You're Doing it Wrong!

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." - 1 Samuel 15:29

Tell me again how prayer works. If you have faith in God, then you hold a belief that your communication with God (either directly or via an intermediary) can make a difference in the outcome of a situation. However, you also hold a belief that God is perfect, just, and unchanging and that He cares what happens to His creation. When God gets it in His head that something is going to happen, it's going to happen.

Oh sure, there have been "righteous" people in the past who have bargained and haggled with God over His decisions and He catered to their limited knowledge and let them figure out for themselves that eventually God will do what God does regardless of how you feel about it or how earnestly you ask for a change of mind. God doesn't change His mind.

God also doesn't reveal His plans. Those are for Him to know and you to find out...after it's all over. He's a secret-keeper. Even when it's something that's going to affect you or the ones you love.

Think about this: you're a child and your dad says, "let's get in the car, I have a surprise!" You don't know what he's got in mind, but you know from past experience that it's probably something like a trip to the park or Chuck E. Cheese, so you climb in the car and sit in silent anticipation. But then your dad wipes out an entire civilization. Are you OK with that?

How about if your dad lets you know in advance that he's going to wipe these people out and allows you to present arguments as to why he shouldn't, but then ultimately ends up killing them all anyway? Are you OK with that? Did bartering make you feel any better about it?

The truth is, people have been praying to God (or gods, or goddesses, or demons, or stone statues) for thousands - perhaps millions - of years with no effect. Then, when the inevitable happens they just throw up their arms and say, "well, God's mysterious!" When will you realize that prayer only works if it's accompanied by decisive action - and that the decisive action alone will yield the same result? Everything else is just talking to yourself.