Yet another question about God/prayers/belief?

Question

Yesterday asked a question about atheist and someone gave me a pretty cool answer that said that people stop believing because something traumtic happens to them.... So I was thinking .... isn't that a good enough reason? If you constantely worship and praise get during your good times, then when dark times come that deity isn't there then why bother?

EDIT - For those who are going to say "you shouldn't love god for the rewards" ... Why should we praise him then? I kinda don't have time to do that when I'm trying to get myself out a tough situation

Answer 1

I've been struggling with the hard to deny idea that all worship is in some way a selfish act. It's hard to separate the belief of reward from the act.

Someone here some time ago asked whose good deeds are more sincere, the man who believes he is watched and rewarded or the man who believes neither.

Those of us with children know that when we have to monitor and bribe our children to do what we want it does not compare to how we feel when they surprise us by doing good without.

In a way I wish that the bible had left out all references to a reward.

Answer 2

There are so many levels in the human mind that can motivate a person to worship God. Some of these can be considered to wrong reasons. While others can be considered the 'right' reasons.

The right reasons for worshiping God include:
1) Because you love Him.
2) Because you respect Him.
3) Because you know it pleases Him.
4) Because you that His some of His promises are conditional, they require an act of faith (which is a form of worship) in order to fill a portion of the transaction.
5) A spontaneous reaction to the urgings of His Spirit.

So reward can be a part of the reason. But nothing is done that actually pleases Him if trust is not applied to the act, as in a claiming of a particular promise from Him.

Answer 3

Actually I became Atheist because I read the Bible. It is not logical and conflicts with itself so much. The Christians I knew at the time weren't true believers in my mind. They didn't adhere to the teachings and a good bunch were not very nice people.

After traumatic events it is most likely for a person to turn to the Bible and religion because they become frightened and begin looking for help. Lots of cancer traumatized people turn to faith healers in Mexico and the Philippines.


MT4grace -- God sent us out of the Garden of Eden to suffer the realities of this world. Right?

Answer 4

Honestly...I think that people should pray more when they are going through tough times rather then when they are happy. At least for me, it makes me feel better. Makes me feel like there's someone out there who cares and is listening to me. I believe it is more important to pray to God and thank him for the good in your life especially when you are going through a hardship. It helps you focus on the good things and it gives you hope. When dark times comes its the worst time to lose faith whether or not there really is a God out there. I think that what counts is that you have something that you believe in and that in itself helps you get through whatever problems you may have.

Answer 5

the ingredient is with this Troll ingredient,is that returned interior the day in 1992 while there became a information provider called usenet,or information superhighway relay chatand a troll ,likened to a monster like ingredient that for the period of uncomplicated terms haunted one subject remember in uncomplicated terms and say could be a 'spellchecker'-became the definition of a troll. on yahoo solutions,i'm uncertain what a real troll is,as each so often its people who fake to be associates yet you actual locate one is secretly jealous that the different has greater factors and comments their 'mate' each post.Then says ,'hi how are you' on a daily basis.-that is fairly sickening extremely then you definately've networked Trollingwar game human beings say they have a 'backup account',while in actuality theytheir approximately 24 debts and 'wargame' those'regulate egos' of each account ,being different sides of thier personas they do no longer want others to know.. So in case you place your self in yahoos footwear i realy think of that is going to be confusing while say they get 30 lawsuits approximately one post (that are malicious) and a million checklist on a post (that is justifiable),i think of that the quantity of lawsuits actual gets human beings barred-for( mischievios reasons or no longer) Aparently an excellent form of folk have been laid off at yahoo,so a number of its 'judgements' are made via computers. and that's what i belive is incorrect with this 'kind' please do no longer checklist me :@) lol

Answer 6

for me as a Muslim... I was taught to be patience no matter what happen bcoz all of what happen in our life are tests from Almighty God.. For Muslim, we have greater target than just pursuing our life now.. that is the afterlife or Judgement Day.. So no matter what happened, we must always hold our beliefs based on al-Quran and as-Sunnah left for us. U have to endure and try to overcome problems without giving up hope. There is always goodness behind anything happened. If u throw ur belief and trust, u will be just like goats without a shepherd... no one cares about u.. So... u must always pray and never give up hope to Almighty God.. for Muslims, ALLAH Subhanahu Wa Taala...

Answer 7

Who says God's not there in the hard times? Is it because He doesn't work the situation out the way you think it ought to be worked out? Read Job and how God handled questions like yours. I think I can sum it up by saying that it is awfully presumptive for a finite, limited being to question the motives of an infinte, unlimited, all-knowing being who created him beyond a certian point. God can, however, withstand these questions. Search the scriptures. See what God has to say about Himself before you trust in the opinions of men.

Answer 8

I think it's self delusional to think we know much about God. We don't understand God (although some claim they do), and it's not a good idea to hold God to our standards. I've been guilty of that myself, but I always seem to come to my senses later. I also respect the beliefs of others, including atheists. When you get right down to it, what the bleep do we know? Not as much as we think we do, especially when it comes to God.

Answer 9

Well, since my God is the God of the bible, look at 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, in which He uses the word comfort/consolation 7 times. He says the He is the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation. He never said there wouldn't be tribulation or trials, just that He would be our comforter through them.

He didn't create this world for us to have trouble, He created us to be with Him and not have trouble. We invited the trouble with our choices.

If people stop believing maybe they need to check out my God. He is the God of the living, not the dead (Luke) and He comforts us as we live through anything.

For the guy who answered after me:

Actually, we were kicked out because we made a choice to disobey Him. We (human kind in the form of Adam and Eve) chose even though the warning was given. Dying thou shalt surely die. They had died a spiritual death that day, allowing their total communion with God to be ended, beginning a new life outside the confines that God had given them for their enjoyment and protection.

It is easy to read the Bible and get confused. God says He uses the simple things to confound the wise - those who are searching for their own ends, not His. You have to look with the heart of a child, with faith, looking for truth, not for justification of your own wants or deeds. He says to knock and He will answer. You just have to want to find the truth, even if it defines your actions as vile and full of sin. Because the truth is that we are born into it. We have no choice in the matter as to the fact that we do sin. We DO have a choice to continue that sin or accept the free gift that is God's plan to bring us back to Him in full communion. We all choose.

Answer 10

He's there, we are usually too caught up in our pain and suffering and anger to see it. Looking back over my life I see it was the times that I suffered that I grew the most and always there was a blessing that came from it, that helped someone else besides myself. And when I see others going through things I can identify with them and better cofort them.