I find it iniexpicable that this man did not ever realize that God may have ansewered hiw prayer. The Bible says that the Lord hears us. sometimes even before we speak. I would like to tell this man to wake up and smell the coffee. I would also like to tell him that if he attended church regularly he might not have such a warped concept of prayer. - jag

I don't find it that hard to believe that the man would miss the answered prayer, and even a committed Christian might do the same in a case like that. They might think "maybe it was an answer to prayer, but maybe it was just coincidence". We pray, but don't always have faith there will be an answer, and when one comes, we may not have the faith to accept it, even if it is a miraculous answer.

I was at a meeting last weekend with Gary Habermas, a giant of the faith today. He was talking about "doubt", and brought up a time when he was younger and going through serious doubt about God's existence. He was staring out the window in back of his house at a stand of trees. There was one tree that was noticeably higher than the others. He said to himself, "God, if you are out there, knock down that tree." He started for a while waiting and when nothing happened turned around in disgust. And.... the tree didn't fall... yet. That night, there was a bad storm, and that was the only tree that was knocked down. The interesting thing is he said that had no affect on his doubts at the time. As scripture says, someone could rise from the dead and we still would not believe if we are not prepared to.
- RickY

I was visiting my daughter who is in college, helping her set-up her apartment. While I was there she pulled a muscle in her neck and was in a lot of pain. The day I had to leave her I prayed that God would give her healing and comfort and help her with the classes she had to miss.
The next day she called to say she felt so much better! My first inclination was to think it was a coincidence. Then I prayed to thank God for his answer to pray and for forgiveness for my doubts. It's such a natural human reaction. - Melanie

RickY made a excellent point. We have to be ready to except an anwser to a prayer before we believe.

When I was in the 8th grade I lost a classmate in a car accident (and it was an accident). That night I prayed for two things to happen. The first thing was that my other classmate that was hurt to live and be in one of my classes in high school during 1st semster and at the 8th grade dance. The second part was to know that my classmate that died was with God in heaven and I will one day see him again, but I wanted to see a cross in a fire. When my injured classmate showed up at the dance I knew God heard me but I didn't truely believe that my whole prayer will be anwsered. It was the middle of Octber of that same year that I was able to believe after my injured classmate showed up in my Spanish 1 class, and I saw the cross in the fire that night during a wenner-roast(sp).

Sorry, jag, but I attended church regularly and my doubt was still greater than my belief. It is natural to doubt, that is why God waited so long to anwser my paryer completely, because He knew my faith had to be built back up in order for me to see His answer to my prayer. And here's the kicker, I wanted the prayer completely anwsered before the year ended and the car accident happened in the begining of the year. - Kimberly

My wife and baby were stranded on the interstate years ago and she called me at work from a cell phone that I did not know the number. My work phone did not have call back features. She said she would wait for the roadside assistance people and call me back. I did not realize I did not know the number until she hung up. I got impatient and was going to drive to where she was and could not find my keys. I spent 15 minutes looking for them and, somewhat flustered and in a panic, decided to ask God. The neat thing is that I knew more than I had ever known anything before that as soon as I asked Him, I would know the answer. This was my first encounter with absolute faith. I was standing in the middle of my office and, out loud, asked "God, where are my keys?" Instantly a voice, that sounded just like me, said one word; toolbox. I walked outside into the shop and in my top cabinet of my toolbox, hanging from the lock, were my keys. I did not remember that, God told me that.
"You can ask for anything in prayer, believing. and you shall receive it." Matt. 21:22
"Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4.
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." Matt 6:33
All of these scriptures, along with others, must be taken in context with each other. Then our answered prayer column fills up quicker. - Keith R.

Rick Y- FYI- Dr. Habermas will be on "Live with the Infidel Guy" this Thursday at 8pm EST answering questions from the audience. It should be entertaining. - Erik

RickY - it's good to have you back! - RFTH

Thanks RFTH, it's good to be back. oh wait...I thought that was for eRick. - Erick

Erik, our friend. We are ALWAYS glad to have you on our site! - RFTH

Hey, Erik,
I saw an ad in a magazine and thought of you. The Great Debate: Does God Exist? will be at the National Conference on Christian Apologetics. Dinesh D'Souza will debate atheist Michael Shermer and I see that Lee Strobel will be one of the speakers at the conference. You probably already know about this but I thought I would mention it in case you do not know about it. It will be Nov. 7-8 in Charlotte, NC. - Janice

Thanks, Erik. I'll try to check that out. Do you have to listen live, or do they archive those?

And thanks RFTH, for the "shout out" :-) - RickY

Thanks, Janice. I didn't know about that but now i will consider going.

RickY- the videos are usually put up on youtube after the show. search for "Infidel Guy." I have to say it's a lot more fun live though since you can interact with others via a chatroom or call in to ask questions. All are welcome and would be great to see you there. - Erik

I think sometimes that we forget that just because at the time the answer to our prayer doesn't seem to suit us that we think that God didn't answer. Sometimes he does answer us, but it is wait or even sometimes-no. The best answers to some of my prayers have been-NO. I thank God so much that He did not give me a yes to some of the prayers I have prayed, especially when I was younger! Oh by the way, Erik, I prayed for you again last night. Take care & God bless. - christ follower

People should realize that if God answered all our prayers He would no longer be our Master, He would be our servant. He is the ONE in control - Theresa