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Reyes
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Clarification - The first paragraph of my post was actually a quote from Brambleton.

You don't have to be Christian to realize that if you looked back at your life, you'd see moments when your needs/desires weren't met, and it ultimately was for the best.

That's a good point. It doesn't have to involve a deity deciding which desires to fulfill like some cosmic Sims player.

"When He does not grant what I ask, I try to remember that He knows what is best for me and I do not."

Taylor's idea that some other entity "knows what is best for me" does not sit well with me. I've had people with authority over me say the same thing to me, for a variety of motives. But no matter what the motive, "what is best for" anyone is still a subjective matter. There are some things about an individual's life that only the individual is qualified to decide.

Certainly, rational people acknowledge that they don't know everything and can appreciate the advice of others. But in making decisions about one's life, there is a middle ground between arrogantly shutting out all input from others and passively acquiescing to what other people want, and "God knows what is best for me" seems to me to go too far in the latter direction.

Pastor: what you have stated is : surrender.

are you a muslim?

To Anonymous:

I don't think that Travis was completely disavowing "doing" good in favor of "being good." I think that instead he was saying that the goal isn't to "do"; rather, the "doing" is the direct byproduct of the "being." So we should pray to be good and make a concerted effort to do good as well.

As for prayer, I feel that it is the way we speak to God. When you meet someone new, you don't simply become best friends right off the bat. You spend time talking together, sharing meals, sharing hopes, sharing fears, sharing thoughts. It takes time and effort to build a healthy, lifelong relationship, and that's what I think prayer is.

My question to tha Pastor is if your Father is so peace loving, why doesn't He positively answer the prayers of millions--and end the Iraq war, as HE should have done since the beginning of mankind. Or, on the other hand, why did He allow mankind to start them in the first place. I've heard answers, but they've been completely illogical. Does someone have a rational answer?

TO TRAVIS,

My mother does what you suggest (i.e. to focus on 'being' rather than 'doing'). I would not recommend it. She believes she's a great person. She's blissfully happy. No one else who lives with her ever is, but she is.

Just "being" is great, but impractical. If you ever lived with a person who doesn't "do", you'd find that out. You'd end up "doing" everything.

Who was it who said, "Faith without works is dead"?

Nice points Travis.

You don't have to be Christian to realize that if you looked back at your life, you'd see moments when your needs/desires weren't met, and it ultimately was for the best.

If the purpose of prayer was only about "results", then there would be no point in praying to God. Prayer, however, is not about getting what you want. It doesn't always change things in any way that we can see. It does, however, always change the person who prays.

Sometimes praying for what we want reveals our true selves and allows God to correct our often dishonorable motivations. Sometimes it forces us to be honest about our frustrations by letting God know when we're upset about something. But the purpose of prayer, the true purpose of all good spirituality/religious practice/faith is transformation. God wants to transform individuals, families, cultures, and nations so that the entire world can be transformed.

So pray to be useful. Pray to be transformed into someone who really will do all the wonderful things "Concerned" mentions, but it must flow outward from a relational connection to the Almighty. If you focus on "doing" good (a very worthy goal, and to be commended) with no thought toward "being" good, you will quickly burn out. Spend your life really living for others, and you may find yourself driven to pray out of necessity!

I pray to my Lucky Quarter. I earnestly flip my Lucky Quarter and ask Lucky Quarter to grant my desires. Half the time it does. Half the time it does not.

When it does not grant what I ask, I try to remember that my Lucky Quarter knows what is best for me and I do not.

If prayer from God is indistinguishable in results from flipping a quarter, then what is the point of praying to God?

Handling disappointment is difficult, if you really wanted what you asked for. I don't ask for things. I just try to figure out ways to understand how things work, & how I can make things run more smoothly & better for everyone. And I try to see what's best for everyone. That's the hard part.

IMHO, God started the Big Bang. He/She also granted the gifts of Free Will and Future to all the thinking beings in the Universe. This being the case, God is not able to alter life and requests/prayers will not be answered. Statistically, your request might come true but it is simply the result of the variabiliy/randomness of Nature.

So put down your rosaries and prayer beads and stop worshiping cows and bowing to Mecca six times a day. Instead work hard at your job, take care of aging parents, volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to charities and the poor and continue to follow the Commandments of your religion or any good rules of living as gracious and good human beings. And lets all hope there indeed is a place called Heaven!!!

Pastor Taylor,

You seem to be at peace with yourself and with your God. That's good.

I have a different way. I try to be fully present in the present moment, without reference to anything beyond my full presence in the present moment.

There is no room for a god in that moment. Thus I attain an approximation of your peace, in a less complicated way.