Oh okay Griff.  Physician heal thyself.  

Some of you sound like Job's comforters.  LOL
Job too had a problem with Satan but his friends didn't think so and they told him in no uncertain terms.  What we need here is an Eliphaz the Temanite.

Griff has a problem with God hearing / answering his prayers.

 Job 15:1-8  Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
 2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
 3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
 4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
 5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
 6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
 7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
 8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

Well Griff ought to try praise.  Not half hearted praise but from the heart.  Praise the Lord : praise his name.

 Ps 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
 Ps 9:14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
 Ps 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
 Ps 22:22  I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
 Ps 22:23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
etc.

Praise the Lord, Griff.  I did and he saved me.  Praise his name.
Praise is the secret !

If this is a sample of Bible Study, I think I will give Theology a miss.
This is more like ChristiansDevourEachOther than ChristiansUnite LOL

It would appear that there is a difference of opinion.  Well I'll put my money on Sower "for better or worse."
You're all quite frisky on this forum.  I have got used to a sedate existence.  LOL

Hi Reba.  Could it have anything to do with this ? :  http://www.blackeyedpeas.com

Thank you for your advice Petro.  I know it doesn't contain the Word of God, BUT NEITHER DOES IT CONTRADICT IT.

You will get plenty of the Word of God before you are though with me Petro—maybe too much !  LOL

Thanks for the welcome Reba.

LOL @ your post to Petro.  

Yes I was thinking that when I posted it Sower.  

I often put LOL in my posts but I rarely laugh as loud as I did at your post Allinall    I like your graphic.

I'm new here but not new to forums.  My nickname was carefully chosen so my posts are not for the faint hearted.  I like the scriptures and quote them often.

God bless.

 Pr 24:10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

[And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it [Matt. 16:18].]

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it [Matt. 16:18].

Let us look at this verse carefully. On what rock did Jesus build His church? There are those who say that it was built on Simon Peter. Well, obviously it was not, because there is a play upon words here. In the original Greek it is, “Thou art Petros [a little piece of rock], and upon this petra [bedrock] I will build my church.” There are others who hold that Christ is building His church upon the confession that Simon Peter made. I don’t agree with that at all.
Who is the Rock? The Rock is Christ. The church is built upon Christ. We have Simon Peter’s own explanation of this. In 1 Peter 2:4, referring to Christ, he writes, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.” And he remembers Isaiah 28:16, “… Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded” (1 Pet. 2:6). The church is built upon Christ; He is the foundation. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). Christ is the stone, and He says on this rock He will build His church. The church was still future when the Lord made this statement. And please don’t tell me there was a church in the Old Testament because the church did not come into existence until after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit. There could not have been a church until all of these things had taken place. “I will build my church”—this was future.
The “gates of hell” refers to death. The word used for hell is the Greek word hades, the sheol of the Old Testament, which refers to the unseen world and means “death.” The gates of death shall not prevail against Christ’s church. One of these days the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. That shout will be like the voice of an archangel and like a trumpet because the dead in Christ are to be raised. The gates of death shall not prevail against His church.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven [Matt. 16:19].

What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven? Were they given only to Simon Peter? No, Jesus gives them to those who make the same confession made by Peter, those who know Christ as Savior. If you are a child of God, you have the keys as well as any person has the keys. The keys were the badge of authority of the office of the scribes who interpreted the Scriptures to the people (see Neh. 8:2–8). Every Christian today has the Scriptures and, therefore, the keys. If we withhold the Word, we “bind on earth”; if we give the Word, we “loose on earth.” No man or individual church has the keys—to the exclusion of all other believers. We have a responsibility today to give out the gospel because it is the only thing that can save people. This is a tremendous revelation. Who is sufficient for these things? You and I have a responsibility that is awesome indeed!

Taken from : McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (Vol. 4, Page 92). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

It looks like the RC's got it wrong !

[Don't Marry if : -]

In my humble opinion it is much better to make a wise choice in marriage in the first place than to seek a way out afterwards.  I had a wonderful marriage. Here are a few pointers for single Christians hoping to marry :

Don't Marry if : -

* both partners are still young. Marriages between two partners who are under 21 are more likely than not to end in divorce or separation.

* you feel that you had a bad relationship with either of your parents, and your prospective spouse seems to you to be someone "just like" that parent.

* you and your partner consistently seem to have difficulty accepting each other's ideas, fight most of the time, or simply don't appear to understand each other.

* conversations frequently contain any of the following phrases:
"Do you really love me?" "I wish you were more like..." "You have to give up those friends. We can only have mutual friends now."  "I can't stand it when you spend time alone reading (pursuing a hobby) (meditating) (whatever). You should spend every minute with me."

* your decision to get married has been heavily influenced by either partner's parents. Many people, seduced by the wealth, acceptance, flattery, or even cooking of a potential in-law, find themselves at the altar promising to spend their lives with someone for whom they don't have any genuine feelings.

* your partner has traits you abhor. (such as a violent temper or poor grooming habits), yet you find yourself unable to raise the issue for fear of offending.

* you find yourself being too anxious to please a partner who gives little in return, or who, you feel, makes consistently selfish demands and rarely considers your welfare.

* after extensive discussion, you're still unable to agree on where you're going to live or under what circumstances  (i.e., career changes or new income opportunities elsewhere) you would move in the future.

* your values regarding material goods are radically different. Couples often have major conflicts when they realize, after getting married, that one spouse prefers a modest standard of living, while the other insists on lavish surroundings and a steady ascent up the ladder of success.

* either partner is desperate to marry as soon as possible. Do not marry anyone out of panic or pressure from another person. No matter who's applying the pressure, and no matter what the reason (pregnancy, the need to leave home, a ticking biological clock, to fit in (all your friends are married), loneliness, fear of independence, or fear of upsetting plans already made.

These recommendations were not mine but were taken from a CorelDRAW! art form