The Power of Prayer-Taken from the Watchtower w00 3/1 pp. 3, 4

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG

The sun is setting over the city of Nahor in the Middle East. A Syrian man named Eliezer arrives with a train of ten camels at a well outside the city. Though no doubt tired and thirsty, Eliezer is more concerned about the needs of others.

He has come from a foreign land to find a wife for the son of his master. Moreover, he must find this wife among his master’s relatives. How will he accomplish this difficult task?

Eliezer believes in the power of prayer. With remarkable, childlike faith, he makes this humble request: “Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, cause it to happen, please, before me this day and perform loving-kindness with my master Abraham.
Here I am stationed at a fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. What must occur is that the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Let your water jar down, please, that I may take a drink,’ and who will indeed say, ‘Take a drink, and I shall also water your camels,’ this is the one you must assign to your servant, to Isaac; and by this let me know that you have performed loyal love with my master.”—Genesis 24:12-14.

Eliezer’s confidence in the power of prayer is not in vain. Why, the very first woman who comes to the well happens to be the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother! Her name is Rebekah, and she is single, morally chaste, and beautiful. Remarkably, she not only gives Eliezer a drink but kindly offers to quench the thirst of all his camels.
Later, after a family consultation, Rebekah willingly agrees to go back with Eliezer to a distant land to become the wife of Abraham’s son Isaac.
What a dramatic and clear answer to Eliezer’s prayer back at a time when God occasionally intervened miraculously in events!

THE WATCHTOWER 2000 3/1 p. 3

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What Is the Key to Success?-Taken from the Watchtower w00 2/1 p. 3

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG

FOR Orville and Wilbur Wright, what happened that October day in 1900 was not the first frustrating setback in their attempt to construct a heavier-than-air flying machine. They had already spent some years and a significant amount of money experimenting.

Finally, though, their persistence paid off. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.A., the Wright brothers managed to launch a motor-driven prototype that flew for 12 seconds—short as far as flights go now, but long enough to change the world forever! (See the photo below)

Success in most endeavors depends largely on patient perseverance. Whether it is mastering a new language, learning a trade, or even developing a relationship, most things of value are achieved only through sustained effort. “Nine times out of ten,” says author Charles Templeton, “success is directly attributable to one thing: hard work.”

“The hand of the diligent one is the one that will rule.” (Proverbs 12:24) Diligence means that we persevere in our efforts. This is necessary if we want to achieve what we set out to do. Perseverance has become a rare commodity in modern times. Many people believe that success has more to do with being in the right place at the right time than it does with perseverance.

The news media are saturated with advertising slogans that subliminally drive home the message that almost anything you want can be had with a minimum of effort and just a little more money.

What Is Perseverance?

To persevere means to ‘hold firmly and steadily to some purpose, state, or undertaking despite obstacles or setbacks.’ It implies continuing resolutely in the face of adversity, being tenacious, not giving up. The Bible highlights the importance of this quality. For instance, God’s Word admonishes us: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom,” “keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you,” “persevere in prayer,” and “hold fast to what is fine.”—Matthew 6:33; Luke 11:9; Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

An important part of perseverance is coping with the inevitable setbacks. Proverbs 24:16 states: “The righteous one may fall even seven times, and he will certainly get up.” Rather than ‘folding up’ when encountering difficulty or failure, the persevering individual ‘gets up,’ ‘keeps on,’ and tries again.

Columnist Leonard Pitts says: " “We forget, that there is a reason to go through ordeal, some value to be found in adversity.” What value is that? He concludes: “[One] learns that failure is not fatal, nor defeat eternal. One gains depth. One becomes ready.” The Bible puts it simply: “By every kind of toil there comes to be an advantage.”—Proverbs 14:23.

What Can Help Us Persevere?

The first step for persevering in a chosen course is to set worthwhile and attainable goals.
“The shrewd one considers his steps,” says Proverbs 14:15. It is wise to reevaluate our strategies in life from time to time, asking ourselves where we are heading and whether adjustments need to be made. Studying to understand God’s law as set out in the Bible is a very worthwhile goal. Why? Essentially, it is because God’s law is based on his perfect, righteous standards. As the Creator, he knows what is best for his creatures. So if we persist in learning God’s instructions and applying them in our lives, such persistence will surely bring us happiness. “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart . . . In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight,” promises Proverbs 3:5, 6.

Additionally, taking in knowledge of God and of Jesus “means everlasting life,” says Jesus. (John 17:3) Bible prophecy indicates that we are living in “the last days” of this system. (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:3-13) Soon God’s Kingdom, his righteous government, will assert its rule over earth’s inhabitants. (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:10) This government will usher in an unprecedented era of peace, prosperity, and well-being for all obedient mankind. (Psalm 37:10, 11; Revelation 21:4) “God is not partial,” says Acts 10:34.

Yes, everyone is invited to enjoy the benefits!

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Faith Can Change Your Life

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG

Faith Helps Those Looked Down Upon
In recent years newspapers have reported on civil wars in Africa. Particularly horrifying are accounts of young boys who are trained as soldiers.
These children are drugged, brutalized, and forced to engage in dehumanizing behavior against their relatives in order to ensure that their sole loyalty is to the faction for which they are fighting. Is a Bible-based faith strong enough to change the lives of such youngsters? In at least two cases, it was.
In Liberia, Alex served as an altar boy in the Catholic Church. But at the age of 13, he joined a warring faction and became a notorious child soldier.
Alex saw many of his companions killed, but he survived. In 1997 he met Jehovah’s Witnesses and found that they did not look down on him. Rather, they helped him to learn what the Bible says about violence. Alex left the army. As his faith began to grow, he followed the Bible command: “Let him turn away from what is bad and do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”—1 Peter 3:11.
Meanwhile, a former child soldier named Samson came through the town where Alex now lived. He had been a choirboy but in 1993 became a soldier and got involved in drug abuse, spiritism, and immorality.
Samson was heading for Monrovia to join a special security force when a friend persuaded him to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and as a result, he developed a Bible-based faith. This gave him the courage to abandon his warlike ways. Both Alex and Samson now live peaceful and moral lives. Could anything but Bible-based faith make changes in lives that had been so brutalized?
The Right Kind of Faith
These are just a few of the many, many examples that could be cited to illustrate the power of genuine faith based on the Bible. Of course, not everyone who merely claims to believe in God lives up to the Bible’s high standards. Indeed, some atheists may live better lives than some professed Christians. That is because Bible-based faith involves more than merely claiming to believe in God.
The apostle Paul called faith “the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” (Hebrews 11:1) Hence, faith includes a strong belief—based on irrefutable evidence—in unseen things. It especially involves having no doubt whatsoever that God exists, that he is interested in us, and that he will bless those who do his will.-the wathtower, taken from

w00 1/1 pp. 2-5

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JEHOVAH, God's Holy Name

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG 

JEHOVAH
(Je·ho′vah) [the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Heb. verb ha·wah′ (become); meaning “He Causes to Become”].
The personal name of God. (Isa 42:8; 54:5) Though Scripturally designated by such descriptive titles as “God,” “Sovereign Lord,” “Creator,” “Father,” “the Almighty,” and “the Most High,” his personality and attributes—who and what he is—are fully summed up and expressed only in this personal name.—Ps 83:18.
Correct Pronunciation of the Divine Name. “Jehovah” is the best known English pronunciation of the divine name, although “Yahweh” is favored by most Hebrew scholars. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts present the name in the form of four consonants, commonly called the Tetragrammaton (from Greek te·tra-, meaning “four,” and gram′ma, “letter”). These four letters (written from right to left) are יהוה and may be transliterated into English as YHWH (or, JHVH).
Superstition hides the name. At some point a superstitious idea arose among the Jews that it was wrong even to pronounce the divine name (represented by the Tetragrammaton). Just what basis was originally assigned for discontinuing the use of the name is not definitely know.n. Some hold that the name was viewed as being too sacred for imperfect lips to speak.
Since certainty of pronunciation is not now attainable, there seems to be no reason for abandoning in English the well-known form “Jehovah” in favor of some other suggested pronunciation. If such a change were made, then, to be consistent, changes should be made in the spelling and pronunciation of a host of other names found in the Scriptures: Jeremiah would be changed to Yir·meyah′, Isaiah would become Yesha ·ya′hu, and Jesus would be either Yehoh·shu′a (as in Hebrew) or I·e·sous′ (as in Greek). The purpose of words is to transmit thoughts; in English the name Jehovah identifies the true God, transmitting this thought more satisfactorily today than any of the suggested substitutes.
The Tetragrammaton occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text printed in Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. In the Hebrew Scriptures the New World Translation contains the divine name 6,973 times, because the translators took into account, among other things, the fact that in some places the scribes had replaced the divine name with ʼAdho·nai′ or ʼElo·him′. (See NW appendix, pp. 1561, 1562.)
The name therefore is also absent from most translations of the so-called New Testament. Yet the name does appear in these sources in its abbreviated form at Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6, in the expression “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah” (KJ, Dy, JB, AS, RS). The call there recorded as spoken by spirit sons of God to “Praise Jah, you people!” (NW) makes clear that the divine name was not obsolete; it was as vital and pertinent as it had been in the pre-Christian period.
Taken from the official publication of the Jehovah's Witnesses insight vol. 2 pp. 5-20

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Bible Questions Answered



Bible Questions Answered:

 What does the Bible really teach?  Select a question below that interests you.

Bible:
God:
Jesus:
Family:
Suffering:
God's Kingdom:
Prayer:
Real-World Problems:

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What Would You Like to Ask God?

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG

Some say that it is wrong to question God. They may feel that it is disrespectful to ask why God does or does not allow certain things to happen. — The Watchtower, november, 2012 p. 3

 IF SO, you may be surprised to learn that many good people have questioned God. The faithful man Job asked God: "Why is it that the wicked themselves keep living, have grown old, also have become superior in wealth?"—Job 21:7.
If you read the passages surrounding this or other questions mentioned in the Scriptures, you will see no indication that Jehovah* God was offended when asked such sincere questions. In fact, Jesus told his disciples: "Keep on asking, and it will be given you." (Matthew 7:7) But do God listen to us in this times?
Read what a young man, who was disillusioned with life, have to say.

"With tears in my eyes, asking, 'Why?'"

 I was born in England, in 1963. About the time I was seven years old, my family moved to Australia. We settled on the Gold Coast, a tourist destination in Queensland, Australia. Although my family was not rich, we always had what we needed.
    I started binge drinking during my highschool years. At age 16, I left school and joined the navy. I began to experiment with drugs and became addicted to tobacco. I also became more and more dependent on alcohol. I went from binge dinking on the weekends to doing so every day.

    In my late teens and early 20's, I started to question God's existence. 'If God really exists', I reasoned, 'why does he allow people to suffer and die?' I had no desire to set goals or achieve anything. Nothing really appealed to me. The prospect of owning a house, having a secure job, and receiving promotions all seemed pointless. My only "comfort" came from drinking alcohol and listening to music.

    I can recall the exact moment when I felt the greatest desire to find purpose in life. I was in Poland, visiting the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz. I had read about the atrocities that took place. But when I actually stood there and saw the enormous size of the camp, my emotions were deeply affected. I could not comprehend how humans could be so cruel to other humans. I remember walking around the camp with tears in my eyes, asking, 'Why?'

    In 1993, I began to read the Bible in search of answers. Soon thereafter, two of Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door and invited me to a convention that was being held at a nearby stadium. I decided to go.
    I had been to that stadium a few months earlier for a match, but the contrast with this convention was enormous. The Witnesses were polite and well-dressed, and their children were well-behaved. And I was stunned by what I saw at lunchtime. Hundreds of Witnesses ate lunch on the playing field, but when they returned to their seats, I couldn't see a single piece of rubbish left on the field! Above all, these people seemed to have a feeling of contentment and peace—something I yearned for. I don't remember any of the talks that were given that day, but the conduct of the Witnesses made a lasting impression.

    The following week, the two Witnesses who had invited me to the convention returned. They offered me a Bible study, which I accepted. I also began to attend Christian meetings with them.
    As I studied the Bible, my view of God changed completely. I learned that he is not the cause of wickedness and suffering and that he himself is hurt when people do bad things. (Genesis 6:6; Psalm 78:40, 41) I became quite determined to try never to cause Jehovah any hurt. I wanted to make his heart rejoice. (Proverbs 27:11) I stopped overdrinking and using tobacco, and I quit engaging in immorality. In March 1994, I was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

    I am genuinely happy and content. I no longer turn to alcohol in an attempt to solve my problems. Instead, I've learned to throw my burdens on Jehovah.—Psalm 55:22.
    For the past ten years, I have been married to a beautiful Witness named Karen, and I have a wonderful stepdaughter named Nella. The three of us enjoy spending a lot of our time in the Christian ministry, helping others to learn the truth about God. At last, my life has purpose. (Ian King) —The Watchtower, november 1, 2012 p. 13.
—
*Jehovah is the name of God revealed in the Bible.

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Does God Punish People in Hellfire?

From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses/JW.ORG 

ARE YOU surprised when you hear that I don't believe in hellfire? There is people who hard accept that. But what does the Bible really teach? Let us consider what it says.

Will God Punish Wicked People?

 I'm interested in hearing the viewpoint of others, since people have a lot of different ideas about hellfire. For example some believe that really bad people go to hell when they die and that they're tormented there forever. This is a common viewpoint.

 Maybe they experienced bad things in their lives. Some people feel strongly about hellfire because they've been affected by the actions of wicked people. So, innocent victims want to see bad people pay for their actions. Those feelings are certainly normal. The Bible teaches that God too is incensed when innocent people are victimized—and he promises that he will punish the wicked. Notice what is stated here at Isaiah 3:11: "Woe to the wicked one!—Calamity; for the treatment rendered by his own hands will be rendered to him!" So we can be confident that God will punish wicked people.

But you may ask: "But how can that be if there's no hellfire?" In a nutshell, the answer is that God punishes the wicked with eternal destruction. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) So we see there's no hope for wicked people because God punishes them with eternal death. They have no prospects for life in the future.

What Does Justice Require?

To some people it just doesn't seem fair. "Everyone dies", they think. "Don't really bad people deserve a worse punishment?" they reply. That's right. Many cares about justice, that's commendable. The truth is, humans have a sense of right and wrong because God created us with it. He too cares a great deal about justice. But when religious leaders teach that God punishes people in hellfire, they are actually portraying God as very unjust.

 For example. In the Bible account of Adam and Eve, God 'laid this command upon the man': 'From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die'. But they disobeyed. Just think: By his sin, Adam caused the entire human race to be born as sinners. (Romans 5:12) And yet, even in this case, God say nothing about being punished in hellfire. If Adam and Eve were in danger of being tormented forever, shouldn't God have warned them? Wouldn't that be the just and loving thing to do?

Consider, too, what God said to Adam and Eve after they sinned. Genesis 3:19 says: "In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return." According to God's words Adam would return to the dust of the ground. Consider: Wouldn't you agree that in order for someone to return to a place, he has to have been there before? And before God created Adam he didn't exist.

There is no mention of hellfire in God's judgment. Would it be fair for God to tell Adam that he was going back to the ground  from which he had been made if he was really going to a fiery hell? Certainly not!

Does the Devil Carry Out God's Will?

 There's something else we might consider about the teaching of hellfire. Who do people usually say is "in charge" of hellfire? Who supposedly punishes the people that are in hell? The Devil. Yet, the Devil is God's worst enemy. If God sends people to a fiery hell to be tormented by the Devil, wouldn't that imply a level of cooperation between God and the Devil?

To illustrate the point. Imagine you're a father and that your son becomes very rebellious. He does a lot of bad things that sadden you. What would you do? You would repeatedly try to help him get back on the right track. Despite all your efforts, he rejects what you're telling him. You may feel that you have no choice but to punish him in some way. But what if you found out that an evil man had been influencing your son, teaching him to do all those bad things? Knowing that a wicked, immoral man had influenced your son against you, would you turn to that man and ask him to punish your son for you? That wouldn't make any sense.

For that matter, if God wanted the wicked to be punished, why would the Devil—God's arcenemy—comply with God's wishes and torment them?

Jehovah Will End All Wickedness

 Rest assured, though. God will take action against the incorrigibly wicked. The Bible says: "Evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth." Yes, God will cut of evildoers, he will destroy them permanently. But good people—"those hoping in Jehovah"—will enjoy life here on earth forever. (Psalm 37:9)  For more information, see chapter 11 of the book What Does the Bible Really Teach? published by Jehovah's Witnesses.

w 10/1  2012  p. 12
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