presser_kun said:
Is it possible that you got the raise because of hard work or good performance?
If God gave you the raise because you started keeping the journal, will he withhold good things if you stop?
This sounds like superstition to me.
I know this seems harsh. As a matter of fact, I used to think the same way you do, Dondi.
You can easily reply that every miracle can be explained in rational terms of some sort, but that it's the way you see the event that matters.
This seems like a refusal to face the facts to me.
If God gave you a raise because you started keeping the journal, then if you get a parking space close to the front of the shopping mall, is that God's doing? How about the fact that you narrowly avoided a heart attack because God led you to choose one breakfast cereal over another, and that was the event that started you on the new path toward health?
Where do you stop? At what point is it superstition instead of faith?
Again, sorry to be harsh. I only want to know the truth. In fact, I don't think it's wrong to say (and I do say in my own life) that truth is more important than anything else. Even more important than any belief I hold. Even belief in God.
Well, those are my thoughts. I'll be interested to see your response.
peace,
press
pressor_kun,
Yes, indeed, I got the raise because of my hard work and good performance, etc, etc. Would I have gotten my prayer for a raise answered if I didn't have the prayer journal? Well, I'm certainly not going get answer to prayer that i don't pray. The fact of the matter is my prayer life had been lacking. By starting a journal, I hope to be more consistent in my prayer life. The journal is just a tool. And I think God answered this one to let me know that I'm going in the right direction.
I am not superstitious.
Consider this. This raise came just in time for my first mortage payment on a new house we bought. This certainly helps our financial situation. Coincidence? Maybe. If that's how you look at it.
Now I don't know about praying to get a good parking spot at the mall. I haven't thought to pray for one, but perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea the next time I am presed for time. As far as eating cereal that is not so good for you, I think God has given us common sense and common knowledge to eat healthy. I don't think it's prudent to ask God to heal you of lung cancer after being a chain smoker for twenty years.
Not every prayer is going to get answered to my satisfaction. But I believe God loves me enough to give me bread instead of a stone. I ask for things that God in his wisdom, like a good father, doesn't want me to have, or not have yet. But there has been to many "coincidences" happen to me and others I know to just brush them off.
Here's another example:
My sister in North Carolina has been trying to sell her house for some time now. Over the recent holidays, no one has even looked at the house. And before that, she was just getting curious glances over the past year.
But she has recently began to pray more (not just to sell the house, but to also get her life together, a long story). So I told her I'd pray also and jotted that prayer down in my journal. now the house has been in some disrepair, and she was spending some time and money getiing it fixed. She still had a lot to do. Not long after, she got decent offer from a retired couple from Florida who wanted to move back into the area. They brought the house "as-is" for
cash. They moved in within two weeks. How often does one get a cash offer? Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe these folks finished paying off there holiday credit cards, maybe the weather has been warmer and it was time for them to move, maybe a lot of things factored in selling the house. Anyway you look at it, it was a prayer answered.
I could go on with more examples if you like, even some that didn't require a prayer journal. Prayer, to me, is a learning experience. I'm learning to pray what God wants for my life, learning to pray for what God wants for those around me, learning to pray for others so that I may develop passion for them, learning to pray for God's ultimate goal for all of us. Now I don't claim to have a corner on God (rather He has the corner on me
). Not all my prayers are answered yet. But by having a journal, I can keep record of what I'm praying for. I can record answers to specific prayers I've prayed, remember those that still need prayer, and add new ones as I go. God may give all the "wants". But I trust Him for all the needs.
Love and peace,
Dondi
