think to credit God with it at all.

So yes, He does help plenty of people in these situations, as well as plenty of others with the house sales and exams and so on. It’s just like with the hungry and the abused - He helps some for certain, but not all.

If you’re wondering why doesn’t He save EVERY hungry person and EVERY abused child - well, He never has. Like it or not, suffering is always with us, and our prayers sometimes get answered ‘no’.

Sometimes because the suffering itself serves some greater purpose of God’s, sometimes it is indeed, sadly, our fault for abusing His gift of free will (which once given He doesn’t revoke) and not loving and helping our neighbour as we should.

God isn’t some sort of supernatural housekeeper who cleans up all our messes y’know, neither is He obligated to explain everything to us - as if we could necessarily understand His purposes anyway!

But again - the fact that He answers SOME prayers ‘no’ definitely doesn’t mean that He doesn’t answer ANY prayer. Nor does it mean He doesn’t care, just that either there’s a greater need or purpose served by the ‘no’ answer.

 

[dranzal]

This is along the same lines as the other thread about God not being interested in our individual lives. Did you read some of the posts there?

It isn’t for us to understand. God has a divine plan for our individual salvation. The starving child and the abused child are living out God’s plan for them. Their suffering is redemptive, just as our compassion and charity are redemptive.

God kicked us out of Eden. He told us (humanity) that life would be hard now. Once we sinned, suffering and death entered in. The starving child and the abused child have very visible, obvious “crosses”. Not all crosses are so obvious.

If you met me for the first time, you would assume that I am from a nice middle-class family with very few cares larger than the price of gas. You wouldn’t know, looking at me, that I have experienced two tragic deaths in my immediate family, one of which was my toddler nursling son.

Some are starving. Some are abused. Some are lonely. Some are grieving. Very few have hunky dory lives with not a care.

On to prayer…Why pray for mundane “things” when there are bigger issues afoot?

First, God is certainly big enough to hear all prayers, including ones for selling the house, getting the job, and passing the exam. He answers them in His time and in His way and He expects us to do our part. You can pray all night long that you’ll ace the exam, but if you don’t study, it will show. You can pray 10 rosaries to sell your house, but if you don’t list it, it ain’t gonna happen.

Prayer is communicating with God, our Father. God wants us to communicate with Him. He wants us to trust Him, love Him and look to Him for help.

Dad: So, son, what do you want for your birthday?

Son: Whatever. I have a few things in mind, but why bother asking since you already know what you’re giving me. Besides, there are starving children in Africa.

Of course He cares about the little things. They are all part of His Plan.

Take the exam example…How well you do may have a direct effect on your GPA, in turn directly effecting what colleges you get accepted to and eventually effecting the classes you take and people you meet. God’s plan includes all of that. He has work for us to do. Where and how and in what circumstances we find ourselves is certainly God’s concern.

Do you not think He’s big enough to concern Himself with the details?

 

[onetimeposter]

Thanks for the response…

If God used His Divine intervention to sell a house, isn’t He messing with the buyers free will?

Afterall, God is being praised for answering the prayers of the seller, therefor, one can only assume that the buyer was influenced by divine inspiration to buy the house, thereby interferring with his or her free will.

I mean, this all gets a little silly. There is a post from a lady that is praising God for there always being money available when she thinks she will be short funds.

If you read through her post, it turns out she made a mathematical error when calculating the maternity benefits she thought she was going to receive.

The Government sent her the exact amount of money that she was supposed to get. Her response, she starts praising God for getting her money she didn’t think she was supposed to get?

That doesn’t make any sense…she makes a mistake adding up some numbers ( but her mistake in no way influences anything, as there is a set forumula indicating what she is to receive).

She in turn receives the precise amount she was due to receive and she credits God for the windfall?

I think people can give credit to God in circumstances that clearly had no divine intercession, such as in cases such as this.

It a little nauseating…like an athlete thanking God for the win, like God is playing favourites and Divinely inspired the winning team, while ignoring the loosing team…again, just plain silly and to me, arrogant.

 

[LilyM]

Thanks for the response…

If God used His Divine intervention to sell a house, isn’t He messing with the buyers free will?

Afterall, God is being praised for answering the prayers of the seller, therefor, one can only assume that the buyer was influenced by divine inspiration to buy the house, thereby interferring with his or her free will.

I mean, this all gets a little silly. There is a post from a lady that is praising God for there always being money available when she thinks she will be short funds.

If you read through her post, it turns out she made a mathematical error when calculating the maternity benefits she thought she was going to receive.

The Government sent her the exact amount of money that she was supposed to get. Her response, she starts praising God for getting her money she didn’t think she was supposed to get?

That doesn’t make any sense…she makes a mistake adding up some numbers ( but her mistake in no way influences anything, as there is a set forumula indicating what she is to receive).

She in turn receives the precise amount she was due to receive and she credits God for the windfall?

I think people can give credit to God in circumstances that clearly had no divine intercession, such as in cases such as this.

It a little nauseating…like an athlete thanking God for the win, like God is playing favourites and Divinely inspired the winning team, while ignoring the loosing team…again, just plain silly and to me, arrogant.

Divine inspiration doesn’t negate free will - it is just that, it’s inspiration, not force, and people are free to NOT follow God’s influence and inspiration as well as to follow it.

And God IS the cause of everything that happens to us. The stuff we like AND the stuff we don’t like. The same athlete who thanks God for the win will also, if they properly understand their faith and truly know God, thank Him for the lessons learned if they lose. They will thank Him in any event for the opportunity to do His will. Like the martyrs who went to their deaths singing God’s praises.

Both winner and loser are beloved of God, and are serving God’s purpose, and if some forget to thank Him in their losses then chalk it down to ignorance or plain human forgetfulness. Doesn’t mean losses aren’t equally part of God’s plan.

We can’t even breathe without Him, and if you think otherwise try to exert your own will about the matter - try holding your breath for a while and see what happens. At the extreme you get dizzy, faint and … then oddly enough your body relaxes and you start breathing again!

So there’s no such thing as any check arriving for the lady without God having a hand in it, even if the money doesn’t come through some sort of supernatural event. God works through the perfectly natural as well, y’know.

 

[onetimeposter]

We can’t even breathe without Him, and if you think otherwise try to exert your own will about the matter - try holding your breath for a while and see what happens. At the extreme you get dizzy, faint and … then oddly enough your body relaxes and you start breathing again!

I can exert my own will about not using my left hand for an hour. God has nothing to do with my choice. Your breathing analogy is weak. We believe that animals do not have souls, yet they too need to breath and their breathing is not influenced by God…they breath because they must, or their souless bodies will die.

So there’s no such thing as any check arriving for the lady without God having a hand in it, even if the money doesn’t come through some sort of supernatural event. God works through the perfectly natural as well, y’know.

You may as well be saying Abra Cadabra.

When I buy milk and hand the cashier a $20 bill and I receive $16 change, your suggesting that my receiving the change is God working his wonders?

I receive the change because I am due to receive the change, whether or not I am Muslim, Christian, Atheist, Buddhist, Scientologist, agnostic, I will receive $16 change.

You realize that your suggesting that God is involved with the IRS sending out money that is owed to the people for overpaying taxes? God has nothing to do with you overpaying taxes and the government remedying the situation by sending a refund cheque in the mail!

 

[Nickkname]

If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

Who are you to question God?

 

[onetimeposter]

Who are you to question God?

Who are you to question me?

So, that’s it, no questions…bow down and fear the Lord? No questions, no ifs, no ands no but’s…just do as you are told?



No thanks, I’m asking the tough questions. Do questions frighten you ?

 

[fix]

I can exert my own will about not using my left hand for an hour. God has nothing to do with my choice.

Everything is God’s will. It is either His ordaining will or His permitting will. Nothing happens without God willing it.

 

[onetimeposter]

Everything is God’s will. It is either His ordaining will or His permitting will. Nothing happens without God willing it.

So, there is no free will then? Odd.

 

[fix]

So, there is no free will then? Odd.

How did you conclude that? We have the power to choose evil or good. God does not ordain evil, but He permits it.

 

[onetimeposter]

How did you conclude that? We have the power to choose evil or good. God does not ordain evil, but He permits it.

I just picked up a pen…your saying that God just permitted that?

Gimme a break.

 

[Nickkname]

Who are you to question me?

So, that’s it, no questions…bow down and fear the Lord? No questions, no ifs, no ands no but’s…just do as you are told?



No thanks, I’m asking the tough questions.

shakes head You just don’t get it.

But I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain anything. You have all the resources you need to find the answers to your questions. Such as the Catechism and the writings of the Church Fathers. But I predict you are not going to use these resources.

 

[onetimeposter]

shakes head You just don’t get it.

But I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain anything. You have all the resources you need to find the answers to your questions. Such as the Catechism and the writings of the Church Fathers. I predict you are not even going to read them, though.

I’ve done my fair share of reading, praying and going to Mass. I have been a Catholic my entire life and I am in my 30’s.

Being new around here, I am shocked at the people constantly praising God for the most mundane events in their lives…it seems so self absorbed.

How quick you are to dismiss my questions. I know, I know, it is far easier for your Faith to remain unchallenged.