Does God Listen When We Pray

Does God Listen When We Pray?

With the horrendous tragedy in Connecticut today, the default reaction for the masses is to pray. Within these praying masses we find praying for the families, praying for the innocents lost, and ridiculous FaceBook pictures proclaiming you are praying and if you don’t like the picture… You’re a horrible person.

In order to understand the power of prayer, you would need to witness a miracle:
I have not. However, I have heard stories. Stories of people who go to a hospital for surgery, and God brought them out. Or, did they go to the hospital because their blind faith wasn’t as strong as they professed? Wasn’t it the medical staff that ultimately provided the avenue for a speedy recovery? Most would not agree.

http://current.com/groups/god/88849490_life-after-death-miracle-in-florida-hospital.htm

The above link provides a story of a man who had been dead for an hour and was miraculously healed. Let us dive into the facts. This man had been “dead” for an hour. A Christian cardiologist comes in, prays for the man, and then has the nurses shock him once more. BOOM! He has a heart beat. Great story. (Not to mention that he had to shock him before he woke up) But, it has a hole I want to fill in. With citations of course.
— You don’t shock a dead heart. Shocking a heart, or defibrillating, causes a heart that is beating out of sync to come back into a normal rhythm. Hence the name “defibrillation”.
Definition of defibrillation– http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/defibrillation
A forum of doctors discussing this topic– https://www.erc.edu/forum/index.php?s=0&showtopic=471

Another point I feel needs to be made, is the importance of a prayer and the subsequent answering:
When a single mother of three prays for food for her children, God should answer. Right? How about the prom queen candidate who prays she wins, and does. God answered, Right? Why? Because the odds were in her favor. It had nothing to do with her prayer.

http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/child-hunger-facts.aspx

The above link shows the child hunger facts in America. 14 million kids live in food insecure households and will be fed by Feeding America, 3 million under the age of 5. Staggering numbers I would say. Luckily, the American people, not God, feed these children. And the other 2-3 million not able to be fed by this organization will be either, picked up by another, or go to bed hungry. God is not there, but most would say it is his will.

I may seem angry, because I am. The first thing I saw on FaceBook was how people were praying for the families, and God has a plan, etc.. Where was he an hour before? I guess with that last sentence I can end. There is not much more to say past that.

Clearly, a miracle was not witnessed today. Even though parents prayed for their kids well being when they dropped them off for the day. I will not pray for those affected. But, I will think about and mourn the loss of life. I will try to push the issue of human reasoning. I will try to push the issue of mental health in the USA, and the apparent cracks in its foundation. My heart is heavy, I want to hug my child……

I leave you with one last video…… This is how a Christian justifies this tragedy.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=is2x7QTZ8AI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dis2x7QTZ8AI

Do I have a reprobate mind?

I was accused of having a reprobate mind. Now, many of modern day Americans don’t use this biblical jargon, so I will share the definition. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of reprobate is: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprobate?show=0&t=1351901128 . More intently, a mind without principles, moral value, and lacking the direction of God. The fact that a person I love and admired’ed’ said this, is even more upsetting. To do so over a political debate, well… A political statement, rebuttal, and then a halt to rational conversation, is telling of the persons ability to understand people. Now, I do love to debate. And I sometimes possess an uncanny urge to input my subjective babbling in an unwarranted dialogue, but hey.. I’m me. (And it usually ends in a pat on the proverbial back and a beer.) I can handle criticism. I believe that without constructive criticism, a person can’t flourish and run the risk of not living their life to the fullest. But, an outright degradament because a view is not your own, is preposterous and pretentious at best.

To get back on topic, we were delving into a reprobate mind. The bible mentions reprobate in Romans. I believe 1:28ish. But to a Christian, a reprobate mind is someone whose mind is without God and rejected. Basically a person who is ignorant and going to Hell. To some this may offend. But I don’t believe any God that created a dirt man and a rib woman, who loves us, who knows every hair on our body, and who gave his only begotten son… Would damn us to such a place. To be honest, I’m on the fence with religion and God. I guess that is why I was accused of having a a “reprobate mind”. So, If I don’t believe like a certain sect of individuals, God left my mind and I’m damned to hell? I wouldn’t count this to be the case at all. I have a different set of principles. Principles that have a direct impact on people, not a fear of an afterlife or punishment from God. I don’t let words that men say are from God govern my life. I let human reasoning and rational lead my journey. Political views and my nuclear family alike. I would rather harvest stem cells from a Petri dish for a 10 year old paraplegic, than feel 150 cells called a blastocyst has a soul. I want people to be free from tyranny, religious and governmental.

As I progress in this life, knowledge is presented and dissected. My faith in a God that has anything to do with everyday life has diminished and I am catapulted to non-belief. This could be a year long blog post on its own. Either way, Christians… If you want to debate a person based on your beliefs, at least be able to back up your view. A pretentious, “Whatever and GoodNight”, certainly won’t do. It’s irritating and demeaning. Maybe, just maybe… That person wants to hear rational arguments to help make his or her mind up. Abasing rebuttals have never won an argument, or a soul.

To make something clear. I feel that any person can believe what they want. Remember why America was founded? I have many Christian, Agnostic, Atheist,one Muslim, and two Rastafarian friends. Your religiosity is more determined on your culture than anything. I implore you to be true to yourself, be a patriot to your nation, and do right by the ones you love and the ones you don’t know. Our world would be a much better place!

On Obama being a Liberal.

This was a response to a FaceBook post, but I didn’t want to lose it. It’s not meant to be a polished piece, but my thoughts…

If by liberal you mean ended a war in Iraq, increased affordable healthcare coverage to the masses, bailed out a failing auto industry (which would have cost millions of jobs, and has since has been repaid with interest), trying to keep benefits to veterans, increasing the taxes on the wealthy, decreasing the taxes on middle income families, and shifting the attention of the military to Afghanistan (killing Usama Bin Laden, mind you)… I’m proud to be called a supporter and a “liberal”. Heck, even the auto industry is saying that Romney is not truthful in his display of “truth”. Now, I know you meant liberal in a derogatory manner, but luckily it’s not the case. As far as him being an adequate military leader, it is not even a question. During the decision making process for the Usama raid, his cabinet and others in “military advisory roles” advised against it. We see how a decision based on rational thought and human reasoning played out. If the exercise would have went bad, who would have caught the blame? This guy isn’t un-American, he is very much pro-America and is the living proof of how someone with no hope in the world, can rise to the highest levels of intellect (Columbia and Harvard Law), and become the most powerful man in the world. Sure I don’t agree with every single idea he has, but I don’t think it is possible to agree 100% with a candidate. And before the Libya debacle is brought up, I don’t believe it is being fully revealed. It is a bad situation, no doubt. Weapons of Mass Destruction has to ring a bell in the case of bad decisions. One more point. Obama is no more a Muslim than you guys are Jews. He is a professed Christian. If anyone should have a problem with a candidates religion, it should be with Romney! They hold a book written by a man to a high standard that “strengthens the bible”. Isn’t there something about not adding to or taking away from God’s word?! Thats what they do. Back to Obama… Yes, he went to a Muslim school while living in Indonesia. (Indonesia has the largest population of Islamic faith) He went for one year, then to a Catholic school for 3. His father was a Muslim, and his step-father as well. He doesn’t side with Muslim ideology, but understands it, which helps in foreign policy one should assume. He doesn’t condone suicide bombers or honor killings anymore than the Westboro Baptist Church or abortion clinic killings. If anything, he is the most religiously tolerant President…Ever.

Humanism at its finest…

Driving back from a comedy show in Raleigh, NC today, my American spirit was once more lifted from this partisan sludge covering America. I was pleased at the sight of simple humanism. First, if you are not familiar with the stretch of I-40 that runs through NC, it is thick with military families and bases. Although changing a tire is not a hard task, a little help goes a long way. Ironically, four motorist were pulled over changing their tires on our 550 mile round trip journey. With each sight of blinking hazard lights, boldly displayed was desert camouflage. Some may say this is not very interesting, nor an important sight, but to me… It struck a chord. Our military men and women are selfless on the battlefield no doubt, it comes boldly inked in the job description. These heroic souls bring the ideology home. Being brave in the face of an idiosyncratic opponent is never an easy task, mind you. From fighting a war, whether needed or not is a matter of opinion, or the simple act of helping a stranded American change a tire… These soldiers are Super Hero’s.

A Mormon Presidential Candidates Prayer….

Our father who is hanging out on Kolob.  The planet out in space, that’s what somebody told me, although no modern technology has found it.  Hallowed be thy name.  I’m trying to win an election here on your earthly kingdom.  I know I’m lying and flip flopping, but you’ll forgive me right? I mean, you did say that the dark skins were cursed, so you have a wicked sense of humor, right? Luckily, our prophet Joseph Smith said that you told him they were cool now, but just couldn’t be leaders in the church.  Anyway, thanks for looking down on us from Kolob. Oh, and thanks for letting some of the men in the church have 10 child brides.  I mean, I would too, but I gotta do this Presidential thing. 

Your #1 Science Fiction Religious fan,

Willard…