My friend says there has NEVER been a prayer that's been answered. Is she right?

Question

My friend Sherry is a non-believer. She said to me the other day that there has never in history been a prayer that was answered. She said it was all wishful thinking. To prove her point she mentioned the holocaust and 9/11. Surely those people prayed in the camps for deliverance, and the people stuck in the twin towers did too. There prayers went unanswered. Surely if God can move mountains he could have saved those innocent people. I didn't have a comeback to prove her wrong on her points. What do you think?

Answer 1

Maybe you've forgotten that the Bible is a historical reference and a well documented one at that.
Do you remember when Jesus prayed to Yahweh (Jehovah) God to raise Lazarus up from the dead?
What about the prayer of young King Solomon to Yahweh God? Did he not ask for knowledge and wisdom and understanding and was he not the wisest man known?
Just these two answered prayers shows that God gave us examples so that we can use the Bible as a teaching and learning tool no matter our age or race.
There are many other answered prayers in there, and the main one yet to come is The Lord's Prayer, where we ask God to let His Name be sanctified/made known as Holy, to let His Will be done just as in Heaven also on earth and to let His Kingdom come.

Answer 2

Your friend is totally way off base in this belief. The holocaust and 9/11 can be retorted off as well, using this argument (which of course may not work if she is non-believing)...
For one thing, God does not control people's actions. While he could have, we have been given agency for this life, and people are free to make their own choices. The Holocaust and 9/11 were both man-caused events, they were not natural events. Secondly, Heaven is a far more desirable place to live (see Doctrine & Covenants... you may not like this answer since it's from an LDS perspective, but I'm right) ... maybe God wanted those people back in Heaven at that time. Their prayers didn't go unanswered, they were answered with "You know what, it's better up here. People have agency, they will suffer their own consequences for what they are doing." He could have saved those innocent people if he had wanted to, definitely. I assure you, God hears and answers everyone's prayers. Another comeback (which again, you may not like because it's from an LDS perspective, but this really happened too) God protected Joseph Smith from all of the mobs and everything (see D&C, Joseph Smith - History). Also, he protected Nephi (his brothers wanted to slay him, they couldn't touch him though... see 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi), he protected Abinadi (the servants of the wicked King Noah couldn't do anything to him until Abinadi was done teaching... see Mosiah). I promise you that all this is true, and God hears and answers our prayers.

Pinkadot makes a good point as well about those in the Holocaust and 9/11... how can we know what they were praying for? I know my prayers have been answered, I know many others' prayers have been answered. Prayer is how I've had it witnessed to me that the Book of Mormon and the LDS religion is true... I testify that prayers can be and are always answered. Good luck convincing your friend.

Answer 3

Prayers are answered, but not always in the way WE think they should be. Sometimes I have prayed for things and it didn't happen (like a new job or something) or my answer took longer than I wanted or I didn't get the answer that I wanted. But, we all have to realize that WE don't know what is best for us, God does. If it is his will, then our prayers will be one with the answer. If we need something or want something that is not in accordance with his will, most likely we will get a "no" answer or simply we will forget about the question or move on if it was not important anyways.
On the subject of 9/11 and the Holocaust, yes I am sure those people prayed...a lot. We live in a world were bad things happen because of other's choices and unfortunatdly sometimes others are hurt by others actions - which Heavenly Father has to allow their agency so cannot justly "stop" them. I believe the times the Lord does intervene, is when the spreading of the gospel or the building up of his kingdom is being jeopardized.
How do we know their prayers were not answered? What if they prayed to die quickly or that their families would be comforted after they were dead or prayed for comfort themselves???
I can tell you, my prayers have been answered countless times. I know the power of prayer is real and I have prayed about little things from finding something important to me that I lost to knowing if the LDS church is true. I have received real, comforting and firm answers.

Answer 4

I've had plenty of prayers answered, sometimes the answer is no. God does not interfere with the free will that he gave to man that is why he couldn't do anything about the holocaust an 9/11. But those people will have to answer for their actions.

Answer 5

Your friend is correct.

Any prayer that has been answered is only a coincidence... Check it out - if you, say, really really wanted to do well on a test, you would study and pray to God that you pass with flying colors. You end up passing - did God answer your prayer? No - you did. You just gave props to the wrong person... Prayers that "heal" people - 9 out of 10 people healed by faith healers are lame (ill again) within three days...because the placebo affect wears off. And, those prayers to heal cancer that work - no one ever gives kudos to the doctors and kemotherapy that the sufferer also withstood - instead, they attirbute it to God.

Heck - Have YOU ever had a prayer answered? See what I mean...

Answer 6

There' s never been any evidence for a god. Even the believers say "sometimes he answers, sometimes the answer is NO". Big deal. It's no more than random chance if your prayers happen to coincide with what actually happens.

Answer 7

It was the will of god to have 6 million Jews killed, and the attacks on 9/11. God, after all, knew at the time of creation everything that would happen. Therefore he condones it. Oh wait a minute... Christianity is a fairytale... What was I thinking. Look man, "God" had nothing to do with it. It was simply the evil of Man, that made it possible.

Answer 8

I feel so sorry for your Friend and her ignorance What happened at 9/11 and the holocaust was god's will God wanted these people to die Because it was THEIR DAY to pass over Have you or your Friend heard stories of people and the near-death experiences they've had? It's because god's Willl If it is not THEIR TIME then they wil not pass over. So prayer will not do anything if god says it is time for your soul to come out of your body. We as humans cannot (in our prayer)say okay, god don't let (example) my mother die, We cannot pray ourselves out of what god has already arranged for us it is only him (god) that knows best about our destiny.....

Answer 9

When someone prays, they're saying to God, "Could you please just suspend all the laws of nature temporarily so that I can have what I want?". And that never happens. So there is no prayer that has ever been answered. Ill people would have got better anyway, or not. Exams would have been passed, or not. Praying is pointless.

Answer 10

That is right...there are good coincidences...I prayed that my friend would get better and she did...does that mean it was answered? I prayed i would pass the exam and I did...god must hear me! I prayed for it to stop when the neighbour boy molested me and nothing stopped...god has forsaken me...GO SHERRY! SPREAD THE TRUTH!