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NASB | Matthew 16:4 "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 16:4 "An evil and [morally] unfaithful generation craves a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of [the prophet] Jonah." Then He left them and went away. [Jon 3:4, 5] |
Bible Question:
Can we prove that prayer works? Is there any documentation or study which proves that Christian prayer works better than Mormon prayer (or Hindu, Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, generic, Jewish, Muslim, Satan, etc.)? I have a newspaper clipping (The Daily News, Jacksonville, NC; Nov 10 1998, Associated Press) which states that angioplasty (heart) patients at Duke University benefitted from prayer. The study was presented to the American Heart Association. That same study indicated that stress relaxation, guided imagery, and touch therapy helped the patients, but prayer was more effective. The study was not considered to be statistically significant because it had only 5 groups of 30 patients each. It was conducted to see if a larger study is feasible. Each patient receiving prayer was prayed for by Christians, Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists. And of course they had a control group which received no prayer. Elijah won a prayer contest. Would Jesus approve of a prayer study or contest today? |
Bible Answer: dennis2tw, Welcome to the forum. Matthew 16 4A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet[1] Jonah." And He left them and departed. It would talk a prophet on the order of Elijah to hear from God and pull it off, but Jonah like prophets is all that God sends to "A wicked and adulterous generation" such as ours. Remember that Jonah performed no miracles for Ninevah, but they believed God anyway and repented. Therefore Jesus said: Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. We already have the testimony of thousands that were touched by the miracles of Jesus Christ's 3 year ministry that changed history. He alone fulfilled vast numbers of Hebrew prophecies. God knows that this generation is full of those that are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Biblically, it seems that God grants more miracles to those that are being decieved by Satan, but are also likely to respond in faith. God knows our hearts, but all too often our hearts are no good. So I do not feel that God will show Himself in a study in these times. Based on all that He has already done and shown through the centuries I think that He would choose not to. But, if you want to see His miracles, go out on missionary trips to the jungles of Africa, the far reaches of China and other lands that have been oppressing Christianity and I believe that God will show Himself strong through your hands as the Spirit moves. Pastor Glenn |