Let me defend Lib really quickly. What he is trying to say is what all Christians believe. This life, our physical life, is only temporary. Our souls, our eternal life, are encapsulated in our physical bodies and when we physically die, our eternal life is “freed.”
Bnorton, you asked: When God is petitioned in prayer, does he grant the prayer’s specific wishes more often than would be expected from chance?
The answer is yes but the way God answers our prayers can almost always be explained rationally thus making it seem as though it would have happened anyway.
For comparison’s sake, look at the Biblical prophecies concerning the Jewish Diaspora and the regathering of Israel. These prophecies were written thousands of years ago but are being fulfilled as we speak. Now, these events can rationally be explained as events in the natural course of history. The Jews did, after all, go through the Holocaust and needed a state for self-defense. And those who persecuted the Jews in foreign lands did not persecute the Jews to force them back to their homeland but to get rid of them. There are so many events that are historically known about the regathering that we can easily say that this is history, that’s all. However, this would ignore God’s role in history. All these events have been foretold in the OT but, because such a long time has passed since the prophecies were written, the prophecies are just ignored.
When God answers our prayers it is usually in the same way. Your prayers may not be answered instantly but they will be answered in due time. And it is then your responsibility to recognize what happened and thank God. When I have prayed and not received what I asked for, I’ve always learned something in the process. Usually, what I ask for is a selfish request and oftentimes is not according to His will.
I do have an example of prayer working but I do not have all the specific names and dates. I will get back with that info in another post. This story takes place in Egypt after the Arab Conquest. Currently, Egypt’s population is around 90-95% Moslem and 5-10% Coptic Orthodox Christian. The Coptic Church has been heavily persecuted since the conquest. It boast to having a million martyrs.
The leader of Egypt at the time of this story was El Mo’az el Din Allah el Fatimi (El Mo’az). He confronted the Pope of the Coptic Church (do not know his name but will post it later) and told him something along the lines of “Your religion tells you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and you tell a mountain to move it will move.” He told the Pope that the Christians in Egypt will be killed/enslaved if they do not make a particular mountain move.
The Pope prayed and God told him to find a man named Simon (I think he was an embedder) who will lead the Christians. The Pope finds this Simon and the Christian’s in Egypt fasted and prayed for three days. At the deadline, the Chistians said “Kyrie Eleison” (Lord have mercy) 40 times and the mountain moved (jumped) three times. El Mo’az told them to stop and did not massacre them as he threatened. Simon disappeared after this (it is assumed he did not want to receive any glory for this) and El Mo’az coverted to Christianity and became a monk.
The Moslems who are in power deny this story and in their textbooks it say that El Mo’az went crazy and “ran to the desert.”
I think very few scientific tests have been done on the mountain but the Coptic Church (which is a very poor church) wants scientists to come because they will only prove the story to be true. The mountain, which is somewhat of a landmark in Egypt and I have personally seen, does not go into the ground like most mountains but, rather, seems to be sitting on the ground.
I don’t expect any skeptics to believe this story at face value. One of the most popular explanations against this event being a miracle is that an earthquake caused the movement. Even so, I think the timing is impeccable.
The lesson to be learned is that for the bigger things you ask from God the more faith you must show Him, thus the fasting and praying for three days (the prayer part is very similar to the story of the Ninevites in Jonah who basically did the same thing so God could spare them His wrath). If they had showed God a weak demonstration of faith He might not have answered them, but, since they did show their faith by sacrificing and praying when it seemed the most hopeless, God came through.
