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I don't get it
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Posted by: Frederik
Matthew 18:19
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Does this mean that if I and another christian pray for a bag full of money that we will get it??? You will reply no. But why? Jesus says it! I don't get it. He says it but at the same time it doesn't really mean what it says. If you cannot take the bible literally then what is it worth? 
How shall I know that the verses about healing are meant literally???
You can as well say that these verses also have a different meaning and not the meaning which you think it has. 
And how do you know that when you say that you do not get anything ,which you and another christian pray for, that you do not call Jesus a liar cause he says anything????
This would mean that as soon as 2 christians pray together they will get anything they want! Anything!!!
But if you say that this is not true, then I could as well say that you call Jesus a liar cause he said it. This makes no sense. 
Posted by: akabezalel
Jam 4:3 You ask, and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order that you may spend on your lusts.
Posted by: Frederik
Hmm but how do I know what's okay and what not? And why does Jesus not directly include conditions when he says such things? Why does he say stuff which sounds like it's soooooo easy and then it's not that easy at all cause somewhere in the bible are verses which are conditional to this???? Why does he not directly say that we do not get anything??? First of all he says we get anything but then there's a limitation somewhere else in the bible. Why is this? This only leads to confusion.
This would mean that we should never pray for things which we want but only pray for God's will.But what do you do when you don't know his will?
Posted by: ramonah
Pray for knowledge of God's will for you today & the power to carry that out. Some things don't take a direct answer of course. Since I am a healthy, capable person I am sure God's will for me is to work & support myself. I don't have to ask every day if it is God's will to go to work, attend church or witness to others at every chance. As for praying for material things, will having those things in any way glorify God? If it will, then I have no doubt at all your prayers will be granted. Selfish & self serving prayers are not granted no matter how many pray in agreement.
Posted by: jedijeb
Jam 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jam 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.
Jam 4:4 Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
Jam 4:5 Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?
Jam 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
With the surrounding verses to go with what Carol gave you can see that God is telling us to look to Him for direction before praying and asking. Also here is another explaination to go with it.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.
Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8 for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone;
Mat 7:10 or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
It plainly says that if you ask for something God isnt going to give you something that will hurt you. If you and another Christian ask God for a pile of money, who says God wont give it to you, but it may not just appear out of thin air, it may come from years of hard work at a job God provides for you because He knows that through the work you will learn valuable lessons while gaining the money you asked for. Another question is will two or more Christians agree to pray for something which God knows you dont need.
As I heard Bob Jones preaching today God doesnt answer prayers that are contrary to the Word of God. If the Bible says you are not to covet and you ask for something because your friend has it, God won't give it to you because that would cause you to sin and God won't do that. Bob Jones also said today that there is nowhere in the Bible where it says that everyone will be healed. It says that followers of Jesus will heal, but it doesn't say all of them will heal everyone. God answers prayers so that His name is glorified, He isnt going to answer a prayer in a way which is going to bring shame or disrespect to His name.
Joh 17:1 These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Joh 17:4 I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
and we have the responsibility to be aware of what we are asking. Everything which Jesus asked for was answered, but look at His prayer here
Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: abide ye here, and watch with me.
Mat 26:39 And he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Mat 26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mat 26:42 Again a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Mat 26:43 And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
Mat 26:44 And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words.
Here Jesus prayed and asked that God would allow Him to not have to go to the cross and experience the sin of the world being placed upon Him, because He had never sinned and felt the guilt that comes with it but when He died He would feel as if He Himself has committed every single sin which everyone would ever commit so that He could make the payment for them through His death. But He also asked that God would bring about God's will and not Jesus's because He wanted the Father to be glorified. And as you know God did not grant the request of letting Jesus not go through death, but brought Glory to both of Them through the death and resurrection of Jesus. God will answer in the way which is best, but we must also ask as He Himself would ask. I believe that is why Jesus said where two or more Christians agree, as that is a way to check ourselves to be more sure we are not asking amiss.
It is a simple thing, but we try to make it hard by over analyzing it. We are to let the Holy Spirit guide us in our asking but we complicate it by trying to our guess Him and look for explainations for why we ask the way He wants us to. Or we just simply get hard headed and run out and ask what we want without giving God any say in it at all.
Study the Bible and see how the disciples did it. Paul and Peter didn't just walk through the streets with their hands stuck out touching everyone they passed healing them and pouring the Holy Spirit out upon them, no they went to the ones which the Holy Spirit led them to, to the specific ones He wanted healed. Maybe it was to the ones which would give God the glory and not just say" well maybe God didn't really heal me maybe I just got lucky" . If you really study Acts you will see that everything was done with purpose not just at random. All that Paul experienced led him to Rome where God wanted him to preach.
Act 28:16 And when we entered into Rome, Paul was suffered to abide by himself with the soldier that guarded him.
Act 28:17 And it came to pass, that after three days he called together those that were the chief of the Jews: and when they were come together, he said unto them, I, brethren, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans:
Act 28:18 who, when they had examined me, desired to set me at liberty, because there was no cause of death in me.
Act 28:19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had aught whereof to accuse my nation.
Act 28:20 For this cause therefore did I entreat you to see and to speak with me: for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
Act 28:21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters from Judaea concerning thee, nor did any of the brethren come hither and report or speak any harm of thee.
Act 28:22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.
Act 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, they came to him into his lodging in great number; to whom he expounded the matter, testifying the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening.
Act 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
Act 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers,
Act 28:26 saying, Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
Act 28:27 For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest, haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.
Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear.
Act 28:29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, having much disputing among themselves.
Act 28:30 And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him,
Act 28:31 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.
It wasnt easy and didnt seem to make sense to those who saw Paul go through what he went through but in the end we see how God brought about His will for His glory. We are to pray, but we are to be seeking God's will in all things, and to understand when God doesn't answer things as we think He should but know that He is going to do what is best.
Posted by: Phantasmagoria
Sometimes, in the movies, you may come across a sort of... luring technique used by some guy or girl, where they say something vague and mysterious to intrigue and catch the attention of the person they are trying to lure. You know? It's like, sometimes God puts out these vague, yet profound parables and statements, to provoke you to follow him closer, and to "listen closely" to him. He doesn't put things bluntly and clearly all the time, because God is a God of curiosity and discovery.. of passion, of exploration, of luring someone. That's one way to look at it... not that I say it's a totally reliable perspective.
~Leah
Posted by: Frederik
But when you ask for healing how could this bring shame to God's name??
And isn't it God's will that everybody will be saved? Then why are people not saved even though they are prayed for? God also simply converted Paul without asking for his permission.Why doesn't God reveal himself to unbelievers which are prayed for? This way they would believe.
Posted by: jedijeb
I don't really think that God just converted Paul, He appeared to him and told him flat out that he was going against God's will and that Jesus was the Son of God. Paul still had to decide to accept it. Sure he would have had a powerful image to discard, but he still had to make the decision to follow Jesus.
You asked how asking for healing for someone could bring shame to God's name. What if God knows that if that person is healed they would go around telling people that some witch cast a spell and healed them, that would definately not bring honor to God and would make what God did look like it was uplifting the devil so that would be bad. I believe God knows what the outcome would be and would not answer that request even if we never know why. Now this is just a made up example but it shows that we do not know all that is going on when we say God just isnt listening to our prayers.
Posted by: akabezalel
My decision to follow God and Worship and Praise HIM is not predicated on whether or not He EVER heals me.
My Worship of Jesus is NOT predicated on if I get my life together and believe for my healing enough to "get it"!
My Praise to the Father is NOT predicated on whether or not ME OR MY SON AND GRANDSON are ever healed of the genetic condition that we share!
My FAITH is NOT predicated on what God can do for ME!
My LOVE for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is NOT based on what I can "get" out of them!
I Love Jesus because He died a horrible death so that I could join Him in Heaven through the Salvation He bought for me!
I walk in the Spirit of God because I want to get closer to the Father here on earth, I do not want to wait until I die!
I Worship the Father because He is God!
I choose to serve God because He is God!
I choose to love God because He is God!
I choose to follow Jesus because He is God!
I choose to walk in the Holy Spirit because He is God!
Healing is not what I base my Salvation Walk on.
Favor is not what I base my Faith on.
Getting money to meet my bills is NOT why I serve Him!
What I "get" out of God is Not why I tell others about Jesus!
What I give is Not predicated on my Finances!
What I read in the Bible does not need me to understand it to be the Word of God!
I BELIEVE ALL OF IT because it is the WORD OF GOD and I walk in those things I DO understand and TRUST GOD to help me understand the rest and to cover me until I do.
So PLEASE! Change your way of looking at God!
STOP! looking at yourself, your needs, your wants, your whining and your arguing!
Worship God because He is GOD!!! You need NO other reason!
and when you do that you may FINALLY "GET IT"!!!
Posted by: Frederik
Check this out!
Matthew 18:19-20
KJV
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
MSG
19When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. 20And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."
My father goes into action... 
I don't know if the message is really accurate and actually it's more an interpretation of the bible than a real bible but I think this sounds really cool.
I don't know this bible but if it's really accurate and correct when it comes to important verses and not twisted or watered down then I think it's not a bad thing for younger people cause I just checked a few hard verses and they are pretty easy to understand in the MSG version.
Posted by: KingdomWarrior
The message is pretty cool! I haven't read all of it, but it does make reading more fun and interesting. I still love my KJV though 
Posted by: Frederik
I think the message is not bad when you also use a KJV. But I wouldn't only read the message alone cause this might lead to confusion. But supposing you find some verses which are hard to understand then you could take a look at the message bible and compare.
Posted by: Frederik
I think I have to correct myself. Since the message is not a bible translation but a paraphrase it represents simply the interpretation of some people who wrote it and it can be a dangerous tool.Supposing these people interpret something wrong then you've got a real problem.I think young people should not read this and base their knowledge on this book. Some verses sound really funny and the translation is kind of cool but it's too different from the bible.I can also write my own paraphrase and sell it but this wouldn't be a good thing. 
Luke 18
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.
"Luke 18" My cool version
40 And Jesus said to them: "Bring this dude to me." When he came to him Jesus asked him:
41: "You wassup? What can I do for ya?" And he replied: "I wanna see again."
42: Jesus replied: "Okay, receive your sight cause your faith saved ya."
43: Immediately the guy could see again and he started cheering and followed Jesus and all the people who saw him praised God cause he had done such a cool thing.