[kamata123]

I'm a xtian and I have my share of faith but then I cannot help but think that fate and destiny cannot be ignore in life. Look at the below scenarios.

1. Right now Cameroun are 1 goal down and the Germans are leading. Ireland are also leading in their group match meaning if the game is to end the Camerounians would lose. Now it is my assumpition that both teams pray i.e. Germany and Cameroun and their supporters have faith in God. Now the question is, will God support one side or listen to the prayers of one side as opposed to the other? Or do we say that one team has firm believers with so much faith as opposed to the other?.

2. If someone was anti nyita in school/college, no amount of prayers & sometimes hard work could make him/her a bright student.

3. Some robbers say prayers before going on their mission to steal from you. You pray that your property is not stolen, and you are safe for the night etc etc. If the robbers succeed in their mission, what woud you make of it? That God listened to the robbers?

Let us not ignore hard work and talent in this equation but I do believe all of these i.e. Prayers, Faith, Destiny, Fate are all interelated i.e. what was meant to be will be and nothing can change it. Although I'm a believer, sometimes I really wonder whether prayers and faith can move mountains as stated by the Bible

[stupak]

Kamata you have forgotten the final thing that makes things happen.....that is God's will. We always pray for God's will to happen. When bad things happen to us we wonder how a loving God can allow bad things to happen but we live knowing that we are not meant to understand God's will. Remember when we pray we can get a yes, a no or a wait. It all depends on his will.

[ktp169]

would it be right to sat that obstacles are Gods way of telling you to wait
Try philosophy it can explain everything in existence.

emancipate yourself from mental slavery..B. marley

[P M Donn]

Looking through a glass darkly. God sees the big picture. A guy was stranded on an island and built a hut. One day the hut burnt and he was so annoyed at God, when suddenly a ship came to rescue him having seen the smoke of the burning hut. Life is about trading. God wants us to trade up. But humanity wants us to maintain the status quo. Don't be awed by the happenings, keep your eye on the big picture. That's what God sees. Consider Senegal's qualification. It is great news, but one Senegalese had been red carded before but to the big picture, that is all just an incident. Keep the faith, always remember: Now I see in part, and understand in part, but one day I shall see myself and understand as I am now seen. It's in the Bible. Don't despair

[thierry]

God, i would imagine, does not think like man so it is no surprise that the things he does we cannot understand. He is doing that out of wisdom for he knows how foolish we are and ignorant of the big picture. We humans tend to be myopic since we seek self gratification and of course the shortest way to achieve it.
All i can say is that the only reason God would let something happen to you is because he believes that he gave you enough coping mechanisms. So the harsher your life the more blessed you are(although thats hard to swallow from the human perspective)for you are merely being shown how much confidence God has in you for he knows you can overcome all that. We humans dont look at it that way but that is how i have chosen to look at it.
Also, would it strengthen your belief in God if he answered ALL your prayers IMMEDIATELY and in exactly the same way you wanted? No i dont think so because human nature would take over and you would begin to think that you deserve what you are getting because you are "good " or "faithful".
My point? GRACE.
If God gave us what we deserve then we'd be a miserable lot. We should be thankful that he sees pity on us and doesnt see us the way we see ourselves. Hope i helped.

[kamata123]

Good responses from all of you. Still I'm a little bit confused and that is why I brought out the issue of fate and destiny. When we pray the lords prayer i/e. our Father who art in heaven, THY WILL BE DONE on earth as it is in heaven ....... destiny has to have a hand i.e. what God has destined for you and therefore as someone aptly puts it, it is Gods will and not our will. This is where I question the essence of prayers since at the end of the day God WILL will prevail over urs no matter what you pray for and how strong your faith is.

[Vicki]

Fate and destiny are things I really put off, especially fate. Because its a very disturbing thought that my life is not in my control. Destiny?? Well...I dont know. Fate?? Dont believe in it.

[mwananchi_]

I think that prayers are an exercise in futility and a waste of time. Expecting God to alter his course of action based on people's whims and requests is wishful thinking. I don't suppose He's that easily swayed. Consider the following verse from the Bible Romans 9:9-13

"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I'll have compassion"....

"Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated. Before either were formed in the womb, before either had done right or wrong"....

So whether Esau prayed night and day, the will of God that "the younger shall rule over the older" would still have come true.

To me praying is like being a backseat driver. If you really have confidence in the driver of your bus, you need not keep giving him directions and telling him how to drive. If the driver of your bus is wishy-washy, shaky, unsure, and constantly needs instructions from passengers, you might be riding the wrong bus.

My God is a professional driver. So I shall relax and go where he leadeth me. I shall not pester him with trivialities. I will let His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[lizz]

the thing with us pple we r too quick to point fingers when smthin bad happens in our lives n the real thing is that God is weeping with us when we r hurting n smthings we cant explain but they happen thats life ours is to rely upon GOD n tell him to see us through so keep the faith ,his thoughts r much higher than out thoughts n his ways r higher than ours so lets just ask him to let his will b done in our life n stop limiting GOD,BCOZ HE WOULD DO NYTHING FOR US IF ONLY WE ASK n believe in him.

[Matoke]

>I think that prayers are an exercise in
>futility and a waste of time. Expecting
>God to alter his course of action based
>on people's whims and requests is
>wishful thinking. I don't suppose He's
>that easily swayed. Consider the
>following verse from the Bible Romans
>9:9-13
>
>"I will have mercy on whom I will have
>mercy. I will have compassion on whom
>I'll have compassion"....
>
>"Jacob I have loved but Esau I have
>hated. Before either were formed in the
>womb, before either had done right or
>wrong"....
>
>So whether Esau prayed night and day,
>the will of God that "the younger shall
>rule over the older" would still have
>come true.
>
>To me praying is like being a backseat
>driver. If you really have confidence in
>the driver of your bus, you need not
>keep giving him directions and telling
>him how to drive. If the driver of your
>bus is wishy-washy, shaky, unsure, and
>constantly needs instructions from
>passengers, you might be riding the
>wrong bus.
>
>My God is a professional driver. So I
>shall relax and go where he leadeth me.
>I shall not pester him with
>trivialities. I will let His will to be
>done on earth as it is in heaven.

Very interesting.