Praying

[DC]

Jesus said that whoever asks for something believing will receive it.  If you still have temporary moments of doubt after you ask that you immediately repent from,  that won't cancel out your prayer, will it?  It's not that I doubt him, it's more that I doubt that I'm doing it right.

[LS]

Jesus said that whoever asks for something believing will receive it.  If you still have temporary moments of doubt after you ask that you immediately repent from,  that won't cancel out your prayer, will it?  It's not that I doubt him, it's more that I doubt that I'm doing it right.

Hi DC - I used to worry a lot about how I prayed too - there are many models in the Bible, and while we are told to approach Him boldly, we are also told He knows what we need before we even ask.

I think it will help if you just remember that God isn't trying to trick us, there isn't a pop quiz, and God wants us to succeed. The whole point of prayer is to draw near to God, to spend time with Him both speaking and listening. And as we do, God changes things - either internally or externally.

I know we sometimes feel guilty for even those passing moments of doubt. Remember who the accuser is - it's not Jesus.  As soon as a doubt crosses your mind, you can ask Him to help your unbelief as in Mark 9:24: "Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

:cloud9:

[Paul Hazelwood]

Jesus said that whoever asks for something believing will receive it.  If you still have temporary moments of doubt after you ask that you immediately repent from,  that won't cancel out your prayer, will it?  It's not that I doubt him, it's more that I doubt that I'm doing it right.

The context is that what you are believing for will be in alignment with the will of God.  The prosperity doctrines, "name it claim it", etc is nothing but a religious sham.

[thinktank]

It's not a sham, it is based on quantum science, when one believes they have something or are able to obtain it, that in question becomes much more available to them.

The reason why some christians accuse it of being a sham is because their emphasis is on riches such as getting a new car, when Jesus emphasized to seek first the kingdom of God and then these other things. I notice that most of their messages is about making money and very little about, how to overcome fear etc and for the kingdom of God to be within.

But one good thing about the prosperity movement is that it 'bought'  :grin: balance to the kingdom of God. Before that movement christians were in poverty, and thought that riches were evil an of the devil, but then it went to the other extreme and to much emphasis on riches, but I think now people are looking for balance, because people are tired of the prosperity msg and want some real meat, I think the financial investigations in some of these ministries was part of that disaproval of this prosperity obsession.

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9:  :thumbsup: God is not against us having prosperity, He's against prosperity having US. Abraham, Job and likely all the patriarchs were among the most blessed, if not THE blessed men of their time. Blessings....

[Nathan]

:cloud9:  :thumbsup: God is not against us having prosperity, He's against prosperity having US. Abraham, Job and likely all the patriarchs were among the most blessed, if not THE blessed men of their time. Blessings....

Well said. 

I do think some of the 'name-it-claim-it" preachers out there have done a great dis-service to the truth about prosparity.  They make it sound like once you become a Christian, it's all downhill from here.  No more suffering, no pain . . .you come into a lot of natural wealth . . .

it just totally distorts what God measures as wealth and what people "think" God measures as wealth.

The widow who gave her last mite was the richest woman on earth in Jesus' eyes.  And yet in our eyes . . she was flat broke.  And . . .if you based your trust on the preachers . . .the assumption then is that after she gave her last penny to Jesus, he made her a rich woman . . .but the truth is, she was still physically broke . . .but it's not what's in your pocket that makes you full of wealth . . .it's what's in your heart.

[PaoloNuevo]

The widow who gave her last mite was the richest woman on earth in Jesus' eyes.  And yet in our eyes . . she was flat broke.  And . . .if you based your trust on the preachers . . .the assumption then is that after she gave her last penny to Jesus, he made her a rich woman . . .but the truth is, she was still physically broke . . .but it's not what's in your pocket that makes you full of wealth . . .it's what's in your heart.

:thumbsup:

[Paul Hazelwood]

It's not a sham, it is based on quantum science, when one believes they have something or are able to obtain it, that in question becomes much more available to them.

The reason why some christians accuse it of being a sham is because their emphasis is on riches such as getting a new car, when Jesus emphasized to seek first the kingdom of God and then these other things. I notice that most of their messages is about making money and very little about, how to overcome fear etc and for the kingdom of God to be within.

But one good thing about the prosperity movement is that it 'bought'  :grin: balance to the kingdom of God. Before that movement christians were in poverty, and thought that riches were evil an of the devil, but then it went to the other extreme and to much emphasis on riches, but I think now people are looking for balance, because people are tired of the prosperity msg and want some real meat, I think the financial investigations in some of these ministries was part of that disaproval of this prosperity obsession.

It is a sham in a religious context because your belief is not the core cause of what you gain in a positive sense.

That is the religious context, and it is also the religious excuse for when someone does not "receive".  I hear it all the time.  if you do not get what you believed you would then you did not believe enough.  Bunch of nonsense.


The issue of sceince is the issue that if your belief in the ability to gain something certainly increases the possibility, but it does not cause it, not can belief be entirely associated with not getting things.   This is proven simply by the fact that almost everyone can think of things they got in a positive nature they didn't actually believe they could get or had even wished for.