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34567 july 1 2012 when you pray who listens?

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34567 6 printing each issue 42,182,000 in 195 l anguages july 1 2012 the purpose of this magazine the watchtower is to honor jehovah god the supreme ruler of the universe just as watchtowers in ancient times enabled a person to observe developments from afar so this magazine shows us the significance of world events in the light of bible prophecies it comforts people with the good news that god s kingdom which is a real government in heaven will soon bring an end to all wickedness and transform the earth into a paradise it promotes faith in jesus christ who died so that we might gain everlasting life and who is now ruling as king of god s kingdom this magazine has been published by jehovah s witnesses continuously since 1879 and is nonpolitical it adheres to the bible as its authority this publication is not for sale it is provided as part of a worldwide bible educational work supported by voluntary donations unless otherwise indicated scripture quotations are from the modern-language new world translation of the holy scriptures with references from our cover 3 does anyone hear prayers 4 who is the hearer of prayer 6 why does the hearer of prayer allow suffering 8 draw close to the hearer of prayer regular features 11 12 16 18 23 29 30 did you know the bible changes lives learn from god s word how do spirit creatures affect us draw close to god when god forgives does he forget imitate their faith where you go i shall go our readers ask why did god require that his worshippers marry only fellow believers for young people a god who abhors injustice also in this issue 19 whenever you pray say `father

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i used to have doubts about god s existence yet sometimes i would pray anyway i was unsure if anyone was listening but i must admit that i did hope that someone was out there i was unhappy and had no purpose in life i was afraid to believe in god because i thought that only weak people believed in god patricia,1 ireland does anyone hear prayers c an you relate to patricia s feelings do you pray even if you have doubts about whether god exists if so you are far from alone consider the following a poll of 2,200 british people revealed that only 22 percent believe that there is a personal god who created the world and who hears prayers yet of those polled 55 percent pray at least occasionally a survey of 10,000 people on four continents showed that of the respondents who describe themselves as atheists almost 30 percent pray why do they doubt an englishman named allan says i used to say that i didn t believe in god because i thought that religion was invented to control people and to make money also if there were a god i reasoned then there would not be so much injustice yet sometimes i would sit quietly and talk to `something i would also ask myself `how did i get here each person with such feelings has his own reasons for doubting whether prayers are answered in many cases the doubts may be fueled by unanswered questions such as the following is there a creator why is religion so often an influence for bad why does god allow suffering if you could know the answers to those questions would you feel more confident about praying 1 some names in this series of articles have been changed the watchtower july 1 2012 3

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who is the hearer of prayer evidence of a creator do we have to accept without proof that the hearer of prayer exists not at all the idea that faith means believing without evidence is a mistaken notion the bible defines faith as the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld hebrews 11:1 another translation says that faith makes us certain of realities we do not see the new english bible for example you cannot see radio waves but your cell phone clearly demonstrates the reality of those invisible waves that transmit voices so you accept that such waves exist similarly although we cannot see the hearer of prayer we can review available evidence that can give us the conviction that he must exist where can we find evidence that god exists we need only look around us the bible i f there is a hearer of prayer logically he must be the creator who else but the one who designed the human brain could read your thoughts who else could respond to prayers and provide mankind with the help they need but you may wonder `is it rational to believe in a creator many people think that to believe in a creator you have to deny the evidence of modern science but the assumption that belief in god is incompatible with science is simply not true consider the following a recent study of 1,646 professors of science at 21 elite universities in the united states found that only a third chose the statement i do not believe in god to describe their view the fact is that a number of scientists believe in the existence of god 34567 6 would you welcome more information or a free home bible study please send your request to jehovah s witnesses using one of these addresses for a complete list of addresses see www.watchtower.org/address 4 america united states of 25 columbia heights brooklyn ny 11201-2483 australia po box 280 ingleburn nsw 1890 britain the ridgeway london nw7 1rn canada po box 4100 georgetown on l7g 4y4 germany 65617 selters guam 143 jehovah st barrigada gu 96913 jamaica po box 103 old harbour st catherine japan 4-7-1 nakashinden ebina city kanagawapref 243-0496 puerto rico po box 3980 guaynabo pr 00970 south africa private bag x2067 krugersdorp 1740 trinidad and tobago lower rapsey street laxmi lane curepe vol 133 no 13 the watchtower issn 0043-1087 is published semimonthly by watchtower bible and tract society of new york inc l weaver jr president g f simonis secretary-treasurer 25 columbia heights brooklyn ny 11201-2483 and by watch tower bible and tract society of canada po box 4100 georgetown on l7g 4y4 periodicals postage paid at brooklyn ny and at additional mailing offices postmaster send address changes to watchtower 1000 red mills road wallkill ny 125893299 5 2012 watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania all rights reserved printed in canada english semimonthly

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reasons this way of course every house is constructed by someone but he that constructed all things is god hebrews 3:4 do you agree with the logic of that statement perhaps when you contemplate the order of the universe the origin of life or the design of that most complex of all structures on earth the human brain you reason that something higher than humans must exist.1 but there is a limit to what nature can teach us about god observing evidence of god in creation is like hearing the footsteps of someone approaching behind a closed door you know that someone is there but who is it to find out you need to open the door we need to do something similar in order to identify the someone behind creation the bible is a door to knowledge about god when you open that door and consider some of its detailed prophecies and their fulfillment you will find evidence that god exists.2 but more than that the record of god s dealings with people shows the very personality of the hearer of prayer what is the hearer of prayer like the bible reveals the hearer of prayer to be a person one whom you can know surely only a person can listen with understanding 1 for a more detailed discussion of the evidence of god s existence see the brochure the origin of life five questions worth asking and the book is there a creator who cares about you both published by jehovah s witnesses 2 the brochure a book for all people and the book the bible god s word or man s are published by jehovah s witnesses to help you to consider evidence that the bible is inspired of god sadly it is religion that causes many to doubt that there is a compassionate hearer of prayer religion s involvement in war terrorism and the toleration of child abuse has led even prayerful people to say i don t believe in god why is religion often an influence for bad put simply bad people have done bad things in the name of religion the bible foretold that christianity would be hijacked and used for evil ends the apostle paul told christian overseers from among yourselves men will does you and speak twisted rise religion things to draw away the themmake you disciples after 20:29 30 selves acts doubt god is disgusted with false religion in fact god s word the bible holds false religion responsible for the blood of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth revelation 18:24 because false religion has failed to teach people about the true god whose very essence is love those religions are bloodguilty in god s eyes 1 john 4:8 the hearer of prayer feels for the victims of oppressive religion soon god s love for mankind will move him to judge all religious hypocrites by means of jesus jesus said many will say to me in that day `lord lord did we not prophesy in your name yet then i will confess to them i never knew you get away from me you workers of lawlessness matthew 7:22 23 now published in 195 languages acholi afrikaans albanian amharic arabic armenian armenian west aymara,7 azerbaijani azerbaijani cyrillic ´ baoule bengali bicol bislama bulgarian cambodian catalan cebuano chichewa chinese simplified chinese traditional7 audio mandarin only chitonga chitumbuka chuukese cibemba croatian czech,7 danish,7 dutch,67 efik english,267 estonian ewe fijian finnish,7 french,687 ga garifuna georgian german,267 greek greenlandic guarani,68 gujarati gun haitian creole hausa hebrew hiligaynon hindi hiri motu hungarian,67 icelandic igbo iloko indonesian isoko italian,67 japanese,67 kannada kazakh kikaonde kikongo kikuyu kiluba kimbundu kinyarwanda kirghiz kiribati kirundi kongo korean,67 kwangali kwanyama latvian lingala lithuanian luganda lunda luo luvale macedonian macua malagasy malayalam maltese marathi marshallese mauritian creole maya mixe mizo mongolian moore myanmar nahuatl northern puebla ndebele ndonga nepali ngabere niuean norwegian,7 nyaneka nzema oromo otetela palauan pangasinan papiamento aruba papiamento curacao persian polish,67 ponapean portuguese,2687 ¸ punjabi quechua ancash quechua ayacucho quechua bolivia 7 quechua cuzco quichua rarotongan romanian russian,67 samoan sango sepedi serbian serbian roman sesotho seychelles creole shona silozi sinhala slovak slovenian solomon islands pidgin spanish,267 sranantongo swahili swati swedish,7 tagalog,7 tahitian tamil tatar telugu tetum thai tigrinya tiv tok pisin tongan totonac tshiluba tshwa tsonga tswana turkish tuvaluan twi tzotzil ukrainian umbundu urdu uruund venda vietnamese wallisian waray-waray wolaita xhosa yapese yoruba zande zapotec isthmus zulu 2 6 8 7 braille also available cd also available mp3 cd-rom also available audio recordings also available at www.jw.org.

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it is reassuring to read o hearer of prayer even to you people of all flesh will come psalm 65:2 he hears those who pray to him in faith and he has a name the bible says jehovah is far away from the wicked ones but the prayer of the righteous ones he hears proverbs 15:29 jehovah has feelings he is the god of love and is called the happy god 2 corinthians 13:11 1 timothy 1:11 concerning his reaction at a time when evil was especially rampant the bible says he felt hurt at his heart genesis 6:5 6 the claim that god causes suffering in order to test people is untrue the bible says far be it from the true god to act wickedly job 34:10 nevertheless you may wonder `if god is the almighty creator why does he allow suffering to continue jehovah has granted mankind the ability to exercise free will and that tells us something about what god is like do we not treasure our freedom to choose how we will live but sadly many people misuse their freedom and cause suffering for themselves and others now here is a question worth thinking long and hard about how could god eliminate suffering without taking away man s freedom we will examine this question in the next article why does the hearer of prayer allow suffering e ven though they may pray some people have doubts that god exists why do they doubt perhaps it is because they see so much suffering in this world have you ever wondered why god allows suffering did god really make humans as they are now imperfect and subject to suffering we could hardly respect a god who would purpose for humans to suffer but consider this if you walked admiringly around a new car only to find that the far side was damaged would you assume that the manufacturer made it that way of course not you would conclude that the manufacturer made it perfect and that someone or something else caused the damage similarly when we admire the marvelous order and design in the natural world and 6 the watchtower july 1 2012 then notice the chaos and corruption that blight the human family what conclusion should we draw the bible teaches that god made the first human pair perfect but that later they caused themselves to become damaged deuteronomy 32:4 5 the good news is that god has promised to repair the damage to restore obedient humans to perfection why though has he waited so long why so long the reason has to do with the question of who should rule mankind jehovah never intended that humans should rule themselves he was to be their ruler the bible itself says it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step jeremiah 10:23 sadly the first humans chose to rebel against god s rulership their lawless act made them

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sinners 1 john 3:4 as a result they lost their perfection and caused damage to themselves and their offspring for thousands of years jehovah has allowed humans to rule themselves and history has demonstrated that humans do not have the ability to do so it shows that all human governments cause suffering not one has ever eliminated war crime injustice or disease how will god undo the damage the bible promises that god will soon bring about a righteous new world 2 peter 3:13 only those who choose of their own free will to show love to one another and to god will be allowed to live in it deuteronomy 30:15 16 19 20 the bible also says that in the day of judgment that is fast approaching god will eliminate suffering and those who cause it 2 peter 3:7 thereafter god s appointed ruler jesus christ will govern obedient humans daniel 7:13 14 what will jesus rulership achieve the bible says the meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace psalm 37:11 as heavenly king jesus will undo the damage including sickness aging and death that resulted when humans rebelled against jehovah the source of life psalm 36:9 jesus will cure all those who accept his loving rulership under his rule these bible promises will come true the watchtower july 1 2012 7

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no resident will say `i am sick the people that are dwelling in the land will be those pardoned for their error isaiah 33:24 god will wipe out every tear from their eyes and death will be no more neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore the former things have passed away revelation 21:4 is it not comforting to know that soon god will fulfill his promise to end all suffering meanwhile we need not lose confidence that he hears our prayers just because he presently allows suffering god is there he can hear you even your expressions of pain and sorrow and he is eager to see you live to enjoy the time when all your doubts and pain will be gone draw close to the hearer of prayer m any who claim to believe in god cannot give a sound basis for their faith nor can they explain why religion is often bad or why god allows suffering at best they can pray only to a god they do not comprehend you however can draw closer to god than that you can build your faith on an understanding of god that makes you love and appreciate him genuine faith is based on evidence hebrews 11:1 if you learn the truth about god you can know him and speak to him as a friend consider the experiences of some who used to pray even though they had doubts about god s existence patricia mentioned in the opening article one day i was with a group of about ten friends when they began discussing religion i had told them that i walked out of the house to escape the discussion between my dad who was an atheist and one of jehovah s witnesses who had called at our home `maybe jehovah s witnesses have something said one of my friends 8 the watchtower july 1 2012 `why don t we go to one of their meetings to find out said another and that is just what we did although we were skeptical some of us continued attending simply because the witnesses were so friendly however one sunday i heard something that changed my attitude the speaker explained why people suffer i had never before appreciated that man was originally made perfect and that sin and death started with one man and then spread to all mankind the speaker also explained why jesus death was necessary to restore mankind to what the first man had lost.1 romans 5:12 18 19 suddenly everything made sense to me `there really is a god who cares about us i thought i continued studying the bible and soon for the first time in my life i found that i could pray to someone who is real allan also mentioned in the opening article one day jehovah s witnesses called at 1 for more information about the ransoming value of jesus death see chapter 5 of the book what does the bible really teach published by jehovah s witnesses.

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genuine faith is based on evidence and a desire to know the truth about god our home and my wife invited them in because she was interested in what they said about living forever on earth i was annoyed so leaving the visitors in the front room i got my wife into the kitchen and told her `don t be foolish you can t believe things like that `well then you just go in there and prove them wrong she replied of course i could not prove anything but they were very kind and left me a book about whether life originated by means of creation or evolution its logic was so clear and well supported that i decided i ought to know more about god i began studying the bible with the witnesses and soon i realized that what it says is very different from everything i had previously assumed about religion as i learned about jehovah i began to pray to him more specifically i had some attitudes that were not very nice so i prayed for help i feel sure that jehovah answered my prayers andrew who lives in england although i had strong opinions and a keen interest

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in science i believed the theory of evolution merely because other people said it was proved i rejected belief in god because of all the bad things that happen yet sometimes i would think `if there is a god up there then i want to know what it all means why is there so much crime and war when in difficulty i sometimes prayed for help but i did not know whom i was speaking to then someone gave my wife the tract published by jehovah s witnesses entitled will this world survive i had often pondered that exact question the tract made me wonder about the bible `might its answers as i came to understand jehovah s purpose i felt that i knew him as a real person someone i could freely speak to in prayer be worth considering later while i was on holiday someone gave me the book the bible god s word or man s?1 when i realized that the bible is in harmony with true science i felt that i needed to learn more about the bible so when one of jehovah s witnesses offered to study it with me i accepted as i came to understand jehovah s purpose i felt that i knew him as a real person someone i could freely speak to in prayer jan who was brought up as a protestant in london the hypocrisy in religion and the prevalence of suffering led me to give up religion i also gave up college and began singing and playing the guitar for money that was when i met pat he had been raised as a catholic and had become a disbeliever like me we lived in an abandoned house along with several other dropouts who were in1 published by jehovah s witnesses terested in eastern religions late into the nights we spent hours in intense discussions about the meaning of life although pat and i didn t believe in god we felt that there must be some `life force after we moved to northern england in search of work as musicians our son was born one night he got sick and i found myself praying to the god i didn t believe in soon afterward the relationship between pat and me deteriorated and i took our baby and walked out again i prayed for help just in case there was someone listening i didn t know it but pat did the same later that day two of jehovah s witnesses knocked on pat s door and showed him some of the bible s practical advice pat called me and asked if i would agree to study the bible with him and the witnesses soon we learned that to please god we would have to legalize our marriage it seemed a tall order in view of our precarious relationship we wanted to know more about the fulfillment of bible prophecies the reason for suffering and the meaning of god s kingdom gradually we realized that god does care and we wanted to do as he says we got married the wisdom of god s word has helped us to raise our three children we feel sure that jehovah listened to our prayers examine the evidence for yourself like millions of others those quoted in this article saw through the deception of false religion and discovered why god allows suffering did you notice that in each case it was an accurate understanding of the bible that convinced these individuals that jehovah really does hear prayers would you like to examine the evidence that god exists jehovah s witnesses will be pleased to help you to learn the truth about jehovah and how you can draw close to the hearer of prayer psalm 65:2 10 the watchtower july 1 2012

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did you know why did people in bible times use bitumen as mortar regarding the builders of the tower ern iraq s vast oil fields is still visible of babel the bible says that brick between the burnt bricks says the auserved as stone for them but bitumen thor the sticky black substance today served as mortar genesis 11:3 a source of the region s instability and bitumen occurs naturally it comes violence once literally bound this civilifrom petroleum and it is readily found zation together the use of bitumen in mesopotamia where it wells up out as mortar and pavement has helped of the earth and coagulates its efficien waterproof the otherwise fragile sucy as an adhesive was noted in bible merian mud-bricks ensuring that the times bitumen was suitable for build structures endured for millennia ings constructed of baked bricks says one reference work an article in the magazine archaeology describes a recent visit to the remains of a ziggurat in the ancient city of ur in mesopotamia the bitumen mortar one of the first uses of southwhat kind of paper was available in bible times the question naturally arises because were then beaten with a wooden malof a remark made by the bible writer let and finally smoothed with a scrapjohn although i have many things to er archaeologists have recovered many write you i do not desire to do so with ancient papyrus documents in egypt paper and ink 2 john 12 the greek word khar tes here ren and in the area around the dead sea dered paper refers to the paper some scriptural papyri found in these made of papyrus which is an aquatic areas date back to the time of jesus or plant one reference work describes even earlier it is quite possible that this the technique used to make sheets of was the material on which biblical letwriting material from the stems of this ters such as those by the apostles were plant as follows stems sometimes ten originally written feet [3 m long were peeled and cut into narrow strips which in their turn were pasted to one another in layers the grain in these layers going first one way and then the other these sheets spectrumphotofile photographersdirect.com flpa/david hosking/age fotostock the watchtower july 1 2012 11

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the bible changes lives what helped a woman in the philippines to break free from alcohol abuse and improve her family life why did a karate enthusiast in australia become a peaceable minister of religion read what these people have to say the changes didn t happen overnight carmen alegre or patience in dealing with them i showed no respect to my husband needless to say our family life wasn t pleasant year born 1949 country of origin the philippines history heavy drinker my past i was born in san fernando a town in the province of camarines sur for most of my adult life though i have lived in antipolo rizal province situated in a mountainous and grassy area with a lot of trees antipolo was a quiet little town when i first moved here i rarely saw anyone walking outside after dark now however antipolo has developed into a large city with many people some time after moving to antipolo i met a man named benjamin and in time we were married i found married life to be more difficult than i had anticipated in an effort to escape my problems i began to drink heavily i developed a difficult personality which was evident in the way i treated my husband and my children i had very little self-control 12 the watchtower july 1 2012 how the bible changed my life my husband s sister editha is one of jehovah s witnesses and she recommended that benjamin and i study the bible with the witnesses we accepted the offer hoping it would help to improve our family life as we studied the bible we learned a number of beautiful truths the words of revelation 21:4 especially touched my heart regarding those who will live in the future earthly paradise under god s kingdom that verse says that god will wipe out every tear from their eyes and death will be no more neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore i wanted to be among the people who would enjoy those blessings i came to realize that i needed to make some major changes in my attitude and habits the changes didn t happen overnight but eventually i succeeded in breaking free from alcohol abuse i also learned to be kind and patient in dealing with my family moreover i learned to respect my husband cooperating with him as he took the lead in our family.

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when benjamin and i began to attend meetings of jehovah s witnesses we were deeply impressed by what we saw among the witnesses there is no gambling no overdrinking and no partiality they treat everyone with dignity and respect we were convinced that we had found the true religion john 13:34 35 how i have benefited our family life has improved dramatically benjamin and i have a happy marriage and we enjoy teaching the bible to others our two grown sons and their wives have also begun to study the bible we hope that in time they will join us in serving jehovah this really is the best way of life i felt invincible michael blunsden year born 1967 country of origin australia history karate enthusiast my past i grew up in albury a beautiful prosperous city in new south wales like most cities it has its share of crime in general though albury is known as a safe place to live my upbringing was comfortable although my parents divorced when i was seven they saw to it that my brother and two sisters and i never lacked anything i received a good education attending the best private school in the area my father wanted me to have a career in business when my schooling was complete however i was more interested in the sporting sector where i excelled at cycling and karate i ended up taking a job at an automotive repair shop which allowed me more time to focus my energy on my sporting interests i took pride in keeping myself in fit physical condition at times i felt invincible i could easily have used my strength to take advantage of others but my karate master knowing that i was struggling not to misuse my strength instilled strict discipline and morals in me he constantly stressed the importance of obedience and loyalty how the bible changed my life when i began to study the bible i learned that jehovah hates violence psalm 11:5 at first i reasoned that karate isn t violence but is a sport practiced in a safe manner i felt that the virtues and high standards it promotes were much in line with what the bible teaches the witness couple who studied with me were very patient they never told me that i had to give up martial arts they simply continued to teach me bible truth the watchtower july 1 2012 13

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as my bible knowledge grew and my friendship with jehovah deepened i began to see things from a different perspective i was impressed when i learned of the example set by jehovah s son jesus although jesus was very powerful he never resorted to physical violence his words recorded at matthew 26:52 really hit home all those who take the sword will perish by the sword the more i learned about jehovah the more my love and respect for him grew to think that our creator so wise and so powerful could care about me personally moved me deeply i was touched to learn that even when i let jehovah down or when i felt that it was all too hard and i just wanted to throw in the towel he would never give up on me to think that our creator so wise and so powerful could care about me personally moved me deeply as long as i kept on trying i found great comfort in his promise i jehovah your god am grasping your right hand the one saying to you `do not be afraid i myself will help you isaiah 41:13 when i realized that i d been shown that sort of love i wasn t about to let it go i knew that giving up karate would be the hardest thing i had ever done but i also knew that it would please jehovah and i was convinced that serving him was worth any sacrifice i think the clincher for me was when i read jesus words recorded at matthew 6:24 no one can slave for two masters i realized that it would be impossible to serve jehovah fully and keep practicing karate as my priorities would inevitably drift back to karate the time had come to choose my master 14 the watchtower july 1 2012 it wasn t easy to give up karate i struggled with many conflicting emotions i felt a measure of joy in knowing that i was making jehovah happy but i also felt as if i were betraying my karate master those who practice martial arts often view betraying someone as an unforgivable sin some will even opt to commit suicide rather than deal with the shame i could not bring myself to explain to my karate master why i was leaving instead i simply walked away ceasing all communication with him and my other karate associates i knew that i had done the right thing in giving up karate yet i also felt guilty for not explaining my new beliefs having missed an opportunity to share my faith with others i felt as if i let jehovah down before i even began serving him all of this was quite tormenting there were many times when i tried to pray to jehovah but ended up crying in pain jehovah must have seen something good in me for he moved the brothers and sisters in the congregation to rally to my side their love comfort and friendship were incredible i also drew comfort from the bible account of david and bath-sheba even though david committed serious sins jehovah forgave him after he sincerely repented when i reflected on that account it helped me to put my own shortcomings in perspective how i have benefited before studying the bible i didn t care too much about anyone else life was all about me but with jehovah s help and that of my beautiful wife of seven years i have developed a lot more empathy we ve been blessed with the privilege of studying the bible with a number of individuals including some with tragic circumstances seeing jehovah s love touch the lives of others has brought me more joy than being a powerful karate champion ever could.

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thank you for this wonderful series did you enjoy reading the foregoing experiences they are just 2 of over 50 such accounts published in the watchtower since august 2008 the series the bible changes lives has become a favorite among our readers why have many found it so appealing the individuals featured in these articles come from various backgrounds before learning about jehovah god some enjoyed a measure of success but lacked a real purpose in life others contended with major challenges such as a violent temper or the abuse of drugs or alcohol a few grew up knowing about jehovah but strayed from his worship for a time all such experiences illustrate that making changes in order to please god is possible and doing so always brings benefits what impact are these accounts having on our readers one reader explains how the article in the february 1 2009 issue helped some inmates at a prison for women many of the inmates can relate to the individuals featured in the article she says the `before and `after pictures along with the profiles of each person s past were especially effective many inmates have similar backgrounds after reading these accounts two inmates started to study the bible c w the experiences featured in this series have especially struck a chord with some for example the april 1 2011 issue carried the experience of guadalupe villarreal who gave up a homosexual lifestyle in order to serve jehovah note just two of the many letters that came from our readers in response to his account guadalupe s experience touched me to the core it is so wonderful to see how love for jehovah and his word can completely transform a person l f in the past i tried to share my faith with everyone including homosexuals lately though i ve noticed that i tend to overlook such individuals or even avoid them this article was just what i needed it helped me to view such individuals as jehovah does as his potential worshippers m k another experience that resonated with many readers was that of victoria tong whose story appeared in the august 1 2011 issue victoria described her tragic upbringing she acknowledged that she has struggled to feel loved by jehovah even after years of serving him and she related what has gradually helped her to accept jehovah s love notice what some readers said about her story victoria s experience spoke directly to my heart i ve experienced a lot of tragedy in my life i constantly battle negative thinking even after years of being a baptized witness but victoria s experience makes me want to work even harder to see what jehovah sees in me m m when i was young i fought an addiction to pornography recently i suffered a relapse i ve sought the help of christian elders and i ve made progress in overcoming my problem the elders have assured me of god s love and mercy yet at times i still feel worthless as if jehovah couldn t possibly love me reading victoria s experience really helped i now realize that when i think god couldn t possibly forgive me in essence i m saying that his son s sacrifice is not enough to cover my sins i ve clipped out this article so that i can read and meditate on it whenever feelings of worthlessness well up within me thank you for this wonderful series l k.

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