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Over the last couple of weeks I have been keeping track of something that I think many of us would find interesting, the loss of faith. There is an older woman at my work she is a good Christian by all accounts and a rather nice person as well. (The two do not always go hand and hand.) Anyway this lady has suffered from some sort of leg circulatory problem for several years and lives in constant pain.A short while ago she mentioned that she went to get healed. Now most of us here understand the results of such a "healing" but this lady honestly believed that she was going to be truly and completely healed. At first she did seem to walk better and have less pain. But as time passed her eyes began to show the stress of pain once again. Now she is back to normal. The problem is that she was so excited at first, she told everyone about her faith and the miracle of her healing. As the pain returned her faith has seemed to waver. I have even overheard some of her friends talk about how worried they are over her behavior and that she has been missing church services. Will she return to the flock and renew her faith? Most likely, people have a great capacity to fool themselves. But I think she has a better idea of the way god doesn't work.Later

That isn't the way its supposed to work. Faith healing is a parlor trick. Pray in Christianity is usually meant to encourage overcoming of one's mental barriers. The idea isn't that you pray for god to make your boss give you a raise. Rather a person prays for the strength to work hard enough to be worthy of a raise.The fact that you can't just pray or perform some religeous ritual to make random things happen isn't proof that there's no god.

Quote:Rather a person prays for the strength to work hard enough to be worthy of a raise.How about you skip the prayer all together and just work harder? It seems to be working for me.

Read the New Testament Auron--that IS how prayer and healing is supposed to work. Jesus doesn't say faith will move a mountain only if you pray for it and then subsequently round up some bulldozers and other heavy machinery. And was Jesus's healing a parlor trick? What about the "signs" he mentioned that will allow you to identify a Christian--the ability to heal others, to handle snakes, etc?

Quote:And was Jesus's healing a parlor trick?I can't say but I know the stuff you see on TV where they hit crippled people in the face is.Quote:What about the "signs" he mentioned that will allow you to identify a Christian--the ability to heal others, to handle snakes, etc?What were the specifics. Did he specifically say a Christain will be able to relieve leg pain?

Quote:How about you skip the prayer all together and just work harder? It seems to be working for me.Does everyone have to get inspired the same way you do?

Quote: Read the New Testament Auron--that IS how prayer and healing is supposed to work. Jesus doesn't say faith will move a mountain only if you pray for it and then subsequently round up some bulldozers and other heavy machinery. And was Jesus's healing a parlor trick? What about the "signs" he mentioned that will allow you to identify a Christian--the ability to heal others, to handle snakes, etc? Actually, not everyone has ever taken all of the miracles literally. For instance, the miracle of the loaves and fishes is sometimes thought of as a take on the stone soup fable.

Well I sort of ambushed this lady today to find out what was going on with her. I told her that she looked like she was in pain again, and asked her what was the matter.She wavered for a bit but I managed to get her to talk about it after about 20 minutes. I sum up her final solution thusly. This woman of wavering faith has given up her entire life for Jesus. Gone to church faithfully, followed the teachings, prayed, volunteered, and has not once wavered in her belief. Even now she fiercely believes that there is a higher power. But after 60 + years of service to her lord, her god of compassion, and love decided that she is not deserving of the one thing she has ever asked him for. In short, she feels cheated.Later

Will she return to her Flock ? There you have it. A True sheep would return.

I think she should feel cheated. She is being cheated. Her Bible and her preacher or priest have told her over and over and over again, "Ask and it shall be given..."Quote:Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matt.7:7- Quote:This is one of the most amazing promises in the entire Bible. It almost seems unbelievable, except we know that Jesus Christ is trustworthy, and if he said it, (and he did), then it has to be true. But he must have known that we would find it hard to believe, because as soon as he had said it in the first sentence, he immediately said it over again in the second, just to assure us that this fantastic promise means exactly what it says, and is not to be brushed aside as a mistake. It's no mistake! Try it, and you will see for yourself. Prayer really does work, and we really ought to use it more often than we do, because, as someone said, "More things are wrought by the power of prayer than this world can even imagine."