How come when I bribe God with prayer it never works?
829772
Because when you already have the universe and are still asking for more, you make yourself miserable.
1149421
No it cannot work UNLESS it is God's will... \n\nTherefore pray that you will be in God's will and if you need the money He will show you a way to obtain it or he will gift it to you...
229996
absolutely! He doesn't want to listen to all that monotonous babbeling day in day out. He will simply ignore it. personally I'm not big on prayer, however I am constantly informed that the best way to reach God is to simply talk to Him as you would engage anyone in proper conversation. this makes far more sense to me.
340827
There are a few ingredients to the "prayer formula".  There is agreement:  Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."  There is asking, and asking with the correct motives in mind:  James 4:2-3 "2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."  Faith is the final key.  If you truly expect to receive what you ask, chances are you will.  God is not so callous as to reject your pleas entirely.  A.)  God never piles on more than we can handle, and B.)  God's will is a mystery we may hope to someday unravel, but right now have to deal with what we DO know.  Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
463784
Absolutely.  Prayer is nonsensical and completely ineffective.  Why would anyone think it worth praying for something to a god who (supposedly) always knows best?  Why would said god ever give someone what they pray for if it wasn't already what he wanted in the first place?
999303
basically god always wants you to try helping yourself first as best as you can then pray to him. after that? patientce and have faith ;)
825637
How do we know that "answered prayers" are illusions? We simply perform scientific experiments. We ask a group of believers to pray for something and then we watch what happens. What we find, whenever we test the efficacy of prayer scientifically, is that prayer has zero effect: \n\nIt does not matter who prays. \nIt does not matter if we pray to God, Allah, Vishnu, Zeus, Ra or any other human god. \nIt does not matter what we pray about. \nIf we perform scientific, double-blind tests on prayer, and if the prayers involve something concrete and measurable (for example, healing people with cancer), we know that there is zero effect from prayer. Every single "answered prayer" is nothing more than a coincidence. Both scientific experiments and your everyday observations of the world show this to be the case every single time.\n\nDon't hold your breath on Iraq.
1025572
It really doesn't work that way.  First, you need to make a sincere commitment to God, not just say a weak prayer.  Second, since you have been involved in an addictive lifestyle, like promiscuous heterosexuals, drugs and alcohol, it is a struggle you will have all of your life.  I still struggle with my own sinfulness 20 years down the road, so, even if God can and does miracles, you need to prepare for the long run...and it may be a long and hard one.  Hope you get serious one day.  Blessings.
815069
Because you have not allowed the saintly worshipping of jesus christ swallow your entire life. Allow prayer take over your life and you will be fulfilled with heveanly wisdom. May the power of christ compell you!
1054578
prayer give a 10%to god
1012753
I have found that the answer to our prayer is a lot closer that you think. You can not pimp God. He is sovereign. He will answer your prayer. Maybe you feel like he's not answering you 'cause your focus is on the answer and not him. When you put your focus totally on him and continue to live a life that is pleasing to him, your answer will be sitting at your feet. Focus on God and getting all the mess people can't see like envy, anger, hate, jealousy, covetousness, and the list goes on. We are all a work in progress, but when we take the time to build our relationship with him, instead of asking or "praying" for things, all our desire will be met. Now don't get me wrong, pray.... ask God for what you want and need. Just be prepared and ready to accept ,if he say not now or NO! You are not crazy or confused; life and death are in the power of the tongue. You are Godly person seeking Godly wisdom. Focus on you and everything will have changed because you have..............When what's important to God becomes important to you then what's important to you becomes important to God!=) tRust God even when he feels far away because you know he is always there never to leave you nor forskae you....BE Blessed
710023
i dont think u should get discouraged, even though it comes really easy sometimes...all u need to do is never give up on your prayers...maybe its not the right timing for GOD to tell you, because there are times in life when GOD could easily answer our prayers and easily tell us the cut and dry answer, but maybe HE cant trust you with all the answers yet. GOD always answers prayers, maybe not in the way that we think HE will, but HE always comes through. I mean, I've been praying for GOD to send me a guy to spend my life with, but the guy probably wont be anyone i expect or wont come the exact time i think he should, you know?? just hold tight and stay steadfast in your prayers...>>love<<
471390
The prayer's so powerful. You just have to have faith when you pray. Our prayer's always heard by God. He never forgotten nor ignore us. Things just don't happen right away. God let things to happen according to His plans and not according to our own will. Sometimes, you'll be surprised cuz He'll give you better and bigger than what you've asked for.
264544
What I have experienced is answered prayer; maybe not as instant or as dramatic. I have prayed sometimes for situations that seemed impossible, and God answered in such a beautiful way. I can think of so many problems that have been solved, because they looked like they would have a bad outcome, but prayers, have turned it around. It restores my belief in praying, even more than ever, when I realize that miracles like this DO happen. I'm sure that in some way, somewhere, God is still creating these miracles. Some don't believe it to be true; but that's ok...I think that great FAITH is a requirement for miracles like this to happen. God Bless you and your friend.
141769
If we had an e-mail telling us what to do every day, we wouldn't have to exercise our faith.  Also, imagine what could happen if we got that daily e-mail and then didn't do what it said.  We'd be in deep trouble for going against such clear instruction.\n\nI have also struggled with hearing the answers to prayers.  I've found that praying that I'll be able to discern the answers has helped me.  Also, there are many scriptures that explain how the Holy Spirit communicates with us.  One that I like is Galatians 5:22-23.  In addition to the things described in those verses, I've found that God often works through my desires by increasing my desire to do good things, and He also sometimes puts ideas into my mind.\n\nKeep praying!
1021191
Prayer like any other of "invocations" to a higher power relies purely on focus and intent.  Many people pray but do it "just because" then there are those who truely believe in prayer.  The other factor is the reciever of the prayer.  You can pray all you want but if the person doesn't wish it then it falls to the ground like so much chaff.  If it was shown to actually not work it wouldn't stop me,  I am a witch and we don't pray we do spellwork.  Although similar it is different.
417369
Many people do not understand prayer; a large majority of people pray selfishly, so, when they preceive their prayer not answered immediately they feel like "god has forsaken me", or that prayer does not work.\n\nPersonally, I beleive in the power and strength of prayer. However, I also understand god may not always give me what I want but always what I need.\n\nAs a person who believes in the power of prayer, I included those who don't in my prayers with a hope that one day they will understand.