Hmmm, as well written as that reply was, there is a problem with it.
Love is an emotion. Faith is not. Faith is a belief, an assertation of the belief in things that you can not prove. There different types of love as there are types of faith. Eros, Ludis, Philo, Storge, Pragma, Mania and Agape are types of love. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. Why? Because history has shown that the sun rises every day. I don't have faith in the existence of gods because there is no evidence to support their existence. Religious Faith, on the other hand, supports the existence of things that are not proveable, such as the existence of God. I assert that you are NOT seeing proof of God because that is contrary to Faith. If there was indeed proof, actual reasonable proof of the existence of God, then there would not be any need discussion. Proof, however, is lacking. Which is why Faith is needed.
Let's try and steer this discussion back on track.
There is no evidence to show that prayer works. There is no evidence to show that God is listening. There is no evidence to show that God answers prayer. You only have FAITH that He does.
Let's look at what the gospels say about prayer:
Matthew 21:22 -- And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
Matthew 7:7-8 -- [7] Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you [8] For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Mark 11:23-24 -- [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 will come to pass, it will be done for him. [24] Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
John 14:13 -- Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Please note that these verses say, "you WILL receive". They do not say, MAYBE you will receive. You can play twister with these words all you want, but they are very clear. Any believer that asks will receive.
Now look at what is said about Elijah:
James 5:17-18 [17] Eli'jah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.
Elijah was a man of nature LIKE OUR OWN and had his prayer of no rain answered...and then he asked for rain again and got it. That prayer seems a lot less worthy of being answered than the healing of one of God's people. Yet how many people die every day because prayers were not answered? The easy answer is because God is sovereign. The simple answer is prayers are not answered which is contrary to the verses above which state that whatever is asked for will be granted.
Why is it that when prayers are answered it is because of divine intervention, but when prayers go unheeded, the fault tends to fall on the person that was praying?
1 John 5
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.
How plain is that? WHATEVER you ask according to His will, not some things, not maybe, but WHATEVER you ask you will have.
Now, if you and so many others have been so selfless as to pray for my conversion, why hasn't it happened? It's God's will that all be in His kingdom, no? Then asking for my conversion would definately be in His will. Sorry, it hasn't happened.
There seems to be a logical dilemma here. How do you reconcile these verses?
One final example, let's look at the Lord's prayer. The prayer includes, "Give us this day our daily bread." Why do you pray for this? If you ask for bread, will God deliver it? If God isn't going to deliver it, why ask for it? This one prayer alone could end starvation in Africa...if only it worked.
