I have a friend who is an amputee. He tells me he's prayed and prayed that his missing limb be regenerated by god but so far, no luck. Any suggestions? Would it help if he had more people praying for the same thing or does god maybe just ignore the prayers of he and other amputees? I wouldn't call my friend a saint but his sins are small ones, as best I am aware. Have any of you had experience or knowledge of limbs being re-grown?
I have seen prayer do amazing things for some, and nothing for others. I don't know if it is the "quality" of the recipient of the prayers or the quality and quantity of the "prayers" that matters, but I have never seen limbs regenerated.
That's a very complex question, @Jack Roberts. My most non-controversial answer would have to be, it depends. It depends on what one calls prayer, and what one prays for. I don't believe prayer of any kind can regenerate human limbs. The number of people praying won't make it happen. Do I believe in the power of prayer? Not in the christian sense, not where the phenomenon is about begging a deity or other religiously exalted one (e.g. saints, bodhisattvas, ancestors) for a favor. I do believe in prayer that is about aligning oneself, one's mind, emotion, intent, purpose, etc, with the unlimited possibilities of the Universe, but that is about changing oneself rather than getting an improbable miracle.
Prayer may not regenerate one's limb but it certainly will give you the courage and foresight to accept your situation and change your mindset to the new person you now are. That in itself, is a miracle.
Prayer has kept us safe and sane to our age of 72/73. Then again, a person has to do correct things to be safe and sane, and not totally depend on prayer. But, praying sure helps!
Prayer has never worked for me. I remain a devout agnostic. On a side note: I was raised by very religious parents and they literally prayed every day, and before every meal. So I know what it is. To them, their religion was a 24/7 lifelong commitment, not just a 1-2 hour Sunday thing. When I see people online, over the air, etc. saying they will "pray" for someone else who has some tragic thing to deal with I take it with a grain of salt. I bet maybe 95% of them are just saying that to be sympathetic, which is fine. They never truly pray and will not now. I always offer a sympathetic thought, but do not say that I will pray for them because I would be lying. But that's me. Regenerating limbs: AFAIK, this is not biologically possible for us higher, more developed species -- as of today anyway. It is possible for some amphibians and simpler creatures I think.
True enough but I have always been intrigued with the thought/question of if 'less developed species can regenerate parts why can't we. Recently I started reading about junk DNA which I had never heard of in my genetics class of years ago...maybe the answer is in the so called junk DNA LOL I remember my daughter dreamed she had lost an arm and was not freaked by the dream as she said I told her ..don't worry about it, you can grow a new one..
I agree prayer helps. I am not sure how much. I think of it as extra positive energy into the cosmic consciousness of which we are all a part.....
How do you know you'd be worse off if you DIDN'T pray? Maybe you would be better off. There is no way of knowing.
As a boy, before I figured out the whole "birds and bees" thing, I remember my uncle having his dairy cows artificially inseminated. They used frozen bull sperm. As I got older I figured out what was going on, but the frozen sperm thing bugged me. So a couple of lives ago I dated a veterinarian, and I asked her how they can freeze semen and bring it back to "life," but they can't do that with people. She said (as I recall) that sperm was just a very simple life-form which made it possible -- as opposed to an entire human being. That satisfied my curiosity. So at some point in the future it may be possible to freeze humans and bring them back to life, or to regenerate a new arm, but not now. Apparently they are now 3D printing new joints, but that is not the same thing as regenerating a new joint which would be made of new human tissue, a 3D joint would not be.
As a Christian, I have no doubt about God performing miracles in the past or his ability to do so, but the question of whether he's still in the miracle business 2000 years after Christ's unprecedented event is a valid uncertainty. After studying the issue a bit though and watching many YouTube testimonies, I've collected 12 for my library that strongly support the ongoing existence of miracles occuring today. We have excellent examples of incurable diseases and crippled bodies being fully healed, with other credible reports of blind and deaf healings occuring en masse through foreign missionary group prayer sessions. Excluding the Catholic Church's debatable Calandra miracle of 1640, we do lack good, medically collaborated examples of amputees being miraculously healed today. Why is it that God would heal physiologically incurable internal injuries but not external ones? I don't know, but here are a few points on the subject worth considering: Many people pray for a miracle, but don't pray to the one, true God of the Bible. Praying to a false god or spiritual cause is not a worthy pursuit for success or a valid litmus test of God's affairs in the world. The majority of prayers for healing may go unfulfilled, but that doesn't equate to being unanswered prayers. God uses pain and suffering to draw us closer to him, and prayer through strife often accomplishes that. In the end, all those who know, love, and trust God will be healed and miraculously restored with perfect, eternal bodies. Whatever discomfort or handicap we face here on earth pales in comparison to the eternal glory that lies ahead.
Say what????????? I'm sure God is still performing miracles all over the world as we speak. However, God isn't a Pez dispenser. There's a difference between praying for healing or praying for God to just make a brand new car appear in the driveway. People often make the assumption that God is in some way bound to say yes to our prayers just because we ask. However, if it's not part of his will or grand plan then sometimes the answer is going to be no. God uses our afflictions to help us grow in him and set us on a specific path. There may be some specific reason that God allowed your friend to lose a limb. Sometimes God has us in certain places in life in order to protect us from other circumstances. For example...perhaps your friend was about to lose his life prior to the limb but God took just the limb and left the life. He may have done so in order for your friend to eventually become a Christian. He may now be using that non-existent limb to help your friend grow spiritually. Or even to help someone else to find Jesus or help them to grow through his experiences. Perhaps your friend needs to pray differently. Perhaps instead of asking for the regrowth of his leg...maybe he should be asking God to use him and his situation to help others like him. Hope I haven't offended. Have a good day.