Have you ever been certain that God would help you win the lotto?

Nope. God doesn’t work that way.

And don’t ask anyone to pray for you to win. If you, you can be forced to split it with them.

I prayed for a pony once.

Many ant years ago I think that God helped me come up with the exact correct answer on a chemistry test problem. I didn’t ask for help and I didn’t need to get the right answer to score well on the test.

So if you play the lotto and you want help from God, DON’T ask for help, don’t think that you deserve it, and don’t expect to win. THEN and only then will you win.

Good luck Grasshopper.

No, and why would God want to do that?

Maybe if I promised to split the winnings and give half to His favourite charity. Worth a try.

No. I would have thought that would be the opposite of what God would have wanted me to pray for.

In 2003 I bought a Canadian 6/49 lotto ticket for 52 weeks in advance two draws per week. The ticket disappeared and never heard from it again. I was certain that I would win eventually. That was the last time that I used my time travel for anything other than minor tweaks to my and others life. I can’t win. I can’t raise my marks in university. I can’t make a profit unless I earn it.
YET .

I’m certain if I win, God or a god had something to do with it.

Not just wild, capricious luck @mazingerz88? Like…you being born? Billions of years of evolution randomly lead to you?

If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that god will not help me in a lottery.

If God really wanted me to, he would buy me the lottery ticket. So far that hasn’t happened.

I play occasionally when it gets up to 100’s of millions
And God or not, I am always sort of surprised when I don’t win.
Is God inflating my expectations?
Semper Sperans

Well. I buy cuz my first cousin won $90 million on a ridiculous Powerball purchase.

When I was a kid I really wanted a bike. So I prayed to God for a new bike. Then I realized that God doesn’t work like that. So I stole a bike and prayed to God for forgiveness.

I prayed to God to heal my Mom’s “itching” for years. Years. Never happened. It was psychosomatic. Valium and stuff in the end.

I have designed a Christian Retreat Center. I have made many plans on how it could operate, and its plausible. But I need tons of start-up money to build and for perhaps a year’s funding until it could get to be financially solvent.

Like @Darth_Algar said, I learned that God doesn’t work like that. But I have bought Powerball and Mega Millions tickets at least 40 times. A payout in the tens of millions would make my dream very possible. But maybe it isn’t God’s dream, and God doesn’t work like that, through lotteries.

God doesn’t work like that through anything. Not prayers, not sacrifice, not begging, not tears, not heartbreak, rage, humiliation…nothing.

God created you and has a purpose for your life. Ideally, we should be seeking God’s will and purpose and perfect place for us, not our own agendas, which we may think would make us complete—but might actually be overwhelming or unmanageable

I resist God’s call because there are things I cling to and don’t want to give up. That’s why my life is so stagnant right now,

No. I don’t believe in anybody’s God(s), nor do I think anyone in particular “deserves” to win. It’s all a game of chance. Either you win, or you don’t. Nothing more.

Justice is served.
Or its not.
God gets to sit up There and decide who gets it and who doesn’t.
Does he giggle as he makes his random decisions?

Never, but I was certain I was going to be the Publisher’s Clearing House winner in February. Five thousand every week for life, and when you die it passes to the person of your choice.
I didn’t pray for it. I just had this very strong feeling that I should enter, and I would win.

I didn’t.

I think I will never hear a more astute explanation on the lessons of faith, prayer and expectations than the sermon from @Darth Algar. With his permission I will have several copies etched on parchment then framed to distribute as gifts.

The damned Lottery winners are what we gentry label as “new rich scum”
A pox on them & their imagined holy assistance.

@stanleybmanly

Go ahead, I didn’t come up with that. I saw it on the internet somewhere.

Isn’t it supposed to be that God helps those who help themselves? Seems like a pretty easy job.

On the other hand, the meek shall inherit the Earth, no doubt some time after it has been destroyed by global warming.

Suppose there were a god.

Would this god play such capricious games? Possibly making a person’s life happy on the basis of a $2 purchase of a piece of paper with some random numbers? Is that truly good stewardship for humanity?

If there were a god, he would take the $750 million in this week’s lotto, and put it all towards feeding the hungry.

Some people WOULD actually use the money for God’s purposes, or for good causes that may or may not be God’s will.

@Yellowdog why not cut out the middle man, and have god do the work himself?

You mean, create a women’s shelter or health clinic ‘ex nihilo’?

That would scare the bejeus out of people if they just appeared out of nothing.

Or, I dunno, maybe not allow such evil to run rampant over his creation to the point where it destroys count millions of people whom he, supposedly, loves?

Kind of. I was living with my husband before marriage, which is not something I was proud of. I prayed that God would show us a path to live in accordance with His word- since we were paycheck to paycheck right then. A few days later my husband bought a lottery ticket and won. So we got married, bought a house, etc…and lived happily ever after.

@KNOWITALL

Meanwhile there’s a homeless couple out there praying to God that somebody, anybody, will, instead of dismissing them out of hand, take a chance and give them a job so they might get back on their feet again. But God, for some reason, says “nah” to this couple. Maybe they just aren’t praying the right way.

@Darth_Algar Well go buy them a dollar scratcher selfish.

That’s not his point. His point is that if God is in control of who wins the lottery, he is most capricious and totally unfair.

@Dutchess I know what he meant, duh. A fellow Christian would not say something like that, theyd ask how many people I helped with Gods gift. To me, tjats more normal than a random stranger acting as if I didnt deserve it, since he doesnt know me at all lol

You’re under the impression that I’m a fellow Christian? Whatever gave you that idea?

I used to be a “fellow Christian.” Even then I questioned God’s logic.
Guess I was the wrong kind of fellow Christian.

The point was, however, not that you did or did not deserve it (how the fuck do you even quantify who “deserves” what anyway? ). The point was that attributing your good fortune to some magical sky fairy because you prayed is absurd. Especially when there are people out there who’s faith is just as strong as yours, yet get continually shat on for their prayers.

^^^^^Whose faith is just as strong and their need is even greater…and they’re totally “ignored.” Apparently.

Okay, why would a god, blah blah?

If you had a bag of doggie treats, and fifty puppies rolling and yipping around the yard.
Would you parcel out the treats equally, or just toss them to the ones sitting expectantly in front of you with eight tails, and heads tipped?

I think if I held dominion over all, once in a while I would get a kick out of one of those amazing, justified wins.

I think if I held dominion over all I’d be beyond simplistic human emotions.

And yes, had I the ability to parcel out dog treats equally then absolutely I would.

@Patty_Melt People who dont believe in God, griping and cussing about how He works, smh.

@KNOWITALL We reserve that right!

That’s like telling God, who has given us life and the whole world, that we are not satisfied.

That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven: for he maketh
his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

(so it would be with the rather random but unlikely chance at winning the lottery. God foreknows but does not send lottery winnings, That’s random like the sun and rain),

@KNOWITALL

Griping? No. Just pointing out the ridiculousness of it.

@Yellowdog Luke 6:35 though.

@Darth_Algar It’s what I choose to believe, that prayer works. I didn’t ask for money, I asked for a path to be cleared, nothing more. God gets the glory for everything good in my life.

Scoff if you choose, it’s all about choice. (Though it sounds a lot like jealousy and sour grapes imo.)

Don’t flatter yourself. Of all the people on this planet I could be jealous of, you ain’t one of them.

@Darth Algar Same dahling haha, same.

But I’m not claiming that you’re jealous, am I?

@Darth Listen pup, I answered the question honestly, God bashing and implying our families didnt deserve it is something a crappy human does. Your attitude blows, per usual. I dont know your motivation, but its not kind. Now go buy a lotto and good luck.

No one said you didn’t “deserve” it. He said there are others that actually deserved it MORE but God ignored them in favor of you. That’s not “bashing.” That’s a fact (IF you actually believe God is behind anyone winning insane amounts of money.)

@Dutchess_lll There you go again. Butt out of my converations please. Second request.

But isn’t God behind it ALL? Winners, losers, wars & peace, Mother Theresa, Stormy Daniels?

Hitler? Jack the Ripper?

@KNOWITALL

I did not imply that you didn’t “deserve” it.

@Dutchess_III

I didn’t imply that others “deserve” it more either.

Again, how does one even quantify who “deserves” what to begin with? “Deserves” is not something I concern myself with.

If anything my implication is that if God does exist then this picking of winners and losers from among his faithful flock is completely arbitrary and random and has not a damned thing to do with prayer.

I apologized. I think I confused you with a different commenter.

@Darth How could you possibly believe that with no stats to back you up? What ifthe majority of lottery winners were Christians, would that change your mind?

The man from my hometown that won a huge jackpot, Jack Whittaker, was certainly not a Christian. He spent most of his winnings in strip clubs and it was well documented because he got beat up and robbed several times. He would carry around a couple hundred thousand dollars and brag about it.

@chyna These are not contradictory statements:
Jack Whittaker, was certainly not a Christian. He spent most of his winnings in strip clubs.

Ok.

Not all Christians are holy rollers. I think many people assume that Christians are all fundamentalists and go around praising Jesus, praying for everything and saying that God is responsible for everything.

I’m a Christian, believe in God, but rarely go to church (maybe on Christmas eve might be the only time all year), don’t pray, don’t talk about religion or try to convert people. I’m all for abortion.

I do think it’s rude on Fluther for people to refer to Christian god as “sky fairy” and stuff like that. It’s not something I hear people say in real life and I don’t think people on Fluther or in real life would approve of Muslim god(s) as being something silly, or Viking god(s) as being something silly, or Native American god(s) as being something silly, but yet it seems like bashing Christianity is ok on Fluther.

^Totally agree.

My FIL believes that when he started to pray more and go to church regularly with his wife, his “luck” changed and he became very successful in business. My perception of events would be more that when he is getting ready to make a bold move he tends to pray in it, and seeks God’s guidance. For me it’s more similar to meditating or focusing on the next step firsts in life. If God is his he takes his next step, then I’m happy to call it that.

I just don’t see why people need to be in such conflict about religion and God, when the belief in God isn’t harming others. When it does harm others that’s a different story. Still then, I don’t think we need to art k the belief in God, but rather try to explain where others are being hurt.

I, similar to Darth, have trouble believing in a God who let’s so many suffer. When there is one survivor on a plane crash I don’t believe God has a purpose for that one, because I don’t believe God felt all those others had no purpose. But, if others believe God has His hand in all of it, then that’s just another POV.

As far as the lottery, there is no answer, it depends on each individuals belief system.

@jca2 I agree about the name calling and words that are so dismissive and condescending. I hate it.

@jca2

Call any god out there anything you want as far as I’m concerned. It neither hurts my feelings, nor bloodies my nose nor picks my pocket.

Here, I’ll help – I’m a Buddhist. now call the Buddha any damned thing you’d like.

@Darth_Algar: You missed my point. I don’t call other people’s religions any names. It’s disrespectful, in my opinion. Why would I make fun of Buddhism? On the same note, then why would people make fun of Christianity?

No, I did not miss your point. I simply don’t hold religious beliefs to be above reproach.

@Darth_Algar: I try to be respectful when I can, unless I am given a specific reason not to be.

@jca2 Same. Religions and cultures are so interesting.