When Praying Isn't Enough...

[GO1984]

Issues and all that they bring out in me and you: thoughts, discussions, emotions, hope and faith (not the tv show!) and last but not least prayer. Sometimes...prayer doesn't feel like enough and other times I think it's all I can do; but then later, I am questioning myself, and I wonder is it? Can I do more?

For instance...my grandmother died from complications of (undiagnosed but obvious) Alzheimers; our family questions ourselves-did we do enough to make her last years comfortable and could we have done more? Deep down we know the answer to this...so what's left is what can we do now? Learn more about Alzheimer's and get involved in helping other families cope, I guess would be a start.

Think about your own lives and issues important to you...what more can you do?

Please feel free to share your topics of interest and suggestions-for those also interested in the same topics.

[Winter80-sara]

I have a consern about a friend of mine. Her family including her for a long time said they dont believe in God. But one day I was talking to her alone and she confided in me that She truely does believe in God but whaenever she is with her family she asks like we never had that talk. I have prayed many times for her but it doesnt seem like enough. I want her to beable to express her true feeling around her family but I think shes afraid to be different. I am worried about her is what she is doing hurting her in Gods eyes? Is there anything anyone could do? Or is this up to her alone to find her path.

[Kay]

Winter80,

The only thing you can do for your friend is encourage her, be there for her, and pray for her.
At one time, I was . . . ; well, I had a friend such as yourself asking pretty much the same questions and worried about me. She was there for me and prayed for me. She didn't know God answered until years later and she was jumping up and down with joy!
Now, this friend has cancer and I can pray for her and be there for her. The chemo is working, and thus far, it looks good.

[Winter80-sara]

Thanks Kabbalist. And Kay. I think she will be. I just hate seeing one of my friends go through such hard times. But i am glad that she felt I was a good friend and confided in me.

[IowaGal1975]

What would everyone here with faith say to someone that has lost theirs but desperatly wants to find it again and doesn't know how?

[Debookwrm]

Originally posted by IowaGal1975
What would everyone here with faith say to someone that has lost theirs but desperatly wants to find it again and doesn't know how?

Is that faith in God? Or faith in religion? Or faith in self?

Deb

[Aiken4LOTR]

Well, I don't think I have ever had a time when prayer wasn't enough. Sure, sometimes your prayers aren't answered when you want them to be or how you want them to be. That just shows me that it is not my will that is to be done --it is God's will.

I know for some that is not comforting, or they do not feel the same, but I think prayer is always helpful because it allows for you to get your feelings out and open up. It allows you to say out loud what you are thinking and feeling, and also, what you want to happen. Sometimes we don't realize what we actually want until we confront it and say it out loud! :)

[flowerpower]

There are times I questioned God's motives, especially when a tragedy happens. Why can't god save children who are being raped, Why can't god stop natural disasters such as the tsunami in Dec, hurricane katrina all those people who suffer, etc etc. During those times I hate myself for questioning god's motive but I do anyway. Then I ask God for forgiveness for questioning him because he and only he knows what the purpose of all of this means in the long run.
Am I a bad person?

[flowerpower]

Thank you Kabbalist for your words. By the way, I enjoy your posts.

[Hashman]

Originally posted by Kabbalist
When things don't go my way I don't get angry at God or blame Him. I look at what is going on and see if there is s'thing I can glean from it and grow from it.

There is a passage James' letter to the Jewish Christians that I always think of when things aren't going well, "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
I listened to a series of Islamic lectures earlier this year that made a similar point.

The natural phenomena help humanity grow and develop...without them, we would not have explored the sciences so deeply to be able to predict weather and prepare ourselves accordingly, we would not have discovered cures for various diseases (instead, we would have "blamed" the results of those diseases on God and not looked for a solution on our own), we may not even have discovered fire to keep us warm...etc., etc., etc. It's all part of human progress.

(The lectures were partly a response to the arguments made by the likes of David Hume in his Dialogues....much of the content was well over my head! :D )

[lostinks]

Winter, keep praying for your friend. Prayer is powerful. It can move mountains. Sounds cliche, but true.

All that I am is because of God. He is in my life, my thoughts every second.

GO, I am sorry to hear about your grandmother.

[Winter80-sara]

Thank you Lostinks- I pray all the times for her and her parents. im just afraid she will never accept God completly. I guess all i really can do is just be here for her. I do let her know i am open always for her to talk.

[kaysarluvr]

Its a good start tho your friend is opening her mind and letting God in...even tho it seems small to you...it may be huge to her...and to God!

[RhyanShae]

Prayer is very powerful. It's not just words and appeals to God. It's a sharing of spirit and soul. When you pray for someone, you're also sending out unseen tendrils of hope, faith, and love for them. Enough prayer can truly help, and not just because it appeals to God. They will sense it. They will know it, and with enough faith by those who love them, they can grow and learn from it.

I left the Catholic faith five and a half years ago, and I've not really spoken to my predominately Catholic family as to why. I don't even believe in a God, because God has connotations that do not fit in with what I've experienced and learn in my life. I do not believe in a vengeful God who would send some to a Hell because they chose a path different than whatever faith declares to be the right. I also do not believe in a God who would punish those who would not believe.

I don't pray very often. I appeal, sometimes, when I'm down at my lowest, and I ask for strength and an understanding that I need to vent, I need to be heard, but I also need to solve this in my own way. Do I ask for help? I don't believe in help from a God. I believe in help from fellow souls, spirits, from people around me. I appeal to my family, my friends, and with their faith in me, they will guide me to the right way.

It's complicated. I respect anyone devout in their faith and prayer, and I believe the action, regardless of in what faith and to what God, can do pretty much anything when it's meant and given enough.

[Nina]

Originally posted by GO1984
Issues and all that they bring out in me and you:

Think about your own lives and issues important to you...what more can you do?

Please feel free to share your topics of interest and suggestions-for those also interested in the same topics.

I just saw a film, The Girl in the Cafe, and one of its premises is what the power of one person can do.

The film mentions some statistics, the main one being, that every 3 seconds a child somewhere dies from, essentially, poverty. That means 300million children per year. The film portrays this statistic's emotional weight in a masterful way.

It's a love story between a man and a woman ( the screenwriter also wrote Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral), a glimpse into the world of civil servants and bureaucrats who deal with poverty issues on a global level, and an all around great film as far as direction, acting, cinematography, and so on. It's a minimalist film, sort of like Lost In Translation; in other words, it's not the Titanic. It's an HBO film ( I love HBO, they give me the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex in the City, and now this incredible little film!)

If you're new to issues of global poverty, how the G8 Summits work, and what the issues basically are that groups like Bono's and one.org stand for -- see this film. It simplifies everything in a way that complex issues sometimes need to be simplified. You can feel like you've been enlightened to a degree after seeing the film. And that's a necessary first step in doing something about this issue, this global freakin issue, where people are dying in such large numbers from poverty that's it's almost impossible to comprehend.

Here's a review of the film from hollywood*****slap.com
http://www.hollywood*****slap.com/review.php?movie=13059&reviewer=392

[VeryFineWhine]

Originally posted by IowaGal1975
What would everyone here with faith say to someone that has lost theirs but desperatly wants to find it again and doesn't know how?

I'd suggest they ask for help, ask for truth, guidence, direction and if comfortable say a prayer for it, and then step back and it will come.

That is the best general answer I can give without knowing any specifics. But one of the biggest lessons I've learned is we have to ask. Perhaps add that it can't hurt right?

[VeryFineWhine]

Originally posted by flowerpower
There are times I questioned God's motives, especially when a tragedy happens. Why can't god save children who are being raped, Why can't god stop natural disasters such as the tsunami in Dec, hurricane katrina all those people who suffer, etc etc. During those times I hate myself for questioning god's motive but I do anyway. Then I ask God for forgiveness for questioning him because he and only he knows what the purpose of all of this means in the long run.
Am I a bad person?

First I think Kabbalist gave a wonderful answer to this. If I may I'd add a few thoughts, some of which are similar but perhaps from a slightly different perspective, and some all my own.

For years I used to scoff at the "we are here to learn lessons, this is our school" excuse. Except I eventually noticed that I kept having similar problems until I adressed them head on, dealt with them, and learned that lesson. Then amazingly they disappeared. And, OH GOODIE, new ones would take their place lol. So now I think maybe I was quick to close my mind on that front, all kidding aside.

But how this ties in to what you wrote about, is it all stems from FREE WILL. God can't give us free will on some thing and on others jump in and take over. I think if we ask we can get guidance and some help, or be directed towards those who can do that. But IF our time on earth really is the blink of an eye on the big picture (no matter how endless it may feel to us sigh), and IF this is to learn, then would a good teacher just take care of everything for us?

And I don't believe for one second a loving God would mind anyone questioning or doubting what they couldn't understand or think of them as bad. It is just human, which is what we are....go figure!!!! lolol And I think if God wanted us to have clear answers to everything we all would have been handed a crystal clear instruction book when we got here. Since we didn't (even those who might say the Bible or other religious texts are that book might agree it doesn't cover every situation but just helps with the morality & basic rules of living, and philosphy to deal with situations. We can just try our best and hope we get it right).

But I believe in a loving, forgiving God and Universe...where there is no one right religion but rather different roads to the same destination. And where I truly believe what matters is how we have treated other people, if we hold love in our hearts and try to spread that, and hopefully do some good along the way. I personally feel that God would care more about how we lived, how we treated other people, and what we did than what book we read or what church we sat in, then left and did nothing. I could be wrong, but that's what I believe.

Reminds me of that wonderful old poem Abu Ben Adam (sp?). I remember that touching me when I heard it back in grade school and the fact I still remember and reference it speaks to how extraordinary it is, and what wisdom I feel is in it. Are you guys familiar with it too???

[aranya]

I have never felt as if praying isn't enough. I truely believe that God cares about each and everyone of us and will put an end to all of mankinds suffering. I believe that we have to be specific with our prayers though, and whether or not we see it right away or see it at all, they will be answered in some form. I pray fervently. I love knowing that I can turn to our creator and he will listen to us no matter what we pray about. It is really comforting.

[lavonne]

Unfortunately, too many people pray to ask for material things. Money, a good job, a new car etc....

God is not going to give you all of your materialistic wishes. You should pray for strength, faith, a good heart, and a strong mind.

I see this most when a loved one has died or is close to death. Although we would like to believe that God will hear us, and answer our prayers to bring our loved one through this, it is ultimately up to Him if he calls us Home. We should pray for the ability to accept His decision and remain faithful.

Just how I see it....

[2TREES]

I agree with this topic. There is a time and place for everything.

"For every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die..."* I believe...a time to pray and a time to get off my lazy, sometimes selfish and whining a$$ and get involved!

*From Ecclesiastes
To everything turn, turn, turn...

[Debookwrm]

Unfortunately, too many people pray to ask for material things. Money, a good job, a new car etc....

God is not going to give you all of your materialistic wishes. You should pray for strength, faith, a good heart, and a strong mind.

I see this most when a loved one has died or is close to death. Although we would like to believe that God will hear us, and answer our prayers to bring our loved one through this, it is ultimately up to Him if he calls us Home. We should pray for the ability to accept His decision and remain faithful.

Just how I see it....
I'm with you Lavonne...I have mentioned what I want (not material) before, but now all I do is tell Him the situation (as if He needs me to do that LOL) and then tell Him that I am putting it in His hands and I trust Him to do what is right with it for me and everyone involved. I don't always get what I want from my prayer, who does, but I feel so much peace...it's worth it to me. To give it to God gives me peace.

[Winter80-sara]

Unfortunately, too many people pray to ask for material things. Money, a good job, a new car etc....

God is not going to give you all of your materialistic wishes. You should pray for strength, faith, a good heart, and a strong mind.

I see this most when a loved one has died or is close to death. Although we would like to believe that God will hear us, and answer our prayers to bring our loved one through this, it is ultimately up to Him if he calls us Home. We should pray for the ability to accept His decision and remain faithful.

Just how I see it....

I completey agree with you