Irresistable Force vs. Immovable Object

Daniel prayed for 21 days for some information about the prophecy he thought to be true. I think it was Micheal who finally delivered the message after 21 days. He said, God answered your prayer the moment you prayed it, but the devil has kept me from you these 21 days. Or something like that.

Jesus couldn't do many miracles, in some places, because of there unbelief.

Pay special attention to the phrase "does not doubt in his heart" In order to have no doubt, one must be completely within the will of God. In other words, what you pray has to be for the glory of God, and with no selfish motives.
Praying to God is not like making a wish, or whacking a pinata. Don't expect any power in prayer unless your motives are selfless. Also, don't think of it as though somehow you must conjure up more faith from within yourself before you can pray effectively.
Just seek God and seek His will. trying to figure out how to pray effectively, imho, is the wrong approach. Just use the Bible to figure out who God is, then let your prayers be from the heart.
This is incredibly hard to do...and impossible to force. I sure don't have it all figured out.

It seems this guy is mocking prayer.

Mark 11:24-24 does not have to say that in order for it to be true. All verses in the Bible hold hands. It is dangerous to take some verses on a subjest, and ignore other verses on the same subject because then ones understaiding of the nature of God will be skewed. It is far safer to take all of the Bible at face value and ajust ones theology to line up with all scripture that one reads.

John 16:23 "In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you..."
I will say it again, If you ask God for something in prayer, don't expect it to be fulfilled unless you are seeking the will of God. Jesus says in this verse that you gotta ask in His name-that is, on His merits.
We're working for God, not the other way around. God is not in the business of giving us the selfish desires of our hearts. God is in the business of burning away all the selfish desires of our heart. We should be in the buisness of giving God all the glory, and praying for things which give Him glory and are according to his will.
There are two teams, the team for God, and the team against Him. There is no team where God gives you stuff if you are not on his team. There is no team where you are in the will of God, and selfish at the same time.

So, on to the second question, What is the point of praying if it only works when you pray for the will of God?
I would say the point is to try to more deeply be on God's team. The point is to leave selfishness behind and follow God.

Unitarian said:

Mark 11:23-24 places no restriction on motive. It does not say only non-selfish requests will be hornored. It uses an example of throwing a mountain into the sea, of all things. It also does not say 'some' requests will be granted, but that ALL shall be.

Further, if my prayer must be limited to the will of God, then is there any real point to praying at all? After all, God's will shall be carried out with, without, or even in spite of my prayer, no?

I find it difficult to have faith with such a paradox, so I would welcome any rational answer.

Regards,

Unitarian

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I believe it is possible for just about anything, including casting a mountian into the sea. The bible says bless and don't curse, becuase there is power in your tongue. Voodoo curses work, from what I hear.

This second paragraph is under the assumption thats God is under total control of everything. That what ever he allows to happen happens. I don't believe this at all. It says in Peter that it is the will of God for all to come to the full repentance of Christ. Is everyone going to be saved?

God's will is for us to help build the kingdom of heaven. That is done by winning souls. That is His most important goal. The second one, is for us to be stronger christians, to free our mind of junk, and have it filled with the word of God.

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

Unitarian said:

I have seen this question before, but am unable to answer it...

The bible states:

Mark 11:23 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.


What happens if there are two people of absolute faith who simultaneously make conflicting prayers? Just to keep it simple, let us suppose that a coin is tossed and two people watching the coin toss begin and end their prayers at identical times, say the identical prayer except for the result of the toss, and are of equal faith...

Which one gets their prayer answered and which one is forsaken?

Regards,

Unitarian

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I got a kick out of this. IF two people had Abosolute Faith then they wouldn't contradict each other in prayer!