Question: How to Test If God Answered Prayer

TODAY I want questions that represent skeptics, new believers, and doubters in general. I welcome the hard questions and will try to answer them well. The first question is to simply examine an X post from Zachary Levi where he says a bunch of stuff about the Bible that I thought would be of interest to skeptics, doubters, and new believers, as well. I'm not roasting the man, just walking through his thoughtful post and providing some insights.

0:00 - Intro
1. 1:38 {Responding to Zachary Levi} A respectful analysis of Zachary Levi’s beliefs on the Bible.
2. 32:56 {The Witness of the Spirit} If I know I believe the Gospel is true but I don’t feel any “witness of the Spirit,” what does that mean? I’m trying to trust with my whole heart.
3. 40:13 {Has God Abandoned the World?} My dad is an unbeliever but acknowledges God’s existence through creation. He believes that God created the world and then abandoned it. How can I help show him that God is still with us to this day?
4. 43:30 {Should I Worship a God I Don’t Like?} A common objection I hear is, "Why should I worship a God I don't like?"
5. 45:58 {Is My Sin Even My Fault?} Why am I accountable to God for my sins when I was born with a sin nature? Shouldn't a loving God provide the basic remedy for creation when they had no choice in being created and no choice regarding their nature?
6. 53:57 {Was YHWH Beaten in Battle?} How can I defend 2 Kings 3 when skeptics use it as an example of Yahweh being beaten in battle by another entity in driving the Israelites out, despite them being prophesied to win?
7. 1:05:46 {Learning to Evangelize Better} I converted just over a year ago and had some success evangelizing to my community (libertarians). I've read the New Testament and I’m working on reading it twice now. What can I do to evangelize better, especially to libertarians?
8. 1:07:20 {How Can God Have a God?} I heard this question in my group: God is considered the Most High; thus Jesus (who is God) is the Most High. Therefore, why does Jesus claim that He has a God above Him in Revelation 3:12?
9. 1:12:26 {Does Doubt = Incomplete Faith?} I’m a new believer who used to be a Jehovah’s Witness. I gave my life to Christ a few years ago, but sometimes I wrestle with doubt. Does that make my faith incomplete?
10. 1:18:40 {Acceptance Only of a “Higher Power”} My daughter (13) believes that there may be a higher power, but doesn’t believe in Jesus. I’m trying to figure out how to reach her in an effective manner. What advice can you offer?
11. 1:21:59 {The Sadness of Animal Suffering} Why is there such a great amount of suffering that animals need to go through? Wouldn’t a good God create it to where the animals didn’t have to suffer and still feed us?
12. 1:34:19 {Answered Prayer or Coincidence?} How can I tell if God actually answered my prayers or if the outcome was just a coincidence? Many Christians say God has spoken to or guided them without evidence. How can such claims be tested objectively?
13. 1:37:23 {Does God Send Us to Hell?} How can I convince my brother that God does not condemn us to Hell and that it’s our own free will that puts us there? He has stopped talking to us due to that belief he has.
14. 1:41:33 {Explaining the Trinity to Muslims} I have a Muslim friend who is struggling to understand the Trinity and asked, “how can God be 3 things all at once, and how can He be crucified?” Can you explain it in a way that a Muslim will understand?
16. 1:45:51 {Street Healings: Are They Real?} Are street healings real? Christians pray for strangers who report relief from pain and various illnesses. But atheist Derren Brown has produced similar results. Are these miracles or psychological effects?
17. 1:51:07 {Is Mental Illness a Fallacy?} I'm in a faith crisis. I shared my mental health struggle with my discipler, and at the next study, they called mental illness a fallacy. I walked away and struggle if it's all real.
18. 1:54:36 {Why is David in Heaven?} Can you explain how David would be in Heaven when he knew 1 wife was God’s design but was living in continuous sin (1 John 3:4-9, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Hebrews 10:26, Ephesians 5:3-7)?
19. 1:56:23 {Rejecting Certain Parts of Scripture?} Can you have blind faith and not believe certain parts of the Bible? And can you have different views than people who know way more about the Bible?
20. 1:57:56 {Higher Healing Statistics?} Christians tend to pray for the healing of their loved ones when they are physically unwell, enough so that there should be a statistically measurable difference in health levels among Christians vs. non-Christians. Do we see it?

LINKS I MENTIONED:

• Three videos explaining why you can trust that the Bible you have today is the same as it once was: Click Here
• Evidence for the Bible playlist: Click Here
• Three videos answering a bunch of specific "Bible contradictions": Click Here
• James 2 (Catholic vs. Protestant view): Click Here
• Book title: "Seeking Allah Finding Jesus" by Nabeel Qureshi. Great resource and can be found used, as well.
• My old video showing how street healing videos are faked (Todd White): Click Here
• Mental health and Philippians 4: Click Here
• If a polygamist gets saved...Click Here

My website is searchable and all the video and audio content is free: https://BibleThinker.org

I'm taking questions from the live chat... here are the rules:

I do this live stream most Fridays at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. You're welcome to join.
To ask a question, you'll need to follow these instructions:
1. Don't post your question before you see me live on camera.
2. Post questions as comments in the LIVE chat at the beginning of the stream.
3. Post your question with "Q" at the beginning so we can easily identify that you are sending it in as a question for me and not just a comment in the chat.
4. Try to be as clear as possible so I won't misunderstand the question. Keep in mind that I don't know anything about your question other than what you type in that short comment.
5. Include specific verse references when possible or applicable.
6. Only one question submitted per subscriber, per stream, please. Submitting the same question into the chat a few times is OK.
7. Please understand that we don't strictly take the first 10 questions submitted. Our team takes several factors into consideration.
8. You can also check the "Clip Search" on BibleThinker.org in advance to see if your topic of interest has already been covered in a past session. I try not to answer the same questions over and over, so you may find what you need there.