Why Doesn't God Answer Prayers? More Excuses



Somewhere there must be a "standard list of sermon topics" preachers use to rotate their sermon topics. One topic that is covered over and over in the Christian press is why the faithful should not expect God to answer all their prayers all the time. It seems like it comes up more often these days. Could it be there is more doubt than in previous times?

The theme of many sermons is that God is there to help after a tragedy happens. In the link, we learn God is there for the long run, eternity, so current events that go bad and kill loved ones need to be put in a broader perspective. Where, then, does the admonition to "pray" have some benefit? Why are there signs along roads from coast to coast that say, "PRAYER WORKS?" In what way does it "work?"

An ex preacher said one of the things he most disliked about being a preacher was the requirement to write a sermon each time there was a national disaster that, "Took God off the hook." It seems to me it is no longer are requirement for times of national disaster, it is all day every day.

The idea that God is "all powerful" and "loves us" but allows the finest of believers to die early miserable deaths is just one of the many unresolved dilemmas that preachers and Christian pundits have to deal with. There is a simple solution: Stop referring to the Bible as "the word of God" and treat it as just another piece of ancient literature written by people who know little about science and were steeped in superstition. Preachers would be more helpful by stopping the practice of asking the flock to pray for the family who suffered a death and ask them, instead, to express sympathy and send over a casserole. 

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