|
|
Post by Deleted on May 4, 2008 9:02:44 GMT -5
Wish I'd found this thread sooner  I'd love to join up. I've been Christian since I was about nine-ish, and yet I've been procrastinating reading the bible all the way through from beginning to end ever since  Just started some time ago. It's so wacky and wonderful, and I'm only up to book 4, Numbers. Don't anyone ever say that God doesn't have a sense of humour - why else would he have a talking donkey warn Balaam about the great big sword-waving angel in his path What is this about a talking donkey? XD That is something I have GOT to read. ^^; *Hasn't read much of the Old Testament yet* |
|
|
|
Post by KitClairvoyance on May 4, 2008 10:58:36 GMT -5
Wish I'd found this thread sooner I'd love to join up. I've been Christian since I was about nine-ish, and yet I've been procrastinating reading the bible all the way through from beginning to end ever since Just started some time ago. It's so wacky and wonderful, and I'm only up to book 4, Numbers. Don't anyone ever say that God doesn't have a sense of humour - why else would he have a talking donkey warn Balaam about the great big sword-waving angel in his path What is this about a talking donkey? XD That is something I have GOT to read. ^^; *Hasn't read much of the Old Testament yet* Numbers ch. 22. Have fun. ^__^ |
|
|
|
Post by Tk ∆ on May 5, 2008 23:25:02 GMT -5
A couple days ago ( .. I think...) My cousin and her friend were walking along a street and a car passed them.. It had a Yankees Bumper sticker My cousin's friend yelled " the Yankees suck!" after it... then The car turned around and ran them over... My cousin is okay, she's just bruised( both phsyically and emotionally), and my cousin's friend was killed... Could you guys pray for his family and my cousin? I can't imagine what they're going through... This is the link to the news story... |
|
|
|
Post by Sq on May 5, 2008 23:29:56 GMT -5
A couple days ago ( .. I think...) My cousin and her friend were walking along a street and a car passed them.. It had a Yankees Bumper sticker My cousin's friend yelled " the Yankees suck!" after it... then The car turned around and ran them over... My cousin is okay, she's just bruised( both phsyically and emotionally), and my cousin's friend was killed... Could you guys pray for his family and my cousin? I can't imagine what they're going through... Ohhh. My. Lord. They'll definitely be in my prayers. That's just....wow. Ridiculous. *hugs TK* |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 5, 2008 23:56:03 GMT -5
I am definitely the latest signer-upper EVER but, um, sign me up.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nova on May 6, 2008 1:10:23 GMT -5
Thanks for all your prayers regarding the Church Fall accident. My friend, who had a concussion and was heavily sedated is now at home.  Omigosh TK.. I will definitely keep them in my prayers.  That's so horrible... |
|
|
|
Post by sarahleeadvent on May 7, 2008 20:40:26 GMT -5
There is one thing I'd like to mention regarding the requests that have been made for healing-related prayers. One thing I've noticed is that people tend to pray for God to heal them or others, and I don't think that's Biblically accurate. Jesus already healed us on the cross- what we need to do is claim His promises and receive His healing, maybe something along the lines of "I believe Your promises and I have faith that I am healed, and I pray for this healing to manifest in Your chosen time or way". (It's 12:25 at night so this is probably not making much sense- would anybody with knowledge on the subject please help me by clarifying or elaborating?) There's nothing wrong with asking others to pray for healing. It's not that the person has a lack of faith, it's more of a show of support from everyone. In the book of James, Paul wrote: " Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:14-16 KJV) ..We are encouraged to pray for one another because it brings us closer as Christians; after all, it can be very comforting to know that someone else is praying for you. Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have tried to make a deep spiritual statement that late at night. I never said it was wrong to pray for healing; I just said I felt it was kind of off to ask God to give us something He's already given. It's like holding a present in your hands and saying "Please give it to me". And looking at our two quotes, I don't think I said anything that contradicted the verse you contradicted me with; I never claimed that asking God to heal you displayed a lack of faith, only that we were asking for something He'd already given us. By all means, claim God's promise of healing, and ask others to support you with their prayers and faith. I just think it should be done with the knowledge that we are requesting the manifestation of something we already have. But then, that's up to anyone who's interested to read up on, and agree or disagree as they see fit. That's the verse I was basing my statements on- by His stripes we ARE healed. Sorry I didn't clarify enough in that other post- hopefully my meaning came across better this time around. A couple days ago ( .. I think...) My cousin and her friend were walking along a street and a car passed them.. It had a Yankees Bumper sticker My cousin's friend yelled " the Yankees suck!" after it... then The car turned around and ran them over... My cousin is okay, she's just bruised( both phsyically and emotionally), and my cousin's friend was killed... Could you guys pray for his family and my cousin? I can't imagine what they're going through... This is the link to the news story...Now that is beyond idiotic. Sure, the news story says she'd only meant to scare them, but what kind of dumb shmuck is ready to risk somebody's life over a baseball argument? (Or drive when they're drunk enough to do that, for that matter.) I'll definitely be praying for Matthew's family and Maria. |
|
|
|
Post by Bacon on May 7, 2008 21:17:53 GMT -5
There's nothing wrong with asking others to pray for healing. It's not that the person has a lack of faith, it's more of a show of support from everyone. In the book of James, Paul wrote: " Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:14-16 KJV) ..We are encouraged to pray for one another because it brings us closer as Christians; after all, it can be very comforting to know that someone else is praying for you. Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have tried to make a deep spiritual statement that late at night. I never said it was wrong to pray for healing; I just said I felt it was kind of off to ask God to give us something He's already given. It's like holding a present in your hands and saying "Please give it to me". And looking at our two quotes, I don't think I said anything that contradicted the verse you contradicted me with; I never claimed that asking God to heal you displayed a lack of faith, only that we were asking for something He'd already given us. By all means, claim God's promise of healing, and ask others to support you with their prayers and faith. I just think it should be done with the knowledge that we are requesting the manifestation of something we already have. But then, that's up to anyone who's interested to read up on, and agree or disagree as they see fit. That's the verse I was basing my statements on- by His stripes we ARE healed. Sorry I didn't clarify enough in that other post- hopefully my meaning came across better this time around. I don't see anything you or Kit were talking about mention asking for something you've been given. It is off because people don't pray like that. Jesus' death gave us spiritual healing, not physical healing. It's okay to pray for anyone's physical healing, or for an unbeliever's spiritual healing, but if a Christian were to pray for his/her own spiritual healing, that might be off, unless his/her prayer was a confession of sins and he or she was asking for specific forgiveness. Tk ∆, that is terrible. A sign of the state of man, I guess. This world is so messed up. I'll pray for them. |
|
|
|
Post by KitClairvoyance on May 8, 2008 9:49:49 GMT -5
There's nothing wrong with asking others to pray for healing. It's not that the person has a lack of faith, it's more of a show of support from everyone. In the book of James, Paul wrote: " Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:14-16 KJV) ..We are encouraged to pray for one another because it brings us closer as Christians; after all, it can be very comforting to know that someone else is praying for you. Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have tried to make a deep spiritual statement that late at night. I never said it was wrong to pray for healing; I just said I felt it was kind of off to ask God to give us something He's already given. It's like holding a present in your hands and saying "Please give it to me". And looking at our two quotes, I don't think I said anything that contradicted the verse you contradicted me with; I never claimed that asking God to heal you displayed a lack of faith, only that we were asking for something He'd already given us. By all means, claim God's promise of healing, and ask others to support you with their prayers and faith. I just think it should be done with the knowledge that we are requesting the manifestation of something we already have. But then, that's up to anyone who's interested to read up on, and agree or disagree as they see fit. That's the verse I was basing my statements on- by His stripes we ARE healed. Sorry I didn't clarify enough in that other post- hopefully my meaning came across better this time around. xD .. well, that's the thing. We aren't automatically granted physical healing as Bacon said. To take the verse you quoted: Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. He wasn't crucified to take away our physical pain and illnesses, He did it so that we could be cleansed from our sin, giving us spiritual healing. Also, Jesus did say: Ask, and it shall be given you.. (Matthew 7:7)If we don't come to God for it, He won't give it to us. It's not that He's selfish, He just wants us to come to Him. To acknowledge that He is the source of our healing. |
|
|
|
Post by Komori on May 8, 2008 19:13:37 GMT -5
I've updated the member and prayer lists. |
|
|
|
Post by sarahleeadvent on May 8, 2008 20:37:53 GMT -5
I don't see anything you or Kit were talking about mention asking for something you've been given. It is off because people don't pray like that. Jesus' death gave us spiritual healing, not physical healing. It's okay to pray for anyone's physical healing, or for an unbeliever's spiritual healing, but if a Christian were to pray for his/her own spiritual healing, that might be off, unless his/her prayer was a confession of sins and he or she was asking for specific forgiveness. Simply because people don't generally pray a certain way doesn't mean that way is off. You've got me curious, though- when you say that Jesus only healed us spiritually, not physically, what were you basing that on? A verse? A seminar? A devotional? *Hopes it's something I can look up easily because otherwise I just know the procrastinating bug is going to bite my lazy butt* You see, your statement is the opposite of what I was taught- according to the Young's Literal Translation (I love my searchable online Bible- it's so darn handy!): Those illnesses sound pretty physical to me. But anyway, the website is BibleGateway.com, so you can take a look yourself if you feel like it. xD .. well, that's the thing. We aren't automatically granted physical healing as Bacon said. To take the verse you quoted: Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. He wasn't crucified to take away our physical pain and illnesses, He did it so that we could be cleansed from our sin, giving us spiritual healing. Since I'm trying to gain insight into where you're coming from (I hate it when people reject a viewpoint out of hand without looking into it, and I don't want to do that here), I'll ask you the same thing I asked Bacon: where did you read/hear this? I'd like to have a look, if it won't eat into my schedule too badly. I know that quite well- it's a two-way partnership, and if we don't uphold our end, it doesn't work. Shoot, I'd like to be able to give a more in-depth explanation of my viewpoint, but I've got a school assignment I need to get done and several other things and I'm still in the process of reading the book that started me on this topic, so for now I'll just drop my disclaimer and quit stalling on my assignment. **Disclaimer** Just so anyone reading this knows, I'm not trying to Bible-thump or slam anybody's viewpoints through this. *Gets WAY too much of that from my extended family* I just thought the insights in Kenneth Hagin's book Healing Belongs To Us, which is what drew my attention to some of these verses, were interesting and informative, and wanted to share them. |
|
|
|
Post by Bacon on May 8, 2008 20:43:36 GMT -5
It's not that He's selfish, He just wants us to come to Him. Even if He is selfish(which He's not), He has a right to be. Fortunately for all of us, God is merciful rather than selfish. |
|
|
|
Post by sarahleeadvent on May 11, 2008 16:15:15 GMT -5
While I'm making unusual comments, here's another one I'd like your opinions on: while praying for peoples' healing, in whichever way you prefer to do it, I also like to pray that they would have the faith to receive their healing. After all, if they don't believe in divine healing, their lack of faith kind of gets in the way of God's work.
What about you guys? Do any of you pray for your prayer targets' faith while asking for them to be healed?
|
|
|
|
Post by Kat on May 14, 2008 9:13:04 GMT -5
While I'm making unusual comments, here's another one I'd like your opinions on: while praying for peoples' healing, in whichever way you prefer to do it, I also like to pray that they would have the faith to receive their healing. After all, if they don't believe in divine healing, their lack of faith kind of gets in the way of God's work. What about you guys? Do any of you pray for your prayer targets' faith while asking for them to be healed? [shadow=purple,left,300]When I pray, I try to pray for others as well; I make it a habit. I also think of their faith; many people these days lose faith because they think God is being unfair, or doesn't hear them (myself among them, admittedly). What they need is some enlightenment. I pray that people will have the strength to believe in God, because we have to admit that there are times that we do doubt. We all do, and yet He waits for us to come back. As Jesus explained in the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over someone led astray who returns to the fold than ninety-nine believers who have kept their faith. And now I have found yet another reason to never doubt God. I passed all my exams and got a 94% for laboratory work, and I don't have to take the finals. Thank you all for your prayers.[/shadow] |
|
|
|
Post by jdb1984 on May 14, 2008 10:31:22 GMT -5
gilbertd2174, who has videos on Youtube, has some great teachings about the Lord. Like how he can be a jealous God, yet still be a loving God. Maybe you can give some of his videos a try and see what you guys think.
|
|
I'd love to join up. 
Just started some time ago. It's so wacky and wonderful, and I'm only up to book 4, Numbers. Don't anyone ever say that God doesn't have a sense of humour - why else would he have a talking donkey warn Balaam about the great big sword-waving angel in his path 
That's so horrible... 
