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pain. However when it comes to God answering prayers we have no issue in God denying the same request based on the same reasons we condemn as human beings.

Furthermore if God knows what you are going to ask for before you ask why should you need to ask to begin with. Is God incapable of moving himself into action absent the cries for help from his children? Is God so insecure that he requires the answer to our prayers magnify his ego?

Can you imagine waking up one morning and turning on CNN or MSNBC and the major story was that all the hospitals were empty, famine, diseases and poverty were eradicated, and the dearly departed were walking among the living? How wonderful would such a day be!

However we all know that the sick and dieing are still admitted into hospitals, millions starve to death, impoverished people still struggle to survive, and cemeteries continue to be filled each day. Do those who actually preach the excuses for un-answered prayers actually believe them? Sadly yes.

Besides the problematic ethical and theological considerations of whether or not prayers work, the largest study to date conducted by the Harvard Medical STEP (Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer) and published by the American Heart Journal March 30th has shown that third party intercessory prayer doesn't work.

As a Deist I still pray but my prayers are different than they use to be. Instead of petitioning God for a want or a need I simply thank God for what I already have. This is not to say that other deists don't petition or ask God for wants or desires of the heart. However as a whole deism doesn't believe that God interferes in the affairs of men for instance suspending the laws of nature or other natural laws he put into place simply because they ask.

Learn more about this author, Jack Evans.
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