How are prayers answered? Is my faith responsible for it? Or God?

Well, he has a point. I don't know if you're familiar with George Carlin, he was a comedian (passed away recently) and he made lots of bits about religion in general. In one of them he says something like: "I stopped praying to God and started praying to Joe Pesci, because Joe Pesci really looks like a guy who can get things done. And guess what? if you compare both, the amount of prayers that were getting answered were about the same". Comedy aside, he's talking about the same thing as the priest you mention. If a believer prays and nothing happens, it was God's will. If something does happen, it was because God answered. But that's just faith, isn't it?. True believers will come and say "No, it was God, I know it". But how do they know it? Because they have faith in Him. I think that's what the priest was talking about. I don't know if I made a clear point, but if I keep going I might be redundant. And by the way, I didn't post a link to Carlin's bit because the guy had a potty mouth and it might be against Mylot's rules, but if you want to check it out just send me a PM. Cheers to you too mate. Rich

Both can be responsible,there are times when we don't believe but God still answers the prayer so as to prove somethings to us,sometimes the prayers are answered solely because we believe and based on our faith.

I agree with you that you can get something only by your hardwork and not by any other magic including the prayers to God. But one must have faith in God so that whenever he gets into some trouble,his strong faith in God,will give him a sort of relief from mental worries and tension. You can be happy and be optimistic about your future,if you THINK that you are going to be blessed by God. So believe in God for happiness and believe in your hardwork for sucess in life.

Hi positiveminded, The Priest was right according to biblical teachings. Christ himself said,"your faith has made you whole". In another place its says,"according to your faith be it unto to you", and I'll mention just more, "all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, BELIIEVING, you shall receive". The teachings of Christianity are based on faith, "no one has seen God at any time", it tells us, so Christians must first have faith that there is a God. In fact they must accept the very belief that Jesus Christ actually lived at all. There is practically no mention of him outside of the Bible. The teachings of Christ however, are excellent and following it will mean a happy life and will also offer all that is needed for the life that follows our transition. Blessings.

The bible says believe, faith and works. This priest has spoken something wrong and sometimes they go to school and study then they speak after their lectures and not fully understand what the bible says. Yes it is our faith but without it we cannot go to Jesus. So in it self it is Jesus Christ who intercedes on our behave. You see because of our sins we cannot go straight to God so it is Jesus who does everything for us. Read your bible my friend and don't believe everything that comes from man mouth remember they all are imprefect.

Hi positiveminded, I always pray to God and he has answered my prays, but I don't believe in what the pope say, that is the reason I have come away from being a catholic because the their religion. Tamara

he is going by research and research shows that people who actually have faith and believe in something that they are more successful at getting it than people who are not. People who have faith they will be cured from a disease have a better outcome that those who decide that they will die from the same disease and so on, but I do think that it is rather odd that priest would say that.

I find it hard to understand why a person of faith would doubt prayers work. I have been around some people like that who call them selves religous. Some times prayers are answered and we do not even realize it. I have known people who the doctors could not help and they said their was no hope for the person Yet people prayed for them and the person recovers completely. There have been times in my life that were really difficult and I would pray and pray but could not see the benefit of the prayer and would feel like I was making a wasted effort. I would then have something happen even worse like lose a job. But then I would get an even better job. God answered my prayers. It was just hard to see at the time. But looking back I can see many times in my life that God has answered my prayers when I did not realize it at the time it happened.

Both " Faith" and "Belief that GOD exists" are in fact inter connected and can not be disjoints. Ok, BTW, What happened to " FAITH". She has not turned to mylot for months together. Any PM's from her to you. Take care friend. GOD BLESS U

i believe that god exists.. and he and he alone is capable to answer my prayers. i read a lot of self-help books, but i still believe that god is the one who answers your prayers, if you're truthful, and honest in your wishes.. some people say that god doesnt answer all your wishes - true, i think it is because god knows best !.. we may think what we ask for, is want we need, but i believe god knows and plans for us as he sees best - what we think we need + want, and wish and pray for, maynot necessarily be the best for us in the long run... so even if i dont get what i want - even after praying so hard for it.. i just believe god does listen, and he will answer my prayers when he deems i deserve it.

I believe that the act of acknowledging what you wish for and asking for it opens up your mind to the possibilities around you so that you are more likely to find what you are looking for yourself. If you don't know what you want, you'll not know if you've found it! When I was a teenager there was a family who attended my Mum's church. They worked entirely for the church, and were unpaid. However, they managed to maintain themselves and wanted for little. When they needed something, they prayed for it and somehow something would always turn up for them. I'm not saying that God did not have a part in this, but when they acknowledged their needs and prayed for them they also tended to let other people know what they were praying for. Of course, people were glad to help once they knew what sort of help would be appreciated. I guess what I'm saying is God may be the conduit, but it's friends, neighbours and the other people around us who actually come up with the goods and they are far more likely to do so if they know what we want. If we have faith in our prayers (or whatever we wish to call them) being answered, I think we're more likely to make them public knowledge and they are therefore more likely to be answered positively. I also wanted to make a point about the power of one's own mind, but I'm struggling to make myself clear. I always try and word these responses when there's far too much distraction going on around me! Whether it makes sense or not I don't know, but I'm thinking along the lines of your own mind recognising more possibilities once a need has been acknowledged and prayed for. If I acknowleded that I needed a new raincoat, then been given one I'd probably then think that my prayers had been answered. If I had not acknowledged that need I'd have still been thrilled to receive a raincoat but not attributed it to my faith. Had I prayed for a raincoat, I might also attribute finding an umbrella on the train to my faith, thinking along the lines that God wished to provide me with one instead of a raincoat because in his wisdom he decided it was a better option for me.

I believe both. If we focus on something we are telling the universe, God the source or what ever you want to call it that that is your desire. But many of us focus on things we don't want and yet we are surprised when we getting what we don't want.

One - My take is that self - help books are written mostly by athiests or they would be God- help books. Two - Priests are human and can make mistakes, he should not determine how much YOU love God. Three - Their are a lot of different Cristian interpretations so you could try another and see if you like it better. Seventh-Day Adventist like me for example are different from the R.C.

From what you wrote I wonder how much Faith those Catholic priest have themselves to talk like that. If they didn't help you to get closer to God and have more Faith in Him you were in the wrong place. I mean missionaries would have a lot to teach you on the subject of Faith. Good luck on your journey with God.

I strongly believe that there is a God.When I pray I dont ask for anything in Particular I just generally seek blessing. I Have faith and I believe in the law of attraction.I believe in positive thinking. I strongly believe what comes around goes around. That is, if we do some good without any expectation surely something good will happen for us.I really cannot explain whether it is God or my faith or anything else, still life goes on.The road is not always smooth as we expect there are hurdles which I manage to cross.

I really don't know how it works but having faith in God everytime you have problems are the best. No one can tell when he will give you what you want or when he will take the things that you have. But be strong, because God can always make it happen to you. Believe is all you need! God never disappoint anyone!

In my religion, we are taught that we should pray from our heart. I mean if we ask the God wholeheartedly to give us something that we want, the God will accept our prayer and give it. Indeed, sometime the God does not give it directly. If so, it does not mean that our prayer is denied, but the God only want to test how patient we are. :D

I am sorry that you had an experience that cost you your faith. The Catholic priests seem to have an innate ability to do that to people. But that's another discussion altogether. Prayers are answered by God. 1 John 3:22 says "Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we are observing His commandments and are doing the things that are pleasing in His eyes." While our faith gives us confidence that we will receive what we ask for it is still God who answers our prayers.

Hello. I understand your opinion on such. I am a Roman Catholic. We were raised by our parents to be a God-fearing person. We do go to church every sunday attending family mass. When I was in grade school me and my mom always pray with rosary but it stopped when I'm in high school maybe because my mom got busy with us. But still we used to go in church every sunday.I always pray to God but not all my prayers were granded. I am already 20 years old now and upon reading bible and attending sunday mass, I realized that the reason why not all of our prayers were granted by God is just because God doesn't give what we want, but instead he gave us what we need.God is so powerful that those things that we don't ask him of something that we need,he do gave it to us. But ofcoures prayers always works. As a human being we do have different beliefs and stand in life especially when it comes to religion. But sometimes we need to be very wise in choosing the right one.Happy mylotting!