How fast God delivers on prayers with yes or nos factors into capacity to deliver support. If I were to show up a month late, year late, 10 years late, 40 years late with a package, think the person that originally ordered the package minds wouldn’t have changed, moved on to other priorities? A God of Love that doesn’t demand His own way to controller via less than ideal delivery, lagged carrots?
God doesn’t answer does not equate to He will always deliver – at least from my personal experience. That said I haven’t lived to the end of time, seen the end of the story, and my perception and comprehension of God and The Bible as a whole is less than ideal – potential for improvement, thus thought experiments including ones with prayer might raise comprehension.
God of Golden Rule, promoter of Golden Rule wants to give us prayers that make us miserable – unlikely. Prayers that we think might be valuable, might make our lives better might make them miserable in not fully appreciated ways thus the unknown is left a bit in God’s court, does not equate to I feel like God always explains, gives sufficient reason why prayers are not answered. Lack of comprehension is useful for leading people around – lead around with continuous jade instead of rewards for effort gives feeling of less-than-ideal value established and delivered and the combination might all be chalked up to but it wasn’t God’s will, it profited you thus God doesn’t have to respect or answer prayers that aren’t ideally aligned with only helping others, ideally altruistic. “Seek and you will find knock and the door will open” has not delivered for me always, in a timely manner – but maybe I am missing something (just seek longer waste more time?).
Imagine you pray for a bottle of water. You are in the desert and thirsty. What if God says you should have prayed for a bottle of water for others in the deserts around the world instead of self, thus you don’t get any water. Support for self, including water factors into support for others, capacity to value support for others sufficiently and God loves a joyful giver. The one with water or the one without water is more likely to want to pray for others? Just because someone is in the desert and wants water for themselves does not equate to they want less water for others, and a God a God of love, that doesn’t demand His own way, and the Golden Rule would know that.
Imagine you go through an experiment. Each day you are in the shower you pray for God to turn off the water, instead of you having to turn the water off yourself. Try for 30 days and see the results. My guess is likely God will not turn off the water for you, and you turning off the water will lead to the water being turned off. That said I do believe in potential for brain implanted remote control chips that might allow for remote control access to turn on and off water, or lights, or move computer mouses (I have at least seen reports of similar). In a world full of wireless control the idea we truly comprehend causality might be insufficient – just because I push a button and see a result 100 out of 100 times, that does not guarantee I will see the same result at 200 pushes, 1000 pushes. Just because I might not have my prayer answered 30 out of 30 times, does not equate to it has to work that way for others, I will be able to know or prove it works that way for others.
If you are going to work, work to support others and it is raining, and if you pray for God to stop the rain, will He stop it? It helps others, yet not getting wet is profitable for self, less than ideally altruistic. Insufficient mustard seed level faith, otherwise would have moved mountains? This reality feels less than ideally trustworthy at times, gives feeling of miracles possible, does not feel like unanswered prayers chalked up to lack of sufficient faith, altruism feels great from a God of Love, that doesn’t demand His own way. God as a legalistic snake seems wrong.
Sometimes prayer gives the feeling of liability reduction at times. Prayers like please protect my neighbors and don’t let my house burn down – meteors and planes falling out of the sky possible, can’t fully predict thus God’s court for protection seems apt. Prayer like something you do in combination with action rather than reliance on God for the action. Parting Red Sea is possible, God doesn’t give feeling of respects my prayers at the level of Moses. My neighbors’ houses not burning down factor into my house not burning down, think God won’t respect prayer because less than ideally altruistic? Profits self set to not bless able?
If I see a tidal wave, pray for God to part the sea, or get in a car 5 hours in advance and drive to a safer location while praying for God to protect others, friends, family, and self? Based on personal experience I would suggest getting in the car 5 hours in advance and continuing to pray. That said I have never experienced a tidal wave. If I were Moses, felt God valued my prayers at the same level as Moses I might test my luck.
One thing I will note. Even if God doesn’t answer a prayer, sometimes thinking through things, talking and reasoning through things with God, reliance on God for direction beats action. There is the potential for a lot of things in life to make people angry – angry people have potential to react in poor ways that wreck lives, ruin capacity, say hurtful things that they regret for years to come, yet a person that says I don’t comprehend everything I need to, leaves things in God court has potential for less problems, even if God stays silent, or doesn’t answer the prayer. People are less than ideal comprehension and that factors into poor capacity to maintain proportionality in response, thus inaction is many, many times the more valuable choice. People don’t always consider or comprehend all variables necessary to deliver proportional response and non-proportional responses have potential for awful, regretful. God didn’t answer my prayer but I felt saved by not acting in the way I was thinking at the time has happened more than once. Punch a hole in the wall might sound good, yet there is profit in not punching walls. Will not go unpunished and I need to decide on that are two less than ideally profitable trains of thought.
Will punish proportionally? Will make up for support discrepancy, lack of comprehension to more sufficient comprehension? My guess is some people punishing might not always be able to deliver on the two. Less oppression, less problems factor into punishment as a more useful system, and if not useful it is generally not desirable. I can punish, but I don’t have to fix problems that cause the problem in the first place seems wrong. Less than ideal punishment in a less than ideal justice system might lead to more need for punishment and justice, liability I and likely others might prefer to divest from in advance. World of wrecks careers, never let you forget tends to rule the world, let it claiming it is God’s and Christ’s will? Forgiveness and Grace are valuable, less than ideally turned up, man’s comprehension and punishment are far from all value added, humanization invested in.
Correction without punishment and increased support is desirable, factors into Golden Rule. If someone punishes you on less-than-ideal comprehension, will you correct them, or just turn up punishment in return? Factors into value established and delivered, thus I say correction might likely lead to less punishment and more value in the future.
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