Let's look at the system as a whole here.

在這裡，讓我們來看看整個系統。

You have a God who knows everything and who is all powerful.

你們有一位無所不知、無所不能的上帝。

He, for whatever reason, has let this earth run on its own where people get sick, where people get hurt by accidents, where starvation and poverty are extremely common, where abuse and rape and murder and theft and every horrible thing happens on a daily basis in vast quantities, and then you get to pray about things.

不管出於什麼原因，他讓這個地球自生自滅，讓人們生病，讓人們受到意外傷害，讓飢餓和貧窮變得極為普遍，讓虐待、強姦、謀殺、偷竊以及各種可怕的事情每天都在大量發生，然後你卻要為這些事情祈禱。

But according to the Bible, as Jesus taught us how to pray in the Lord's Prayer, we should be praying, I will be done.

但根據《聖經》，正如耶穌在主禱文中教導我們的那樣，我們應該祈禱 "願我的旨意成就"。

Most of the time, when we get a prayer that is no or that is wait or that doesn't get answered, we are told it's because it wasn't in God's will.

大多數時候，當我們的禱告被拒絕、被等待或沒有得到迴應時，我們會被告知這是因為它不符合上帝的旨意。

God has different plans.

上帝有不同的安排。

Well, then why did you pray?

那你為什麼要祈禱呢？

If you can't change God's will and you can only pray within his will, then you are only praying to God to do the thing God already intends to do.

如果你無法改變上帝的旨意，只能在他的旨意範圍內禱告，那麼你只是在祈求上帝做上帝已經打算做的事情。

Once again, proving that prayer is futile.

再次證明祈禱是徒勞的。

What are you accomplishing?

你在做什麼？

Imagine me telling my son the plan for his birthday.

想象一下，我告訴兒子他的生日計劃。

Every little particular, I'm going to list it out.

每一個小細節，我都要一一列舉出來。

Here's what time we're going to get up.

我們幾點起床？

Here's where I've scheduled the party.

這是我安排的派對地點。

Here's what kind of cake you're going to get.

你會得到什麼樣的蛋糕呢？

Here's the presents that you're going to receive.

這是您將收到的禮物。

Now, you can ask me for whatever you want for your birthday and I'll do it for you.

現在，你可以向我提出任何生日願望，我都會為你實現。

But what you ask for has to align with my plans or I can't help you.

但你的要求必須符合我的計劃，否則我幫不了你。

What?

什麼？

How confusing.

真讓人困惑。

This is essentially what the Bible says and what your preachers are telling you.

這基本上就是《聖經》所說的，也是你們的傳道人告訴你們的。

But okay, Dad, I want a dinosaur birthday cake.

但是好吧，爸爸，我想要一個恐龍生日蛋糕。

Good, that was what was in the plan, prayer granted.

很好，這就是計劃中的祈禱。

Now thank me and tell everyone else what a good thing I did for you and how I answered your prayer.

現在感謝我，並告訴其他人我為你做了一件多麼好的事情，我是如何迴應你的禱告的。

Okay, Dad, I want the Spider-Man Lego set.

好吧，爸爸，我想要蜘蛛俠樂高套裝。

Ah, not on the list, denied.

啊，不在名單上，被拒絕了。

Now thank me for my better plans for you because my unlimited knowledge knows exactly what's best for you and I've got a good plan for you.

現在，感謝我為你制定了更好的計劃，因為我無限的知識確切地知道什麼對你最好，我已經為你制定了一個好計劃。

Thank me for that and then tell everyone that I did answer your prayer.

謝謝我，然後告訴大家我確實迴應了你的禱告。

It just wasn't exactly in the way you thought it would be.

只是和你想象的不太一樣。

But that is good.

但這很好。

To my mind, biblical prayer is absolutely that asinine, that ridiculous, that silly.

在我看來，聖經中的禱告絕對是那麼無稽、可笑、愚蠢。

If we can change God's will, especially in things like intercessory prayer, that means we're also changing the will of another individual on this earth.

如果我們能改變上帝的旨意，特別是在代禱等事情上，那就意味著我們也在改變世上另一個人的旨意。

That means free will is out the window.

這意味著自由意志不復存在。

I know I use silly examples sometimes like praying for the football team to win, but let's just take that and run with it for a second.

我知道我有時會用一些愚蠢的例子，比如祈禱橄欖球隊獲勝，但讓我們先用這個例子來說明一下吧。

If you pray and that team wins and they won because of your prayer, that means that they weren't going to win otherwise, which means that all the hard work of all of those players and all of the practice and all of the good coaching and every other causal event that has led up to what the outcome of that game would have been was for nothing.

如果你祈禱了，那支球隊贏了，而且他們是因為你的祈禱才贏的，那就意味著，如果不是你的祈禱，他們是不會贏的，這就意味著，所有這些球員的辛勤工作、所有的訓練、所有的好教練，以及所有其他導致那場比賽結果的因果事件，都是白費的。

You have interrupted their life, their free will to get an outcome that you can control via your ability to commune with God versus their ability to commune with God.

你打斷了他們的生活，打斷了他們的自由意志，從而通過你與上帝交流的能力和他們與上帝交流的能力，得到一個你可以控制的結果。

Now, I know that's a silly example, and for that reason, many of you won't take heat in it, but just extrapolate it to whatever you want.

現在，我知道這是一個愚蠢的例子，是以，你們中的許多人都不會對它感興趣，但你們可以隨意推斷。

Maybe the winning side of a war.

也許是戰爭的勝利方。

How many times have we heard that the US has been so victorious in war because we're a Christian country versus non-Christian countries?

我們聽說過多少次，美國之所以能在戰爭中取得如此大的勝利，是因為我們是一個基督教國家，而不是非基督教國家？

I mean, this is the entire story of the Old Testament that the army with the correct God won the battles.

我是說，這就是《舊約全書》的故事，擁有正確上帝的軍隊贏得了戰鬥。

That's why having such a powerful God was so important.

這就是為什麼擁有一個如此強大的上帝如此重要。

America is a Christian nation.

美國是一個基督教國家。

We won our battles because of the prayers and belief of our people, the Christian people.

因為我們的人民--基督徒--的祈禱和信仰，我們贏得了戰鬥。

Think about what that actually implies for the deaths of those men, women, and children from the losing countries.

想想這對戰敗國男女老幼的死亡意味著什麼吧。

In what world did they have free will?

在哪個世界裡，他們擁有自由意志？

So if prayer works, it immediately eradicates free will, and if it doesn't, then we have a lie from God.

是以，如果禱告起作用，它就會立即消除自由意志；如果禱告不起作用，那麼我們就有了上帝的謊言。

This, to me, is a real catch-22 for God, and quite simply, as a believer of over 30 years,

對我來說，這是上帝的一個真正的 "陷阱"，很簡單，作為一個 30 多年的信徒、

I ran out of excuses for God, and this is what I'll end with.

我為上帝找的藉口都用完了，這就是我的結尾。

After 30 years of believing every literal chapter and verse, believing in His goodness, in His omniscience, in His sovereignty, in His plan, wanting to fulfill my destiny in God's will for His kingdom, not for my benefit, not for my gain, seeking out after Him, having daily prayer time, going to church, being a leader, studying the Bible, calling my faith my greatest asset, sharing the gospel, praying for others, giving my tithes, giving my offerings, and relying on God, not just as some supernatural supreme being, but as my personal Savior and the author of my life, and for about three years at the end of that,

30 年來，我相信每一章每一節的字面意義，相信神的良善，相信神的全知全能，相信神的主權，相信神的計劃，希望按照神的旨意為祂的國度實現我的命運，不為我的利益，不為我的得失，追尋祂，每天禱告，去教堂、成為領袖，研讀聖經，稱我的信仰為我最大的財富，分享福音，為他人禱告，奉獻什一奉獻，依靠上帝，不只是把上帝當作超自然的至高存在，而是把上帝當作我個人的救主和我生命的創始者，最後還依靠了三年左右、

I begged God to reveal Himself fully, to help me continue to believe, to answer prayers, to give me what so many people around me were getting all of the time, the reassurance, the miracles, the visions, the answers to prayer, the showing up, and I just didn't get it.

我懇求上帝充分顯明祂自己，幫助我繼續相信，迴應我的禱告，給我周圍許多人一直在得到的東西，保證、奇蹟、異象、禱告的迴應、顯現，但我就是沒有得到。

What is the Christian answer for that?

對此，基督徒的答案是什麼？

Besides pulling apart my motives and my heart and my sincerity, which you cannot know and do not have a right to claim against, let's just assume that it was as sincere as the other person next to me who received the answers, who God showed up for, who God increased their faith for, who God helped them to believe, to remain in the faith.

你無法瞭解我的動機、我的心和我的誠意，也無權對我的動機、我的心和我的誠意提出異議，除此之外，讓我們假定，我的動機、我的心和我的誠意與我身邊的其他人一樣真誠，他們得到了答案，上帝向他們顯現，上帝增加了他們的信心，上帝幫助他們相信，讓他們保持信仰。

Why them and not me?

為什麼是他們而不是我？

What can possibly be the explanation for that other than that there is no God?

除了沒有上帝，還有什麼其他解釋呢？