God is not on our timetable. Nor is He a ‘genie’ to take care of our problems.
Prayer is a powerful tool for a Christian. It took 400 years, but God heard the prayers of and delivered the Israelites from Egypt.
So, if you are a believer, your prayers are not ‘ineffective’.
Prayers for you FRiend.
In Genesis, God gave dominion over the earth to mankind, and as far as I understand it, that assignation has not yet been revoked. Prayer is man's invitation to God to step in to remedy man-created problems, in mankind's domain, but God is not obligated to intervene.
Don’t know of any civilization that practiced human sacrifice that is still in existence.
God told Moses that if the Israelites did the same things the people of the promised land were doing, Israel would be invaded and judgment would come. king Manasseh did burn his son alive and he ended up in prison in babylon, where he repented and was allowed to return and he tore down all the alters. His great grandson, however, started up the practice again and Israel was invaded. The book of Lamentations is the story of God’s judgment. This was the only time in the Old Testament (Manasseh’s abomination) that the LORD would not forgive Israel and judgment came later.
It has been 40 years for the United States. Any doubts as to why we have the coming World economic collapse? Any doubts as to why Christians warn about the Great Tribulation? Because child sacrifice is now practiced all over the world. God is waiting for us to stop it and tear down the clinics.
“However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple (house) of which I said, ‘My name shall be there’.”
“Surely at the command (mouth) of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; AND THE LORD WOULD NOT FORGIVE.” (All caps mine) 2 Kings 23: 26 & 27 and 24: 3 & 4
God gave free choice to human beings, and if they are not free to choose evil as well as good, they are not free. If God steps in and stops the evil whenever humans choose evil, then they do not actually have moral and mental freedom. Unfortunately mankind has consistently chosen evil. The Christian view, taken directly from Scripture, is that the Earth is the kingdom of the devil, and will not see real justice until Jesus returns and establishes His Kingdom here.
After the utter evil of World War II, one survivor of the Nazis said, “Tell me, where was God at Auschwitz?” And the answer came: “Tell me, where was man?” In other words, the evil is caused by man, and it is our task to fix it. If we do not, the judgement of God will someday come.
But this is no reason not to pray. The purpose of prayer is not to argue with God and make Him do what we want Him to do; the purpose of prayer is to accord our wills with His and form our souls as He wants. If you give up prayer because God doesn’t do exactly what you want Him to do when you want Him to do it, you’re treating Him like an ATM.