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YART: Is it ok for someone to ask others to pray for money?

D

Descartes

Lifer
There is a person I know who likes to send out emails to everyone on her "list" asking for prayer on her acquisition of money. She wanted to go on missions trips, and she wanted to fly to Canada, and she wanted to go on vacations, ad nauseum. Each time she sent emails to everyone asking for prayer because she was in need of money. The most recent email has the following:

"I'm trusting God for about $3000 USD"

Why? To pay for her first semester of school. Is there not something deeply, deeply wrong with this request? How is this any different than some of those televangelists who ask for money? These people give her money because she asks for it under the context of the Christian God.

I feel a serious wrong is being perpetrated here, but not being a particularly religious person, I ask the opinion of AT. Is this sort of thing acceptable? I also ask, why would she need to email other people to ask her Christian God for such a thing? Does she feel her apparantly elucidated conduit to God is somehow deficient and thus needs to be supplemented with modern technology and email?

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by: Jzero
It sounds like a thinly veiled ploy to try and get people to give her money....
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that seems about right.
why would it matter if herself or 50 ppl pray for her.
i think she needs to learn how to budget her money above anything else. perhaps she could send emails to ppl praying for her to learn how to properly handle her finances?
if you want to take a vacation its called squirrelling away some each month, setting a goal and reaching for it, not taking the easy way out and expect handouts from "god".


 
Are you trying to pull a 'I think, therefore I don't know"?

I know that when Mulla Nasrudin went in to the mosque in the middle of prayers and raised a huge ruckus about needing money he was given some to get him to leave.
 
Originally posted by: AbsolutDealage
Originally posted by: Jzero
It sounds like a thinly veiled ploy to try and get people to give her money....
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Yea, its her trying to ask for charity, nothing more.
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I give to charity both in terms of my volunteer time and money, and none of them phrase their requests as though it was ordained by God. If she said, "I need money" then it would be different, but she's essentially saying she's praying to God and she feels she needs to let others know as well. I'm just curious why her faith in God is strong enough that she feels she can use his word against others, yet she feels that she has to supplement his omnipotence by sending the email to others.
 
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Are you trying to pull a 'I think, therefore I don't know"?

I know that when Mulla Nasrudin went in to the mosque in the middle of prayers and raised a huge ruckus about needing money he was given some to get him to leave.
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Thanks for the historical reference, I'll have to look that up.
 
Originally posted by: MAME
That's one of the problems with religion
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Actually, it sounds more like a problem with human nature, in that someone's using religion for a selfish purpose.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
Originally posted by: AbsolutDealage
Originally posted by: Jzero
It sounds like a thinly veiled ploy to try and get people to give her money....
Click to expand...
Yea, its her trying to ask for charity, nothing more.
Click to expand...

I give to charity both in terms of my volunteer time and money, and none of them phrase their requests as though it was ordained by God. If she said, "I need money" then it would be different, but she's essentially saying she's praying to God and she feels she needs to let others know as well. I'm just curious why her faith in God is strong enough that she feels she can use his word against others, yet she feels that she has to supplement his omnipotence by sending the email to others.
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I agree. If you want to panhandle, panhandle. At least be honest about it.
 
Many people do this. I don't see what is wrong with it. They aren't asking you or anyone else to specifically give them money. They're asking God to be blessed with some type of financial income some how some way. Unless they're extorting you I don't see it as a problem.
 
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Many people do this. I don't see what is wrong with it. They aren't asking you or anyone else to specifically give them money. They're asking God to be blessed with some type of financial income some how some way. Unless they're extorting you I don't see it as a problem.
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Not really how I see it. I ask God to bless me financially all the time. But there's a big difference between me praying for financial stability, and me sending an e-mail to all my friends asking them to intercede and pray for a $3000 windfall for me.

It just sounds too much like I'm trying to say "Please give me money" but hiding it in a religious context.

There's nothing "wrong" with it, per se, it's just tasteless.
 
Tell her that the 8th level of Dante's hell is for those committing frauds... and the 9th and last level of hell is for betrayals (including those committed through frauds).
 
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Many people do this. I don't see what is wrong with it. They aren't asking you or anyone else to specifically give them money. They're asking God to be blessed with some type of financial income some how some way. Unless they're extorting you I don't see it as a problem.
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That's my question: How in the world is telling other people about my prayers to God asking God for money? It seems like she acknowledges that not asking others for money would not fulfill her prayers to God, yet she asks and thanks God for the money when she receives it. If she really felt God would fulfill her prayers without emailing the world asking for money, then she would send the emails after she's enrolled in school; instead, she sends emails plenty of time before her deadlines so that others can send her the money. Why can't she just let God work his miracles if he does indeed work them?

I guess my real question is: If God is really omnipotent then why do I need to supplement his power and my communication with him through other people, who again, suffer from the same fallabilities as I? This goes on ad infinitum, and it seems every request is a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby those subscribing to such indoctrinated beliefs will always follow their obligations by responding to these requests. Where is God in this picture?

Imo, it's wrong. Benny Hinn does the same thing. If I ask God for a prayer I'm going to operate on the assumption that his power transcends that of ALL his people combined; thus, I need not promulgate my wishes to the social masses.

And I'm not even religious...
 
She shouldn't ask others to pray for $3000 USD for example. She could send a mass email and specifically say, "I am not asking you for money, I am asking for your prayers. I ask for your prayers that God would provide me with what I need at this point in my life. I ask for your prayers that God would bless me financially so that I may be able to do <fill in the blank>. Again I am not asking for your money, only that God would bless me with what He sees fit at this point."
 
In my opinion, a prayer request for money would be better put such that the person is asking those to pray for a job for them or something of that nature, rather than outright asking for money.

Plus, if it's for frivolous stuff, don't ask. IMO, there is a difference between asking for a prayer for a sunny day on a picnic and asking for a vacation with hundreds of dollars of spending money.
 
If he/she is poor and NEEDS some money to get on his/her feet, I certainly feel it's okay. I also think it's okay if she is raising money/support to go on a long-term missions trip, but not for a vacation. When money is a real need, it's on thing. When money is just a want, it's another.

I also think it's okay to pray for something to find a job, that God might reveal His Will for someone's future.
 
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