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Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11

Spirituality

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@suzianne said
Do you really think one can pray effectively "without faith"?
Faith that God exists?
Faith that He hears prayers?
Faith that He will answer?

I'm okay with the first two, but not so much that He answers. I explained some doubts in my previous post.


@chaney3 said
Faith that God exists?
Faith that He hears prayers?
Faith that He will answer?

I'm okay with the first two, but not so much that He answers. I explained some doubts in my previous post.
How big is God in your eyes, how powerful, how loving, how faithful, how
knowledgeable? Can you know God?

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2 edits


@chaney3 said
Faith that God exists?
Faith that He hears prayers?
Faith that He will answer?

I'm okay with the first two, but not so much that He answers. I explained some doubts in my previous post.
Ponder this for a moment.
God knows everything, God is everywhere, God is All powerful, God is eternal
without beginning or end. So when Jesus came because the Father sent Him He
knew you, He even knew you at your worst, while we were all sinners Christ died
for us, died for you. If He did this for you, for us why would He close His ears to
your prayers? Can you trust Him with whatever answer He gives, no, wait, or yes?


@chaney3 said
Faith that God exists?
Faith that He hears prayers?
Faith that He will answer?

I'm okay with the first two, but not so much that He answers. I explained some doubts in my previous post.
Seems you simply have doubts about veracity of the dogma in which many Christians believe. Seems truth is more important to you than it is to them. They believe the dogma because it's self-serving system of beliefs. They delude themselves into believing that darkness is light because it's self-serving to do so.


@thinkofone said
Seems you simply have doubts about veracity of the dogma in which many Christians believe. Seems truth is more important to you than it is to them. They believe the dogma because it's self-serving system of beliefs. They delude themselves into believing that darkness is light because it's self-serving to do so.
Judging the beliefs within other's hearts? You know what is the motivation in other's
hearts? You know why they do the things they do, you accuse plenty of doing
things for self-serving interests. You have no clue, none-what-so-ever, yet you bad
mouth others as if you do.


@kellyjay said
Judging the beliefs within other's hearts? You know what is the motivation in other's
hearts? You know why they do the things they do, you accuse plenty of doing
things for self-serving interests. You have no clue, none-what-so-ever, yet you bad
mouth others as if you do.
The dogma that many Christians believe IS a self-serving system of beliefs. That's
just a fact.

That many Christians believe the dogma because it's self-serving system of beliefs is a more than reasonable conclusion to draw.


@thinkofone said
The dogma that many Christians believe IS a self-serving system of beliefs. That's
just a fact.

That many Christians believe the dogma because it's self-serving system of beliefs is a more than reasonable conclusion to draw.
Giving your life over the Lord is not self-serving, walking as a living sacrifice is not
self-serving. You again, do not know what is in other's hearts, yet you judge them
as if you have some insight only God has.

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-Removed-
I'll get personal here, even though I'll likely regret it.

I have not prospered in this life, and much disaster has come my way.

Now.....either it's all my fault through bad decisions, and self will, or God was not speaking to me in that verse.

Either way, the question remains, can my free will ruin God's supposed good plans for me?


@chaney3 said
I'll get personal here, even though I'll likely regret it.

I have not prospered in this life, and much disaster has come my way.

Now.....either it's all my fault through bad decisions, and self will, or God was not speaking to me in that verse.

Either way, the question remains, can my free will ruin God's supposed good plans for me?
A few years back my family made meticulous, though secret, plans for my birthday (40th) which I managed to ruin by going out after work with some colleagues for a drink and turning off my work mobile.

So yes, good plans can be ruined by the free choices we make.


@chaney3 said
I have not prospered in this life, and much disaster has come my way.

Now.....either it's all my fault through bad decisions, and self will, or God was not speaking to me in that verse.

Either way, the question remains, can my free will ruin God's supposed good plans for me?
You've boiled it down to only two possibilities. But there is another boiled-down possibility: that there is no god or "God" or gods that have interacted or interfered with you, or directed you, or planned anything for you, or that expects anything from you. There is the hard boiled possibility that no such deity has revealed it her them himself to humans.

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@ghost-of-a-duke said
A few years back my family made meticulous, though secret, plans for my birthday (40th) which I managed to ruin by going out after work with some colleagues for a drink and turning off my work mobile.

So yes, good plans can be ruined by the free choices we make.
Your story is a perfect example of the dilemma of believers:

God may have plans for us, known only to Him, as was the case with your family, but because those plans are unknown to us, we have NO choice but to live our lives the best we can and make decisions accordingly.

The dilemma always is trying to figure out if your decisions somehow align with "God's will". Mine have not.

***I knew you meant newspaper. 😀

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@chaney3 said
Your story is a perfect example of the dilemma of believers:

God may have plans for us, known only to Him, as was the case with your family, but because those plans are unknown to us, we have NO choice but to live our lives the best we can and make decisions accordingly.

The dilemma always is trying to figure out if your decisions somehow align with "God's will". Mine have not.

***I knew you meant newspaper. 😀
I know sir, and I am genuinely sorry to hear things have not worked out for you in life. (Still time though to turn things around).