I believe in the power of prayer and I like to see men show their appreciation. To pray that all contestants stay safe and fish to their best abilities is a worthy prayer in my mind, but to pray to win a bass tournament or any other contest is petty and selfish.

I remember our ol' 'Christian' buddy Robbie Rose would put on the same act at weigh-in,,,,,,,,right before he stole our money.

I don't believe Bill or Clark or any of the anglers thanked Him for their wins or high placements as much as they thanked him for making sure everyone stayed safe, guided them to make good decisions, that their life could be a testimony to Him, etc. I know Bill said that he prayed that He would help him "catch 'em". So, I don't believe he prayed for a check so to speak, but for guidance and to help him make the most of his abilities.

Several asked about kids with diseases, pain, etc. I do believe God allows many things to occur. He allows good and bad and has given us free will. Good and bad are difficult to define if we are believers. is a cancer diagnosis bad? A 3 year old dies, is that "bad"? Trust in Him isn't enough in my opinion. The explanation is in His word. Depends on if you are a creationist or an evolutionist I suppose. His creation was "excellent" in his eyes. Adam sinned and brought death into the equation. He doesn't kill a 3 year old. that child's death is an enemy to His creation. Death was created by our sin, but He created an answer for death. Jesus Christ,...no one comes to the Father except through Me. he died for our sins. His crucifixion paid our sins, dealt with our sin, and we(sinners reborn) now have all eternity to look forward to, free of pain, death, etc. We sure as heck are not promised perfect health, bass tournament wins, a pain free life. In fact, we are guaranteed illness, disasters, many problems, even tragedies. However, He has overcome!

Does God answer prayer...he always answers, yes, no, or wait! Be still and know. I have to remember that one nearly every day!!

My comment was not tearing him down. I told him God loves us more than he can imagine. He created us out of His love for us. Hopefully some day he will come to know that.

Maybe some day you will have more faith in God. We can only hope for the best.

I'm with you on this. I hope the Lord has better things to do than bless a tournament angler with some 5 pound smallmouth to put in his livewell. Maybe like keeping him from falling out of his boat or sinking his boat!
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Another lost soul. The LORD has power over everything. Sad to see that you have such little faith.[/quote]

I am a lost soul and have no faith because I'm not quite sure God is concerned with an angler winning a fishing tournament?
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Maybe some day you will have more faith in God. We can only hope for the best.[/quote]

You are the kind of person that rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I do have faith and am a devote Catholic. When someone like you pronounce things like this it just makes me shake my head.

I hate these threads. You don't see the Atheist members posting their little circle jerk posts in the Bass fishing section do you? Can we keep threads like these in the Bunker or off topic??

Probably an excellent thread to simply give your own perspective and avoid the bashing of others views and wish everyone well regardless. Kinda the “Golden Rule” huh? or WWJD? This I personally am sure: Jesus loves everyone of you, died to save everyone of you and wants to have a personal relationship with everyone of you which includes being a part of EVERY aspect of our lives 24/7 regardless of how big or mundane. Everyone have a good day! Neil

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Another lost soul. The LORD has power over everything. Sad to see that you have such little faith.[/quote]

I am a lost soul and have no faith because I'm not quite sure God is concerned with an angler winning a fishing tournament?
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Maybe some day you will have more faith in God. We can only hope for the best.[/quote]

When someone of a different faith says this to you do you give their religion a try? Of course not. You see that's the arrogance of people who preach "their" religion.

I begin EVERY roping, hunt and fishing trip with a prayer. I simply ask "God, no matter what happens today, whether or not I miss every steer, see a deer or catch a single fish, bless me with knowing that YOU showed me your world in a way I have never experienced before"

HE has NEVER failed me. EVERY roping, hunt and fishing trip I have been on since I started asking HIM for that blessing, I have been able to tell my wife when she asks how it went, I can always tell her about something really cool I had never seen before, or about something that happened that taught me something valuable. No matter how sideways things got, HE shows me HIS glory.

fishinfellow, that's why I titled the post "Praise The Lord". I wouldn't force my beliefs on anyone else. I don't shove my faith down the throats of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, or any other faith. Nor, down the throats of non-believers. I PERSONALLY thought what those gentlemen(Weidler and Wendlandt) said was great. It was during a bass fishing tournament so I thought it was most appropriate in the Bass Fishing section of TFF. Seems to me, if you don't want to read any post, you have that God given right.

I agree with you folks, 361V and TSpencer,

Questions
If there are 100's 0f millions of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhist. How are we sure who got it right?

Let me add my two cents .there are many that call themselves christians with lip service and wear a cross around their necks.With our Father in Heaven it`s all about being doers of his words and not sayers only.Being inservice to his children with our talents and abilities gets his attention about as quick as anything we do .The scripture says 'When ye are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God.' Remember what the Savior said they draw close to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.Remember eternity is along time to be in the wrong place.JD later

TSpencer you need to learn how to read before you comment. I never said anything about Religion as you mentioned in your post.

Faith

Scripture says that Jesus prayed to His Father all the time so I think prayer is very important, it was important to Jesus, Gods only son. But you have to believe what you will,,,or not. Its up to you. God gives us the choice to believe or not.