May 30, 2007
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Prayer Points
It appears to me that some people want special people to pray for special prayer request. I am not sure if they think that the people in question have more prayer points with God.
Take the case of Madeleine McCann.
She was kidnapped. She was 3-years-old when kidnapped and just turned 4. There has been a big hunt across Europe to find her.
Her parents met with the Pope today.
Pope Benedict XVI blessed them and a photo of the girl. They asked the Pope for his prayers. Here is the link: Link
I think the parents want their daughter back. They are asking for the Pope to pray for the situation.
Do you think that God is more likely to listen to the prayers of the Pope?
Comments (146)
no.
I don’t think they’re gonna find her alive, no matter who prays for her.
no, he listens to everyone.
no
no
no. god is a farse.
maybe, maybe not
I think it’s like when you ask mommy and daddy for something…if you ask enough maybe they will give in sooner
no more than he does the rest of us.
no, he listens to us all the same.
not at all….. he listens to everyone the same….
No, but the thoughts of every catholic who pays attention to the pope for a moment were focused back on her.
People want to believe. Pain is pain. I feel very bad for them.
No, the Pope has no special power or authority in God’s kingdom.
god. doesn’t. exist.
I really need to learn to not read your religious blogs as I never like the commentary that follows.
Yes.
I think people need to pray for them to not be dumb-ass parents anymore.
They left the girl with just her two *younger* siblings in a hotel room with no adults around at all. How is *that* a good idea?
I think God listens to those who are close to His heart and those who really love Him. I think He hears the prayers of all humanity, but the one’s who are faithful to Him will be heard even more. So I guess the Pope could go in this category, however, I believe he is heard just as much as another faithful servant.
Lets add to the unprovable absolute statements found here so far.
No
Purgatory no!
Hmm…doesn’t have the same ring as “hell no”…
it could happen.
no he isn’t..but it offers comfort the parents, losing a child is devastating and you’d do anything to get them back.
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wanna get hives??
says the law
no, but I think that if I was them I would be asking everyone to pray for us to find her….even the Pope
God listens to everyone who prays to Him.
isn’t everyone the same
In my opinion No.
And i think the last thing parents need after a child goes missing is for someone to call them “dumb-asses” or say it was all their fault. I really dont see how necessary that is!
No- God listens to everyone, he loves everyone the same. Those that are “close to his heart and really love Him” are probably more aware of the answers that he offers. And sometimes the answers aren’t what we’re looking for.
There are hundreds of missing children out there, all loved and missed. Let’s make a point and pray for all of them.
No, the pope is no different than the rest of us.
I think that God listens more to the prayers of the truly faithful. If the Pope fits that category (and I’m sure he does) then yes. I’m usually better off when my mom prays for me, as opposed to me praying for myself. I don’t have nearly as much faith as she does.
if He does, he’d be the only paying attention to the Pope.
But I think the parents should spend more time looking for the girl, rather than making appearences for the press.
You know, I hate to criticize parents when they’re going through such a horrible time… but how in the hell can you think to leave a 2 and 3 yr old ALONE IN A HOTEL ROOM, for more than even 5 minutes? Wouldn’t that be cause for child neglect if it happened in the states?
No…God listens to all who pray to Him.
Thank God. Do you know what with?
I’m just mad because my whole circle of friends is so international; it makes me nervous.
No, the Pope is no better than the rest of us.
hmmm good question.
I think he hears all prayers equally
I hope
i don’t think so. but then again i don’t know the “mind” of God
No. He’s a human just like everyone else. Imagine if God gave special privileges to certain people.
I don’t know why people are convinced he can “bless” other people.
heck no. god listens to everyone who is a true believer in him
amanda
Love the random “I don’t believe in God” comments. Adds a certain amount of flavor. And the one yes on the front page! Nice!
Missing white woman syndrome!
no, God doesn’t listen to the Pope more than anyone else. but, i think those parents should ask everyone they meet to pray for their daughter.
Still, why shouldn’t God listen to the Pope more than other people? He seemed to favor the apostles more than other people
Why WOULD God listen to the Pope more than anyone else? The Bible teaches that God does not hear/listen to the prayers of anyone that doesn’t belong to Him. (See Micah 3:4, John 9:31, Prov 28:9–just a few examples) God only hears the prayers of those who have repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins.
Besides, I’m pretty sure God doesn’t believe in the Pope. (“And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father’ for you have one Father and he is in heaven.” — Matthew 23:9)
Madeleine McCann’s parents SHOULD HAVE been listening to the little voice in their heads saying: “It’s a bad idea to leave a four-year-old and her two siblings (two-year-olds) in a hotel room by themselves while we go to out for dinner.”
He listens to everyone who prays.
No.
no.
No he listens to everyone
but whether if he responds faster to the Pope I have no idea.
Not anymore than He listens to the rest of us.
i hope not. cause if he does than i’m pretty much screwed.
I dont think God picks favorites…but what else are you going to ask the Pope…it’s his job. Cute little girl! I hope she’s found.
of course not
No, I doubt it… but the nature of prayer has always been a mystery to me. I’m inclined to think that the Pope prays more and/or more sincerely than a lot of people, so maybe the sincerest prayers are the ones who get recognized. Or is it a matter of volume, and not so much quality? I don’t really know. Personally, I think that whatever is going to happen, according to God’s plan, is going to happen regardless…. so I usually pray for strength, patience, etc. rather than praying for a situation to change. Either way, I’m sure that the parents were comforted knowing that the Pope would pray for them. Maybe they wanted sincerity, or maybe they were looking for more exposure or extra brownie points… I don’t know. But I’m praying that they find some peace no matter what. I can’t imagine how it must feel to not know where your child is.
No, the Pope has no special pull. God listens to all those who approach him in the name of the Lord Jesus. Therefore let us all pray for those in need and not leave it up to the “experts”.
oh yes, all extreme catholics and anyone affiliated with the moral majority HAS to believe so, or they go to hell.
God listens to everyone, equally.
I think God listens to those who are close to His heart and those who really love Him. I think He hears the prayers of all humanity, but the one’s who are faithful to Him will be heard even more. So I guess the Pope could go in this category, however, I believe he is heard just as much as another faithful servant.
* 5/30/2007 12:51 PM
* Completely_Compelled
Wow you just took the words out of my mouth.
Oh by the way, Bush is doing well recently. Funding for help in Darfur? HIV-AIDS programs? I like him right now.
Haha, no.
Even if he did listen more to someone ‘High’, the Pope would definately not be that person. He is the leader of a mocking religion that has nothing to do with scripture, therefore God. (Which isn’t Mary.)
Oh, and what would blessing a peice of paper do?
lol XristosAnesti. xD ‘Purgatory No!’
Wait, except for the last person. The Pope is the closest person to God on Earth, therefore it is probably more effective, yes.
RYC: i’m not complaining, but my cheeks DO hurt a little…
and no.
No. He’s a human just like everyone else. Imagine if God gave special privileges to certain people.
I don’t know why people are convinced he can “bless” other people.
* 5/30/2007 1:52 PM
* prettysoccergirl84
The pope is my slave/servant. The pope, priests, etc. are here for me and everyone else too, to serve.
as mentioned before,
God listens to everyone.
I beleive the more prayers going up the more blessings coming down. If I were them I would be doing anything possible to get her back including asking the Pope to pray, the grocery checker, the bus driver, etc.
Wait, except for the last person. The Pope is the closest person to God on Earth, therefore it is probably more effective, yes.
So much for Romans 3:23-24 then if that’s true!
That was a bad idea. If they find her dead, then the Pope will look bad.
Or God will look bad.
I don’t think so, in my view he listens to all equally. Every intention isn’t left pushed behind due to importance…. btw, SPAM doesn’t fight global warming, leave it at home!!!
Isn’t everyone equal according to god?
God listens to everyone equally. Therefore, asking the pope to pray is not any better than praying yourself or asking your neighbor to pray other than that it is another person praying. Having more people praying doesn’t hurt.
Isn’t the Pope suppose to be Gods right hand man here on earth? Why wouldn’t he listen to him over everyone else? I’m pretty sure we would like to think God listens to everyone equaly, but isn’t it the Pope’s job to be the link between us and God?
By the way, what makes this girl any different from all the other kids that go missing every day around the world? Why not go to the Pope and ask him to pray for everyone?
Not even gonna answer because I know I’ll get spammed with a whole bunch of comments along the line of:
SHUN THE NON-BELIEVER
nahh.
No. God listens to every prayer.
why wouldn’t god listen to us all equally? we are all equal, now aren’t we
Read the article. The parents should be slapped for leaving their children alone in a hotel room. What on earth were they thinking?
Not being Catholic, his Popedom doesn’t give him any special powers in my eyes. I can’t really attest to his standing with the Big Guy, though. :]
jada: It was dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, and they checked in every half hour. That’s not neglect, it’s wanting a minute to themselves.
this might get me flamed to death, but what a dumb ass question
no. i think God has a plan and while he likees to hear from us, he makes the decisions, not us
I don’t recall God calling any other advocate for our cause besides Jesus Christ who intervened for us, and took our sins on himself. The last time I check, the Pope wasn’t Jesus. Therefore his power of prayer is zilch..I’ll stick to pleading with Christ over the Pope… Catholicism is so backwards anyways.
No
No.
No! We all have access to God through prayer.
No, He listens to everyone equally.
Not at all.
The person doesn’t matter.
The state of the heart does, though.
That would be horrible.
“That was a bad idea. If they find her dead, then the Pope will look bad.
Or God will look bad.”
I can imagine their response, “He tried his best!”. If God’s best can’t save a little girl, well, hmm. :/
“Catholicism is so backwards anyways.”
“leader of a mocking religion”
Didn’t take long for the Catholic bashing to start.
A thought: maybe have some respect for the beliefs of others. Not all of us on here are Protestant Christians. Modify your behavior accordingly.
“I don’t think they’re gonna find her alive, no matter who prays for her.”
<LI class=itemtimestamp>5/30/2007 12:40 PM
<LI class=itemsubmitter>ktandie (message)
People said that about Elizabeth Smart and Shawn Hornbeck too. There is always hope.
Well, since I’m not catholic, no.
He’s just a man, just like everyone else. No one can replace God’s blessing.
not any more than anyone else’s who believe in God.
No. The pope is German. Jesus doesn’t like Germans.
I hope they find her though, which is just as effective as prayer.
That is all.
more likely than who?
‘the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective’ — james 5:16
‘i cried out to [the Lord] with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
if i had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.’
– psalm 66:16-18
so, more likely than any other christian, no. more likely than someone who cherishes sin? yes
If there is a God(dess?), I’d like to think they listen to everyone regardless of “status”.
But I bet a lot of people think the Pope has special bargaining power or something. I was reading this article today (http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/05/29/tuchman.btsc/index.html) about a judge who didn’t convict a rapist/murderer who confessed doing it to his friends and has tons of evidence pointing to the fact that he did it, because the murderer guy is a priest. The judge was worried that the priest would put in a bad word to God about him. Yeah. Worst judge EVER.
Wait, except for the last person. The Pope is the closest person to God on Earth, therefore it is probably more effective, yes.
So much for Romans 3:23-24 then if that’s true!
* 5/30/2007 3:14 PM
* This_Is_Important
Yeah, because that verse really disproves something I was talking about.
Honestly, I don’t think that little girl will be found. If so, that’d be a miracle. I pray for those parents to be wiser in raising their other kids.
No
I don’t think God listens to the prayers of the pope…
no, in fact i think his prayers are lip service and heard even LESS than others.
i am amused how kestryl decided to say something completely off topic of the question, not to mention insensetive…
Nope, but sometimes it feels like the more people you get praying, the louder the request, the more you’re heard!
I think it does matter who is praying for you. If we are not in tune with God’s will and seeking Him diligently we will ask amiss because we don’t really believe He will do what He said He will do.
(1Ki 17:1) And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
(Jas 5:17) Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.
Men like David Brainerd, John Wesley, and David Wilkerson come to mind. These men were men of great prayer and their lives were reflective of it. David Wilkerson (The founder of Teen Challenge) relied on prayer alone to fund and support everyting he felt the Lord was leading him to do. He had faith, he believed God could do more than we could ever even think of. I wish we all had that sort of faith. God does set aside those who are willing to sacrifice for Him and He will use them mightily. Please take this in love, I think all the no’s on this page are reflective of our misunderstanding of what God wants from us in our prayer lives. Our fervency, devotion, faith, and utter dependance on God is key to answered prayers.
the pope could command everyone to pray on his behalf and they would do it.
no
You THINK? Oh goodness.
The girl is cute.
I hope she’s found.
I ALSO hope that all the other girls and boys who are missing are found, even the ones not fortunate enough to have their face on tv.
No. I think it’s equal listening for everyone.
Her mom is really pretty.
No. Also I wonder if the parents might have done this kind of to get more publicity? If I were them, I’d want to keep my daughter’s picture in the paper as much as possible in the hopes that someone would see it and recognize her.
no, and the very thought of that is STUPID!!
no but the pope officiates a lot of masses and so the prayer gets repeated often and the catholic church is a very large entity. its not that much different than asking for the prayer on the internet so that there is a volume of prayer support.
none of this is to say that i think this sort of thing helps anything though.
There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Don’t know the reference for sure, but this verse would indicate that the only intermediary we need is Jesus. That said it does say “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” , so it can’t hurt to ask for the prayers of a righteous man. Again, though, I wuld question how righteous a man could be who claims to be a ble to forgive sin, a position biblically reserved for God and His Son Jesus Christ.
I think God listens to those who are close to His heart and those who really love Him. I think He hears the prayers of all humanity, but the one’s who are faithful to Him will be heard even more. So I guess the Pope could go in this category, however, I believe he is heard just as much as another faithful servant. 5/30/2007 12:51 PM Completely_Compelled (message)
Yeah, that’s how I see it.
I believe that God listens to everyone equally. I don’t think it’s wrong for them to ask the Pope for a prayer. I’d be very desperate to find my child…Although I do have to agree, it was pretty sad that they practically left her alone…I’m still going to pray for her.
no..of course not..
Oh, and..
God. Does. Exist.
no
No. And I also don’t think that God is more concerned about little Madeleine than he is about all of the other people on the planet who disappear, or who die tragic deaths. The disproportionate publicity surrounding Madeleine is itself obscene.
Certainly not. But I feel for the parents in any case. The looks on their faces … they really want this to work. They just want their daughter back. I hope they find her.
I hope the kidnapper(s) still have her alive and unharmed. I hope they listen to the Pope’s prayers and release her.
not necessarily, the Bible is clear that God listens to all prayer, but is more apt to answer the prayers of the righteous. So it doesn’t matter if the man is pope or some Iowa farmer, what matters is if they’re righteously serving God.
No…the pope is just a joke.
No,but it probably gave the parents some peace.
personally i dont see how saying “god. doesnt. exist.” is off topic or insensitive. sheesh!
I wonder why she gets the special treatment, there are countless others. Well, it raises awareness.
No. God hears my prayers too.
as much as the rest of us.
The pope is human
preachers are human
bishops, elders, priest… we are all the church and believers…
but I do think God does listen to the prayers of unbelievers as well – i mean, didnt anyone see spider-man 3?.. lol
Daniel (doubledb)
Yes.
Absolutely not! He says He listens to the prayers of all His children…those who follow Him and Know His Heart.
Though tradition hands the Pope a special privilege before God’s throne, scripture doesn’t back this up. So I say no way!
I promised myself that I wouldn’t talk anymore shit about the pope this year…so I have no further comment.
omg. NO one talks about why she is missing. Why did they leave her and her brother alone in the hotel room when they went to eat? I know it seems tempting. But you know what? don’t do it! so if THEY would have prayed then THEY might not need someone else to pray for them NOW! in no way want to mitigate their tragedy, but lets get the message
Aren’t all people supposed to be equal to God? So, of course not. But what they are doing is going to help them on a personal level as well as create more awareness for their plight
As stupid as those parents are for what they did in the first place, I hope even their God is not listening.
Where in the world do people get the misguided notion (doctrine) that God listens to / treats everybody the same?! Provide chapter and verse, please. (Hint: It ain’t there.)
No, I think God listens to everybody the same.
And I think the Pope is absurd.
God doesnt care who’s doing the praying…as long as it comes from their heart…
listneing to prayers and answering them are 2 different things. God obviously hears them, He’s omnipresent, He’s going to hear everything. Answering is different. God isn’t just as likely to answer one prayer as another, as i said above righteousness is what makes the difference. I have to agree with fivepts most recent comment on that subject: no where does it say he answers all prayers equally. We treat God as if He’s some stupid wishing well and not the all powerful creator of the universe. I’m pretty sure that He is capable of choosing correctly which prayers to answer and which to not. He is God, not our puppet, and not our lap dog. He does what He knows is right.
as C.S. Lewis said “He’s not a tame lion”
In Christ,
Heath
i refuse to comment on who gets what prayers, and i may just down right mean..
it is a horrible thing that happened but maybe the parents should have NOT been 100 YARDS away from the apartment hangin with another couple and leaving their 3 small children alone for any length of time. I see some of my tenants do this and I am required to notify authorities, when notified they usually get stern warnings to the effect of the state taking them becuz in any sense of the word that is neglect. I am somewhat curious why they chose Maddy and not the other 2…
I do hope Maddy comes home safely but unfortunately it has been so long already.
God listens to everybody with the same effort, the pope is no special case
no
No. But if my three year old were kidnapped, I’d probably want to see the pope too. Just in case. And anyone else who would listen and put their energy toward finding her. But really, no, I think it just depends on your intention. Really focusing your energy and attention on the issue when you pray and think about it. I don’t think it has anything to do with human politics.
Nope, he’ll listen to us all equally.
No.. God is no respector of persons..
He doesn’t favor one over another.
how would the situation be different if the child had been portugeuse?
it wouldnt be in the media for starters.
how would the situation be different if the child had been portugeuse?
it wouldnt be in the media for starters.
God listens to everyone, no matter who you are. He has no favorites.
I don’t really understand how God has anything to do with this, personally.
If the guy’s righteous, I believe in a sense it could be said he has more “prayer points.” However, I’m not sure getting the pope to pray for your problems is the solution to the problem.