Just a thought....it is crazy to think that people have prayed to God or Jesus, or whoever else, for something awful. They thought it was right and good...and godly. Well, this happens day to day and always has. There is no way for me to tell, at this time, how God filters out these prayers and His way of answering them. So, with that said I figured that I would try to play God briefly and attempt to break down prayers that I am assuming have been expressed by people.
(BTW: I do not like the thought of God answering prayers. I like to think we are given everything we need and it is up to us to work things out. The whole action of praying seems fine to me, I just don't like how people put so much pressure on God answering their prayers. Because if they look closely He already has.)
Looking at all of the tragedies that have happened and are happening in this world, I can only assume God is all about balance. I figure He tries to balance everything from past, present and the future. Human beings need balance in order to carry on and understand love. One needs pain in order to feel joy. Maybe that is why child birth is so painful. Many people feel that they are never heard by God and that their prayers are overlooked. Maybe people are not looking close enough at all of the blessings that have been given to them. There are so many prayers, most likely more meaningful, that we can go without because we have been blessed already. I am blessed because God blessed me with two functional legs. So therefore I, and my loved ones, don't have to pray for my legs to work one day or for me to be able to walk one day. So, If I am God I would look at all the blessing I have given the person already and use that in my equation. I would also look at the people around that person, because I know my actions will effect them as well. Just seeing somebody have their prayer answered can effect another person's faith or mood. But when I think of it that way, it feels as if it is all a puzzle, and I don't wont to think of God as some guy playing a game. Well, I'll leave that up for debate with myself later. The most important thing would have to be the good that is in the person's heart, or the people around him or her. That brings me to people who pray for awful things. Instead of making up random prayers, I want to use some that I feel have been thought of in the past. Somebody prayed that all of the Jews would be done away with. How did God balance that? How would I, if I were God, deal with that? I'm not going to attempt to touch that because I feel it is too heavy and only God could handle that. I just want to put it out there for thought. Somebody has prayed that they would become rich with only the intentions of buying cars, mansions, boats, clothes and other materialist items...And even with the intention of gaining power over people. This is also hard because I know (feel) that some of those people became wealthy and thanked God for it. It would be hard to answer something like that. For sake of balance, at times I would have to. I guess I would also be a God with hope that people with bad intentions will eventually see their wrongs and change. If God does answer prayers, I like to think He answers the bad ones with hope in his heart. That is the only thing that seems to make sense to me. Because it doesn't sit well with me that God would answer a prayer about killing someone(s), or somebody's need for a drug, or somebody's prayer that others will view their religion or ideals the same way as he or she does.
It all seems so technical when I think of it that way. Too much pressure for somebody like me, or any of us, to bear. I guess that is why I like to think that God doesn't pay too much attention to prayers. He lets us play out our lives with what we are given, which is a whole lot, and hopes we make the right decisions. And if we don't, somebody else who sees us will recognize where we went wrong. The action of praying then will be seen as an act of faith, which is nice, but not necessary. Because there are many other ways to show that you believe. Ways that are less confusing and leave no room for doubt.
