christians - regarding your answers on prayer...the question now is?

Question

Thank you to all who responded - minus those who seem rude.
After reading through the replies I am still at a loss. So Christians pray for a variety of reasons from what I have gathered - makes sense obviously. But God doesn't NEED your prayers, nor does He wait for them, etc. I mean, that's just putting a human concept to God. This makes little sense to me. As a Christian I prayed to get closer, to ask for forgiveness, and to worship. As a Muslim I pray to get closer, and mainly to worship. I do ask for forgiveness after the prayer in an informal talk with God we call a du'a. Muslims believe that it is simply by the Mercy of God that we are saved. Logical. How merciful is He? 70,000x more merciful than your own mother. Basically it's incomprehensible. We strive to do what is right and have faith in Him. This all makes sense to me. What doesn't make sense is a Christian who prays to God for forgiveness when he/she is already forgiven anyway.

Ok so even though Jesus died for your sins you still have to ask for forgiveness just in case? This just isn't logical to me. I don't mean to offend. Just trying to understand better.

Frankly...
Perhaps you aren't aware that you are stereotyping all Muslims based on senseless unislamic actions of a few psychos.... do your homework.

Hunter -
Did I say I was worried? I'm attempting to understand the logic here. It's called learning. This is a place for questions and answers, right?

Answer 1

Sometimes when I pray I am simply talking to God.

Sometimes when I pray I am asking Him to forgive me for saying a bad word when I hit my finger, or that really bad word I said when the car door closed on my son's arm.. or when I lose my temper and have an argument with someone.. we all commit those kinds of sins and should ask Him to forgive them (I guess it's kind of like saying "God, please excuse the foul language... etc")

Then there's the kind of prayer we pray when we need His strength, when a loved one is sick or hurt. We pray the prayers of thanks for the blessings God has given us, and we pray for other people, whether it be our loved ones or our enemies.

Praying is what brings us closer to God, and He may not need them, we do. He may not wait for them, realizing that He knows what we need, but no matter the reason, we should pray.

Answer 2

You strive to do good, right? Do you always do good? What do you do when you aren't good? I'd think there is a forgiveness you have to ask for. You have the mercy part right. We are all saved by mercy. It's continual now that Jesus did what he did. Otherwise we'd be under the law as laid out in the old testament. Prayer is our only way to access Gods mercy and grace and make our requests known to Him. Prayer is written of and demonstrated throughout the bible. The prophets, David and all through the new testament and most of all, Jesus himself. Obviously it's critical because it moves God on our behalf. Does God need it? No. We do. We aren't praying into the air. You're talking to God just as you would anyone else. But remember, God knows our heart (intentions) so idle words are meaningless.

And as far as trying to do what is right? That's the biggest difference between Christianity and all other religions. Our goodness is not accepted by God based on our own striving. Otherwise our pride allows us to boast of our own deeds. We are pure before God ONLY because of Jesus. Our works are a result of our relationship to God and come not of our own doing. If you were a Christian, you must have forgotten to read Romans or had a misunderstanding of it. That one book will explain that concept better than any post here. When we mess up, we know it and are moved to confession because there is something inside that compels it. (Holy Spirit)

Answer 3

Forgiveness isn't automatic; it must be sought Asking for forgiveness shows repentance. Without repentance there can be no forgiveness. For God to pardon an unrepentant sinner would be for Him to accept sin, which is absurd.

That's why Muhammad can't be the prophet of God, as Muslims claim: he was totally unrepentant of his many, many crimes. He was, therefore, a false prophet.

By the way, how can you say you "were a Christian" when you obviously don't have a clue about Christian prayer? I think you're a liar. You were never a Christian, and you're not a woman (Muslim women are forbidden by Muslim men to access the Internet).

Answer 4

Well it was my understanding that a person's sins were forgiven up to the point that they got saved, and that we are sinners by nature and its inour DNA and continue to sin, and so must ask forgiveness for our sins, even if we can't remember all of them. How can you change what you do not know about or claim in the name...? I understand prayer as a way to communicate with God, to thank God for everything he has done for me...thru prayer all day long. Its a nice format of talking to God respectfully. I pray for others, so i get my mind off of myself and try to realize that i am not the only person who has problems on the earth. It is really neat to see that prayer works, even though I know that God already knows what I will say and had already ordained an answer for that prayer a long time ago. There is also the law of cursing and blessing in prayer, when someone cuts me off, I bless them and try to never curse them, if they are worthy of the blessing (like a prayer) then they get blessed, if they are not, then the blessing comes back to me, if I curse them the same rule applies, its kind of like the wicca's rule of three. Prayer is important for the sinner not for God persay.

Answer 5

In Christian theology, there are two parts to "forgiveness". In 1 John 1:9, it is stated "when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

It is like a while back when one of kinds, having just gotten a driver's license, got herself a speeding ticket in the first week. As her dad, I stepped in and paid the fine for her. That is something I could do without her permission or co-operation. The first part of forgiveness is like that. Jesus' actions on the cross paid for our sins. It was done without us needing to give permission or to co-operate.

BUT after the ticket was paid, I took her out and we did some more driving together. I helped her with her speed and other areas in which she was still weak. That part could not be done unless my daughter was willing to admit her need and co-operate. It is the same with "forgiveness". God is not satisfied just to pay the fine. He also want to change the heart and habits that led to the sin - to cleanse us from that unrighteousness. But that part requires our co-operation. We have to "confess the sin" - admit that there is a problem that needs to be dealt work before he can not anything.

So when a Christian "confesses sin", it is not as much for the purpose of being 'forgiven", that was done by the mercy of God at the cross. It is more an admission of our need for cleansing and help in that area so that we can avoid the sin in the future.

Answer 6

"For" as a prefix means:
for-
a prefix meaning “away,” “off,” “to the uttermost,” “extremely,” “wrongly,” or imparting a negative or privative force.

Religion means "retie." The part about being on God's side is one thing. But, for one reason or another, we tend to get in each other's way when it comes to saving and preserving life, which is a fundamental task of living. Therefore, we need to pass our mistakes up the line of responsibility so that the damage is limited and even used to make improvements. Therefore, as Galatians 2:18 explains justification, "If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker." This means covering things over. In fact, the English word "hell" is derived from Anglo-Saxon "helan" meaning "to cover." If it results in fever, I think this explains the way that hell has been depicted in paintings in a literalistic style. I think it also explains sexual attraction if Bible guidelines are not followed. All of human life is supposed to be literate. Jesus was the Word or Logos. God speaks. A metaphor means bearing the meaning of a word over to another. It's like plugging a value into a different computer program. Whether the Jesus story has been told badly, whether the Lord's Prayer makes sense to individuals etc. is not as important as what Christian values represent to people. It's not whether you're being paid for what you're doing, it's whether you're upholding family, affection for children, respect for food, love of a good debate and a search for confidence in one's own perception of morality. Forgiveness is, therefore, permission to continue in these pursuits without fear of hindrance from those who could hinder if they so chose. This includes God.

Although there are scriptures that say that God puts our sins far off from us, that's not the point. God forgives us. We are his offspring. Offspring literally means "spring off." We can spring off when we are forgiven. He lets us "leave the nest" and find our own way, even though we might feel like going back to foetal position again.

Answer 7

Well not quite.
Christians are forgiven for their sins if they except Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Also they must live the lifestyle. Christians ask for forgiveness because no one is perfect. Under those conditions will God forgive us. & Just because he doesn't forgive an individual doesn't mean he doesn't care about them. If he didn't care he wouldn't have given them a chance to repent and accept Christ.

God loves us all so much that he gave his only begotten son.

Answer 8

Did not King David say if I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not here. And if i have unconfessed sin he will sharpen his sword. Read the Book of Psalms and you will find Gods King, Servant and Prophet asking for forgiveness of sin continually. Read 1st thru 3rd John, Peter and James and also the Book of Hebrews. You will find your answers. A good start is 1st John 2:1. If you read, you will find many people in the Bible asking for forgiveness many times. Did not Peter say unto Jesus "Depart from me oh Lord, for I am a sinful man. Read also Ezekiel 3:14-21

Answer 9

The Basis of Praying, From a different view, is really thanking. Thanking God for the creation that he has unfolded for us, or even for the friends and family that surround us. Being thankful to God is, to me, getting close. We all know it is very hard to "Walk" with God, but playing "Catch up" is also has its perks. By that I mean knowing that he looks after you when everything around fails. (And it does.) Knowing that when it rains on you, you'll always find the rainbow hovering at the end of it. And the greatest thing is when love fails from our counterparts, it never ceases from the Almighty. (Did I mention God is merciful?? LoL...) That is a lot to be thankful for!

Answer 10

the only clean and stunning and obtrusive solutions are those 4: a million.) there are a number of, many Gods. (This, of direction, is a marginally non-Christian reaction.) OR 2.) God is perplexed. (returned, no longer somewhat the brainwashed Christian ideas-set.) OR 3.) guy is perplexed. (nicely, in accordance to Christians, all men/women people who are not Christians are perplexed -- very intense delusional, schizophrenic thinking right here.) OR 4.) there is not any God in any respect. (Oops, no longer too Christian the two.) So the only existence like and sensible opportunities positioned God thoroughly interior the area of myth!!! and that's strictly the place the various God(s) belong -- precise alongside with Santa and the teeth Fairy!!!