#1 and #2 Try Praying and Statistically Analyze Prayer - basically, pray a prayer asking God to heal all the cases of cancer in the world overnight, wake up in the morning, and realize it didn't come to pass. Oh dear, Jesus is lying. He said, "Ask and you shall receive". He doesn't exist?
Does this mean that God does not answer prayers, God does not have the power to answer prayers, or that God does not exist?
They quote several verses, such as,
In Matthew 18:19 Jesus says:
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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. For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
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And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord
will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may
be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
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All things are possible to him who believes.
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For with God nothing will be impossible.
If you are an intelligent, rational human being, all of the examples mentioned above show you that the God of the Bible is imaginary. The Bible clearly promises that God answers prayers. Yet when we pray, nothing happens (for a complete discussion proving that nothing happens, please see this page). What Jesus says about prayer in the Bible clearly is not true. Therefore, one of two things must be happening:
- God is imaginary.
- God does exist, but he never answers prayers. Unfortunately, God is defined by the Bible to be a prayer-answering being. The contradiction between the reality of God and the definition of God proves that God is imaginary.
Basically, it's the "pray to prove God argument".
Here are my points:
1) Sickness, death, and disaster come about because man is in rebellion against God. Man is therefore under the law of death and sickness and has no power over it. The reason bad things happen is because man is rebelling against God, and so God cannot protect him. God keeps true to His nature and to His promises by condemning evil and wickedness. Man only reaps what he sows. If you sow wickedness, you reap death, sickness, and destruction. Hitler is in HELL, not sleeping peacefully away, and so is every man who has done any wrong at all. Sickness is in the world because of sin - one little prayer is not going to change that. Only the salvation, victory, and ressurection of Jesus Christ can.
2) A God that you could prove would be an idol (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). An idol is a creation of man's mind and is subordinate to man. Man is a creation of God and is subordinate to Him. The very "wholly other" and "set-apart" nature of God is unprovable, Just as a baby in the womb cannot prove the existence of his mother, because he is much smaller than the mother, yet is entirely dependent on her, even so we are entirely dependent on God for life itself. He sustains the universe. The mind or eye of man is too small, too insignificant, too subordinate, to comprehend or prove God. If God were not to exist, we would cease to exist. If we would cease to exist, yea, even all the universe cease to exist, God would yet be. That's the whole "idea", if you want to call it that, of God.
3) Elaboration on point 2) - praying to prove God will not work because God is not going to stoop down and prove himself to an arrogant fool. James Chapter 1 says you will only have your request (in this case wisdom) fulfilled by God if you , "...ask in faith, with no doubting". Again James 5, quoted above, says that "The prayer of faith will save the sick." Again also in the verse quoted from John 14:12-14. Christians don't need to pray to God and seek proof of His existence. (Hebrews 11). We need to trust God as who He is and depend on His word. We believe that all things Invisible, Spiritual and of God are a greater reality than the visible, physical, tangible realm. The nature of faith is a gift from God. The ability to believe and trust in God is given by God. (Ephesians 2).
4) With God nothing is impossible. However, He can be very independent of man. Is God your servant for you to order around? God has a will, a perfect will. He does all things as He desires and as it pleases him? Do you dare to order God around? God does His will, not man's. Prayer is petitioning God, the same as a man covering before a king, begging for something. That's how humble we ought to be in prayer. God hears our prayer, but is our prayer in His will? We can pray lots of things, but are we praying in His will? God answers the prayer of the faithful, of His children, of His disciples, and of those who cry out to Him in distress. God does whatever He likes because all that He does is perfect.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Rom 10:13)
5) God does what He promises. And He tells His prophets before doing anything. His Word fulfills what He sets out to do. When we tell God to do THIS thing NOW, otherwise we won't believe in Him, this shows how little we know of Him. Again, God never promised to heal all cancer cases overnight. Nor is that in His expressed will or Word. He does, promise, that He is the Healer. In fact, in the Torah with Israel He promised that if they obeyed Him, He would put none of Egypt's diseases on them... if they obeyed Him. We see God smiting people for their sin, even His people, smiting people that they might turn to Him, or healing people for His own glory and acclamation.
Everything I cry out to God for something, for example, for the electricity or running water to come back, or for the runaway chickens to come home, I beg Him. I don't pray hoping to see proof of His greatness. I believe in His supremacy. And sometimes He does do it, in His own time and way to teach me something, or He does not do it. I cry out to Him, and He hears my voice and acts according to His Own Will. I trust Him that He knows best.
A provable God is an idol. A god that can be proved by the minds of man is a god originating from the minds of man, and that god does not exist.
