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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

God’s Plan and Prayer – Are They Compatible?

Many Christians believe their God (Yahweh) has a perfect plan for their life and that everything happens according to his divine plan. However, many Christians also believe in the power of prayer. I don’t think many Christians have given much thought to the compatibility of these two concepts. They also haven’t given much thought to God having a plan and freewill - but that’s a different discussion.

Let’s assume it’s true that a God exists who has a divine plan for our lives. If this is true, why are believers praying to this God asking him to intervene in some way? If God has a plan, aren't those who pray just believers who don't trust God's plan? It would be arrogant of us to think we have a better plan than God, and by praying we are basically asking God to alter his plan.

Now many Christians reading this may be thinking, “But when I pray, I thank God for what he has given me and ask that everything happens according to his plan”. Yes, Christians do thank God in their prayers and they do pray for things to happen according to his plan. But I've been to church many times, and during prayer people are constantly asking God to heal a loved one of an illness or accident.

On a side note, what is the purpose of praying to God that his will be done? If an all-powerful God wants his will to be done, it will be done whether he gets encouragement from believers or not. Think about it, it makes absolutely no sense to pray for God’s plan to happen because it is HIS plan - Christians are basically asking him to grant his own wish! It seems almost like people are trying to suck up to God so that he will help them later when they really need it.

If God does have a plan, his plan is indistinguishable from not having a plan. We always hear from Christians about how great their God is, but it is very easy to think that when blinders are on which keep us from seeing how much suffering really goes on. It is easy to say, “You are where God wants you to be at this very moment” when living in a developed country with luxuries which we can thank science for. But can you imagine anyone telling one of the children in this photo that they are where God wants them to be?

It’s odd that people who claim to have “Faith” in God and his plan are always trying to alter it to what they feel is best for them. However, this is not surprising, because we all want to enjoy our lives and we’ll do just about anything we can to make it better. We also want to believe that everything is going to be okay, and for believers it is comforting to think their God has a divine plan.

But this is where their cognitive dissonance comes into play - believers want to believe in these two concepts because one is comforting and the other is a possible way to improve their life or the lives of others. If prayer worked, it would also be the easiest way to improve our life because it requires little to no effort at all and when given a task we usually will choose the easiest way to accomplish it. If we believe prayer works, we feel like we did something to make a difference without doing anything at all - and this is tragic for those who need real help. As Lawrence Krauss once put it,

"If you are choking next to me and either I could preform the Heimlich maneuver or I could pray for you, which would you choose?  

There is no evidence for a god, but even if there was a god – believing that it has a divine plan and also answers our requests which would alter his plan is completely incompatible.

8 comments:

  1. Some nice points you bring to light, the Krauss quote sums it up perfectly :)

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  2. Scientific study on the effects of prayer: http://mobile.journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/_layouts/oaks.journals.mobile/articleviewer.aspx?year=2010&issue=09000&article=00005

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  3. Scientific study on the effects of prayer: http://mobile.journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/_layouts/oaks.journals.mobile/articleviewer.aspx?year=2010&issue=09000&article=00005

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    1. As quoted from the article link pasted in my reply..."one of the shoddiest studies I've ever read".

      http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/02/a-truly-dreadful-study-into-the-effects-of-prayer-2/

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  4. God does have a perfect plan for each person's life, but whether this plan comes true depends upon the free choice of that person. God's will concerning the ultimate destiny of the universe will be done, but God's will coming to pass in the life of each person remains in the realm of free will.

    For example, God's desire is for all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4), but obviously some people choose to walk away from God and become atheists. Some Christians (Calvinists) believe that God predestines some to hell and some to heaven, but in their dedication to the Sovereignty of God they attribute evil to a God who is good. I believe God gives each person free choice to either accept or reject his plan for his or her life.

    The purpose of prayer is more to change our minds then to change God's mind. Prayer is also a sign of our faith and trust in God.

    As for the Krauss quote, he basically says the same thing that James 2:17 says, "Faith without works is dead." I want someone who does the Heimlich maneuver on me to be praying as he does it.

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    1. If the purpose of prayer is more to change the minds of those praying, then why are they not praying to have their mind changed? 95% of the prayers I hear are for god to help heal their sick family members and friends or to protect them while traveling etc. You would think that if these people really had a personal relationship with this being, he would tell them "that's not what praying is for". Also, prayer seems to be the opposite of faith and trust in god, and more on the lines of, "God I don't like your plan and here is my idea for a better one, please use it instead".

      Atheists don't choose to walk away from god, it would be ridiculous to do so if we thought he existed. We become atheists because of the lack of evidence for a god. We can't fool ourselves into believing something we don't actually believe.

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  5. Well written! I actually found this article because a Christian lady on Pinterest posted the "you are where god wants you to be" quote photo...except it didn't show the starving children. The idea of a divinely planned life annoys me, so I clicked on the link (lol), and it led me to this article! Lol the lady who pinned it definitely failed to check what the link to the picture was. ��

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  6. We are where God wants us to be, yes it is true and the starving children are because of free will, free will to not have God in their lives and free will to copy the picture off some picture stock site on the internet. Do you know these children personally? I think not! You are just using this article to bash God, well good luck! Let's see where you are when your last hours on this earth are done and you are giving account for your actions and free will to I am!

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