Thank you soooooooooo much for this! #goldmine!
Over the years I came to realize that I was thinking and praying all wrong, so my relationship with God was wrong. As to why bad things happen I concluded that I don't need to know why bad things happen, any more than I need to delve into why good things happen which no one ever questions, but is the same question. We are given free will to live which is a gift; therefore, the Yin and Yang is that both good and bad things will happen in our lives and the lives of others.
As for prayer and praying for needs - I stopped praying for specific needs to be met. I just don't think it works that way. I think its more like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when the good witch tells her she always had the power to go home she just didn't know it. I believe we all have the power within ourselves to accomplish and survive what needs to be done. Now I pray for guidance rather than to wake up and everything be fixed (though I still fall into that pattern at times and have in the past year). I believe that God is gracious in giving us a fairly clear road map and signs of what we should be doing. The more we hand that over to him and open up to faith the better our lives become.
I had every sign in the world that my business partner needed to go pretty early in. I ignored it and tried to manage it. I prayed that God would fix it. God couldn't fix my business partner because he has free will to live his life however he chooses. What God did do is reveal to me what was happening. This cycle of praying for my business partner to change (and he got worse) only made me angry. I should have been praying for guidance toward accomplishment. Business partner was the problem in achieving it and God showed me that every-single-day, I just chose to ignore it.
I think the only part that still gets me is the idea of handing things over to God. I need to think about that a little bit more and what that means. I get to meet with my sponsor next week and I look forward to asking her more about this stuff. I get the powerlessness stuff but I think that's more about free will and happen chance more than God. IDK. I have to think on this.
I think I stand a better chance of teaching my dog how to play poker, than any chance of helping you out here Stung.
Goodness, that was rude. I hope you realize that you weren't tasked with either chore and you're inability to do either is not a reflection of you. That comment on the other hand, that's all you. Like I said, don't tell me how to believe and we'll be cool. I am very open minded when it comes to hearing what you believe.