I was a firm believer in god but i swear down, i dont know if he doent exist or if he is really just taking the piss out of me!!

My life is great if i think about how much worse it could be, but my life suck when i think were i wanna be...

i pray like theres no tommorrow but im loosing faith. my roots are in christianity, but truthfully... it sucks!!!

prays go unaswered and life gets worse, seriously...

has god helped anyone seriously... tell me.. i need some inspiration

Torn by life - I was reading how Tony Blair would pray regarding issues on the Iraq War. This concerned me because I am a firm believer in prayer and one of the main reasons is that whatever the outcome I take it as my prayer been answered i.e. you might not get what you want but you will get what you need.

I asked myself does this mean Blair done right. Not necessarily but I bet you his conscience is clear but it reinforced one thing for me, that prayer is nothing without the faith that comes before it. If you no longer believe it's your faith that is the problem not prayer. i live in the belief that Blair has no real faith, prayer is just something to off-lay his conscience on....like alcohol is to others.

But then I only pray for others and for guidance as opposed to specific things. If I think my life is taking a turn for the worse I see it as a test of faith...there's a lesson in it somewhere that will make me a better, stronger and wiser person than I was before.

@Torn by life ...

If you're a young male this usually happens, guys aren't usually submissive and once they grow and explore they tend to analyse more and many end up rejecting the faith they grew up inI've walked that road and I know many who have walked it.

The most important thing now is not to let anger or insecurity fuel the energy you need to search. You'll find out in the near future that the next form of faith you adopt will be one that you will have extreme passion for and you will try to convert other people to it & such & such but after this phase you shall lose faith in those beleifs too and thats where the mountain gets steeper but knowledge comes and sadly sometimes seems to go.


Its different from all of us & family make it worse usually they'll call u crazy and even pray 4 u all night if they think you're going astray but if The Creator sayed you shall be a seeker of wisdom and truth so you shall be no matter where you hide and take refuge. You might & WILL most probably take refuge in another faith and in political/historical studies or some form of study & there will be times when more than a 1000 questions race through your head before you take your next breath and you shall endure until a time you feel you are even perhaps about to die from the burden but that's when things start to get clearer.



I borrowed this quote from Lux and its an awesome one:-
"True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance." - Akhenaton

Personally I gave up on this faith shit a long time ago. I just think when you reach a certain point in your life and your faith/religion whatever you wanna call it has done f*ck all then it's best to just call it a day and move on. If the god you worship clearly isn't interested then there's no point calling on him.

Think too many of us have interpreted faith like greys...or like the slavemaster and the missionaries have taught us. This is also evidently seen in the way we conduct our lives and by the way we interpret family values like marriage. For the most part the world population can relate to some kind of religious or spiritual forec/guidance yet most African's in the diasporan still reference the slavemasters model....or as Sizzla put it, all now they're still waiting to see god come from the sky.

There is also a big difference between spirituality and religion, if it is the teachings of religion which taught you to pray , then losing faith is not a matter of if but when. A bit like Christians who absorb the teachings with literal translation, when they close their eyes to pray you know they see the image of the blonde and blue....go to a job interview and are intimidated the same way by the grey interviewing them. Our parents generation were classic examples of people praying to greys.

I find people who pray for specific things like getting a job or money are those who generally haven't got a clue...their interpretation has no more significance or profoundness than putting their faith in palm readers and star signs.

For the record, I wasn't talking about it from an African spiritual perspective, it was mainly what you just mentioned @ incognito.

Prince H - your track record precedes you...no need to explain bro.

torn by life - when I read your post those Sizzla lyrics where the first words to pop into my head. Even more ironic is the next line after 'all now they are waiting to see god come from the sky', is 'they call up on their jesus and don't get no reply'.

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing Christianity here..I was raised the same way...how many of us wasn't. My point is the bible is written by men on their own agendas and literal translation is a human trait that can have grave consequences. I look at the Christian bible and indeed all religions and religious books in the same way
as just passing a driving test. It doesn't mean you are a good driver but have the basics to become a good driver. Likewise with the bible, when reading it the idea is that it gives you the basics to become a wise man. You need to get behind the concept of the messages relayed as opposed to literal interpretation of the message itself...it's why many stories are told in parables.

Meditate on some Sizzla...that particular song is called inna dem face - we don't come here to eat from their plate! You just need to broaden your horizon to see a wider perspective...consider the loss of faith as part of that journey. You don't see how eventually everybody runs or goes back to church...even if it's to get buried!

Supplication praying (what you're doing) is pointless. Asking an all powerful and all knowing deity to do things for you makes no logical sense. Especially if you consider that said deity is supposed to have "a plan" and has decided everything in advance anyway.

We say that events which happen for good or bad are "God's will". So if it's his will why are you attempting to impose YOUR will on him by asking for things?

Ask yourself why a God with a plan should alter and change it for you when he does no such thing for billions of worse offs than you who also pray fervently. When you think of them you're perfectly happy accepting that it's Gods will and part of his mysterious plan for them to suffer and you're okay with that. But when it's you and your petty problems you want to appeal to this God and change his mind. Who you be son?

Appealing to a deity for things also has the effect of making you into a dependent child. You're steady doing noting but asking and pleading instead of doing anthing effective. One can't help but think of oppressed Africans praying for a divine intervention or hoping for that "one day" when the God would swoop in and save them. All the while praying not actually doing anything (which is kinda the point).

Even the language used in such supplications is disgusting when you think of it. Such slave talk. Shepards and sheep and lambs and his children and so on. I'm suprised you expect the deity to help you out when you debase and degrade yourself so. Perhaps said deity expects you to display some strength in order to impress him. Africans are lions not sheep brother.

Only you can change your situation. You can pray in a different sense... for strength to face what comes I suppose which is like meditation and will clear your mind preparing you to do what must be done. Focus on your problem from all angles while taking time slowly and assess yourself and your capabilities. Do what must be done. You can later decide if the strength came from you or your deity.

The Watcher - since the new Village format, that's the first post to remind me that there's a Village post of the day thread somewhere.

Who you be son?, man that's me cracking up for the rest of the day now

@ Torn by life: you can pray all you liek but God only answers what he wants to answer and in his own time. GOD has a plan and sometimes it is hard for us to surrender all.

Another poster as already given you information on praying for GOD'S WILL for your life and pray that whatever it is that your facing at the moment that it is not too great for you.

don't pray for a specific job and then do nothing expecting it to just materialise. It is best to pray and ask for God's guidance and what i sometimes do is to ask him to share some of his plans with me. and be still to listen to that 'voice' though i i find it difficul to hear at times.

Also take this time to look at what you are learning and what it is adding to your character.

Do not lose faith, remember that faith is believing in what you can not see (so step out on it) but at the same time do not expect somebody to come from the sky and save you and make everything better. God is all around and as long as his will is happening in your life it's all good.

clay needs to be molded and then goes through the fire to be made stronger.

If your not dead you can and WILL reach where you want and where u need to be (perhaps pray that what you want and what God thinks you need are one in the same to save heartache).

I long for the simpler days, when I believed in things like God, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy etc. I was comforted by my delusions and thought I'd be a believer forever.

Unfortunately, reality is not so kind. Nothing lasts forever and what once seemed like faith, now seems more like a blind state of denial.

Everytime I hear somebody talking about a "loving God who cares for all humanity" I think of things like the Asian tsunami (400,000 dead in a matter of hours - no warning, no chance of survival, schools filled with children washed away).

Where was God while all this was happening? If he was around, he has blood on his hands.

These days, I am inclined to believe that if there really is a being who controls the universe and all its contents - in other words a God - he is an evil one.

Stop stressin you keep praying and I guarantee you will get what you need. Real pentecostal spirituality has done my family great for years. Always remember you rule everyone, when your in an interview see it as your deciding whether you want a job because at the end of the day it's your mind which controls whether your hired or not.

if god has a plan, then what am i praying for there is already a plan.

dont matter what i say does it!!

@oblivion i feel your reply...