To be fair, I would say that is the attitude of the vast majority of Christians. Extremists like the ones in the story who don't believe in conventional medicine are extremely rare.

Is prayer only good when the answer to that prayer or faith is in your benefit or when it is the will of God?

Are you trying to say that this childs death was the will of God?

I (honestly) don't really care WHEN prayer is good or not. I don't pray, I am not religious. So I don't see it to be to my benefit under either circumstance there. That being said, I can't speak on behalf of those who DO pray, so I will let you answer your own question because I won't make assumptions on the reasoning behind those who do pray... whether it is for themselves or for God or whatever reason.

But as a human, and as someone who is about to become a mother, I cannot under ANY circumstance understand WHY this woman acted the way she did (same with the people she was in company with). I don't believe it was for the will of god. I believe she's bloody delusional. I don't want to believe any god would just expect someone to sit there and pray to him like that when they are perfectly capable of seeking medical intervention. I'd like to think that if there is a god he instilled common sense in people.

Lady, don't put words into my mouth. While I may not necessarily believe it is the Will of God for that child to die, who am I to say that it is not? There are many times in the scripture where God test our faith in ways we might find questionable but unto his Glory, and no I don't know if this is one of those times nor do I know it is not. I wasn't there, God wasn't speaking to me so I wouldn't know but I am reminded of one story in particular that most of us would raise an eyebrow to if we were given the same command from God.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." (Gen 22:1-11)

Here Abraham is asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of a parent and he is obedient but the Will of God was proven in his obedience and God was glorified not only by the faith of Adam but the lesson it taught concerning the substitutionary death of Jesus which would come to pass over 2000 years later.

My question was directed at is prayer that is answer only acceptable if the outcome is what we want. To take it out of this emotional story lets say I want to get a new car and I pray for God to help me in this matter and His answer is no, was that prayer successful or not. The answer is yes, because that is the will of God and he knows more than I do concerning things to come. I am also reminded that my ways and God's ways are not exactly the same so I must act in faith by trusting Him even when circumstances seem to indicate it is futile or even illogical kind of like Abraham.

I wasn't putting words in your mouth, I was actually asking an honest question - if that was what you were implying with your question. I can see now that it was not, but I had to ask didn't I.

I am not reading scripture, so please excuse me for over looking that part. It means nothing to me, and I don't understand it.

I also think there is a huge difference in praying for guidance in the purchase of a new vehicle, there is time to wait for that answer! When your child is dieing, right there in front of you... I cannot and will not accept any one excuses or faith for why they did not act accordingly. Whether she blames faith, or she is just insane, is irrelevant to me... she is responsible for the death of that child.

I tend to agree here. However, I still think the child should have been taken to the hospital; if it were God's will she still die then, so be it, but since that did not happen, I think the mother is guilty of having a mental disorder or of child neglect, or both.

How can you even BEGIN to compare the life of a child to the purchase of a vehicle? *shakes head*

Almost forgot. Personally, I don't see how she could do that either, but I would like to try to put myself in her shoes and try to figure out what her thoughts were. Maybe she is a nut case, maybe she is delusional, but we should consider her beliefs and her practice of faith.

I think you're missing the point... surely you don't think those parents were correct in not taking their child to hospital? God gave people free will to make choices. And they chose wrong.

How can ANY parent miss something as obvious as this? This is horrible :-/

i think god is probably all for prayer and positive attitudes and that when it comes to sick people, but he'd probably rather it come from a hospital bed. positive attitudes and prayer can help to cure things because if you feel loved and are hopeful it can kick your body into a higher gear of healing. but cancer and diabetes can't be prayed away. you need chemo and insulin.

obviously not all christians lack common sense. it's the extremists of anything that ruin the perfectly good reputation of other wise normal people. this is just a huge face palm event for them.

She was either a nut or maybe she had some sort of mental disorder per se. because I believe some people with mental disorders, are said to be cluelessly super religious [not to bash religious people out there] but I mean like, Andrea Yates was very mentally unstable and killed 5 kids "to save for god." That and the questions they used to ask me when my Mom would take me to see all those nut case doctors to when I was younger [to make sure that I DIDN'T have any of the mental illnesses that ran in my biological gene's, I don't btw but it makes me afraid to have kids.]

well it wasn't just her. it was her husband and some other people too. i just think these people were the extreme of some christian beliefs, and perhaps easily swayed, but not mentally unstable. they believed what they were doing was helping.

Well, yes, religious themed delusions are common in schizophrenics. But it wasn't just her, there was several people there. And I think if she had been delusional then it would have been very easy for a lawyer to keep her from being prosecuted.

My personal feeling on this one is that religion had very little to do with it... this womans beliefs sound more like delusions to me. In fact she reminds me of one of these cult leaders that think mass suicide is the way to save peoples' souls. Downright neglect on the mothers part killed that child and I don't know how any defence lawyer could have the gall to stand up and say that she did everything she could. Sadly there are a lot of sick and twisted parents out there killing their children, and it's not just the religious zealots.

well it wasn't just her, it was the father and a group of people too. they all believed in a pretty twisted version of something mainstream. they clearly didn't do everything they could, so i don't know how he thinks they did.

This woman needs to be in jail or treated for a psychological disorder if she has one, or both. And all those accomplices that sat around praying instead of calling 911.

Psychiatric treatment, methinks.

I have never understood the extremists who think that medicine isn't a God-sanctioned use. There is nothing in the Bible saying you can't use Doctors. But utilizing the gifts, the wisdom, that Doctors have isn't saying you don't have faith that God will help heal.

It reminds me of that "joke" about the man lost at sea in a life raft praying God would save him. Then a ship comes along and tosses him a life preserver, but he refuses it because "God will save me". Then a day or so later another ship comes and tosses him another life preserver, which he again refuses saying "God will save me". Then he dies and meets God and asks him, "God, I prayed you would save me. I had faith you would. Why didn't you?" And God told him "I sent you two ships who tried to pull you out of the water, but you refused their help."

hah brilliant. i mean how often does god himself physically come and intervene to help? not often. i think when people pray for help that he sends people with the right kind of knowledge or power and he helps through them. apparently that ain't good enough for some people.

i mean how often does god himself physically come and intervene to help? not often.

I don't know if I would agree that God doesn't answer prayers himself all the time but yes he does give us people who can help us and that is an answer to prayer.

apparently these people ignored the answer eh?

your reply is redundant. you just said exactly what i did.

I'm a christian who believes the Lord helps those who help themselves. I believe he gave man a beautiful mind and the ability to advance, evolve and help him/herself. To refuse to take advantage of the fruit of those gifts, like medical knowledge, is a needless waste and these parents have zero sense. USE THE MINDS GOD GAVE YOU!!!

"USE THE MINDS GOD GAVE YOU!!!"
God also gave people the freedom to make their own decisions, whether the decisions be good or bad. So, despite how awful a decision may be, they are still using their minds.