If God doesn't listen when we call, someone tell me what's the point of praying at all?

this question should be asked by those who do practice spiritual life and pray to god daily...and for them..they also know why they are praying to god...hence this question should not be asked by atheists for them they neither in their life practice it nor appreciate it...

The default position is that we (humans) have been given the chance to share God's creation. It is up to us now to make sense of God's creation. Furthermore we have been given total freedom to explore it both in our individual capacity and in our collective capacity. Now If God were to interfere in our affairs unconditionally that would negate or at least curtail the freedom inherent in our design. But if we were to invoke God and ask God for help then we would still be within our design parameters, that in essence is the rational behind "asking".

In case you are wondering "I didn't asked to be born" that will fall into the collective domain :) somebody did.

The other responsibility that comes with the package is that we locate the inner beacon to seek our maker within our design and act on it. The important thing to keep in mind is to be mindful of the faculties of logic and reason and not accept something that goes against it.

Once we are able to understand these basic premises, we should first stop second guessing God. Secondly we should exercise patience and thirdly be satisfied with what we need as opposed to what we want. End of rant :)

The placebo effect. Other than that, there is no point. If you are an atheist like me, then the reasons for that are obvious. If you are a believer, then you need to ask yourself if you can by praying get god to change his mind. Presumably, you believe that god decides to do something, and since he never gets anythings wrong (he is after all omniscient!) he never needs to change his mind. Therefore, if he is going to do something, he does it, and if he isn't going to do something, he wont. Your prayers notwithstanding! See what I mean? If he has decided to not get your son that new bike, he wont. No point in praying!

I do it because He invites us to do it. Sometimes, He changes His mind. Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV

―When the Syrophoenician woman was calling out to J'esus to heal his daughter and He sent her packing twice, telling her that the dogs are not allowed to eat from the Master's table, (Pagans were poorly seen by the Jewish people then). In the end, He hears her and praises her faith. (1)

―When Anna, who was sterile, instead of accepting it as the L'ord's will, she kept praying and she finally became the mother of Samuel the prophet. (2)

―Also, when I had a chronic and painful backache after an accident which occured during a holiday, I cried out to Him, and He heard me. I got cured.

―I know of two more examples around me of healings, a lady who also had a chronic backache was healed, and a man who was in a wheelchair for years since his childhood. He was healed in Paris at a healing charismatic prayer meeting.

Moral of the story. if we had not kept on praying we would still be ill or worse. That is why J'esus gave the parable of the widow and the cruel Judge who only helped her because she was persistent and kept on annoying him with her plea for justice! (3) So I disagree.

Voltaire, in his old age, looked a bit like the St Curé d'Ars, but when he grew older, he became more bitter and the fruits of his work were the bloody Revolution of 1789. Remember the Black Widow: many heads were chopped off in the times of terror that ensued that bloody Revolution. Unlike him, the St Curé d'Ars went on to give most of his furniture and clothes to the poor and converted many because of his example of kindness. (4)

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=Pictures+of+old+Volt...

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=Pictures+of+old+St+C...

If its not part of your syllabus then god cannot give you whatever you are asking for

We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Earth is a school for us souls. Souls need to come to earth in the physical state to learn. In spiritual form we cannot feel pain – there is only happiness and a sense of well being.

But we can’t really appreciate light unless we have also seen darkness – we need to see the contrast. So we choose to come to earth in the physical state to experience death, pain, fear, loss, hatred, cruelty, etc and thus learn the value and wisdom of love, compassion, kindness, faith, justice, freedom, health, hope, patience, tolerance, etc.

We choose our study program on earth – what learning situations and events we will face in life. In every situation, we have FREE WILL to choose to do good or bad - but with this consciousness also comes RESPONSIBILITY (karma) - we have to pay for our misdeeds (reincarnation) - no one gets away with it.

We also have to put up with free will of others – these things are not chosen beforehand. Since earth is a school, god cannot interfere and give us the answers to our exams.

We are NOT permitted to remember our spirit state because then we won’t be able to take earth seriously. It will be like playing a video game – you don’t really care if your game character dies. We won’t be able to experience the actual fear of death and pain of loss.

Source: Books by Dr Brian Weiss, Michael Newton, Dolores Cannon

1. God didn't "give" you cancer. That's dumb.

2. Not all prayers are answered. Some are, some aren't. The point is to trust God regardless, and trust that he knows what is best, even if it seems unfair or is not what we want.

3. Sometimes, if God is answering not prayers, we should ask a) is what we're asking necessary? b) does it come from a frame of mind that seeks to obey God? c) what is it that God wants us to do, rather than just asking for things? That answer may not seem fair in light of cancer, for instance, but not everything that happens in life is fair.

God knows everything you need - "your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."(Matthew 6:8), but it is enough if you show quite directly Love to all people/soul-beings i.e. if you are always Good and Non-evil to the people/soul-beings, because God is Love - "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."(1 John 4:7-8), for Him is enough to see that you(the people) are Good and Non-evil and you will have all (the) Necessary Things, but also He can give/attach Love to those people who have no enough love

Apparently there is a masterplan so why bother praying? Does anyone truly believe he's going to realise that you are infact correct, then alter his masterplan to suit you? Doubtful. Well, I wouldn't. I'd tell you to sit tight, STFU and stop bugging me with requests.....I'm a busy man.

Prayer(and meditation) keeps us emotionally balanced, and allows us to maintain an inner peace and truth that keeps us focused on making positive changes in our life. When the cancer (or other obstacle) goes away, we can be sure to thank the power of prayer.

If you learned to listen to God by hearing His word, which is recorded in the Scriptures; you would learn also how to get God to hear you.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. "

Hebrews 11:6

these found God's help:

http://www.freecdtracts.com/testimony/mickey_robin...

http://www.freecdtracts.com/testimony/carolkornack...

http://www.iamsecond.com/