what does god get out of it?
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This may seem petty but its really annoying me
We are commanded to praise, glorify and worship God otherwise face the consequences..... but what kind of creator is so needy of all this attention? Why praise and glorify? i mean you praise a child/employee/whoever for doing well to boost their self-esteem and morale..... I understand when we are reminded to be thankful - keeps us grateful and appreciative of what we have in life - which is easy to ignore without constantly remembering to thank god
but why to we have to always praise and glorify god? what does god get out of it?
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1598 So glorify with the praise of your Lord, and be of those who prostrate.
1599 And serve your Lord until certainty comes to you.2945 Recite what is inspired to you of the Scripture, and hold the communion, for the communion prohibits evil and vice; but certainly the remembrance of God is the greatest. God knows everything you do.
2014 ?I am God, there is no god but Me, so serve Me and hold the communion for My remembrance.?
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Peace to all,
First, we dont have to , its our choice, and it isnt him who benefits from us worshipping him, its us that gain and benefit by remembering and worshipping him, the only things God gets out of it is the satisfaction of knowing that some of us believe enough to actually worship and praise him, and we then get the exact amount og benefit as we put into it, since he created everything in absolut justice, it is only through him that we can be just to ourselves and others. So, if we choose to believe and worship, he chooses to guide us and help us, if we dont, he dont, when we do we are happy, and he is happy because we are happy. A perfect system.
Kurt
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Peace
When I think about it, this ayat comes to mind
Seest thou not how Allah coineth a similitude A goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven, Giving its fruit at every season by permission of its Lord? Allah coineth the similitudes for mankind in order that they may reflect.
1424-25We as spiritual beings need God like trees need sunlight. You observe every plant of every kind stretching their leaves and growing/bending in the direction of sunlight, basking in the light and bearing fruit which is as a result of the sunlight they receive.
So worship/praise is like our stretching out towards God. We reap the benefits (fruits) of this through contentment, happiness, steadfastness, peace, surety, veracity and more. By being mindful of God we only benefit ourself. God is not in need of us, but we are in need of Him. He wants His creation to be close to Him and he has given us the free will and intuition to choose whether to be close to God or not.
If we understand the nature of God and the nature of the world around us, it becomes painfully obvious that God is praiseworthy and God gives us countless examples in case we forget. Beings who are much more powerful than us who are close to God do not cease to worship Him nor do they grow weary. From the way God describes the Hereafter it will become all too clear to those who are too arrogant to worship or serve God how wrong they were.
Peace
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Peace to all,
First, we dont have to , its our choice, and it isnt him who benefits from us worshipping him, its us that gain and benefit by remembering and worshipping him, the only things God gets out of it is the satisfaction of knowing that some of us believe enough to actually worship and praise him, and we then get the exact amount og benefit as we put into it, since he created everything in absolut justice, it is only through him that we can be just to ourselves and others. So, if we choose to believe and worship, he chooses to guide us and help us, if we dont, he dont, when we do we are happy, and he is happy because we are happy. A perfect system.
Kurt
Thats basically like saying if you study hard you get good results,everything you do if you do your best,you will get the reward of your effort,if you dont,you wont,whats God got to do with it?
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Peace
From the way God describes the Hereafter it will become all too clear to those who are too arrogant to worship or serve God how wrong they were.
Peace
peace,
but its not about being too arrogant to worship - i just wonder what the point of "worship" is? I mean why does God ask it of us? How does praising God change anything here on earth or make us better people? Again - what does God get out of our worship?
Peace
When I think about it, this ayat comes to mind
Seest thou not how Allah coineth a similitude A goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven, Giving its fruit at every season by permission of its Lord? Allah coineth the similitudes for mankind in order that they may reflect.
1424-25We as spiritual beings need God like trees need sunlight. You observe every plant of every kind stretching their leaves and growing/bending in the direction of sunlight, basking in the light and bearing fruit which is as a result of the sunlight they receive.
So worship/praise is like our stretching out towards God. We reap the benefits (fruits) of this through contentment, happiness, steadfastness, peace, surety, veracity and more. By being mindful of God we only benefit ourself. God is not in need of us, but we are in need of Him. He wants His creation to be close to Him and he has given us the free will and intuition to choose whether to be close to God or not.
Peace
I like this analogy - but the benefits of worship you name - contentment happiness peace etc.... I know many non-worshippers who have these "benefits"
And you say he wants his creation to be close to him - why? what difference does it make to God if we are or arent as long as we are decent human beings?
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Thats basically like saying if you study hard you get good results,everything you do if you do your best,you will get the reward of your effort,if you dont,you wont,whats God got to do with it?
Neither statements are valid success is not guaranteed if you work hard, and getting what you want is not guaranteed if you ask God. The wisdom behind thanking God is not just to thank Him when you get what you want, but more so when you do not get what you wanted, because in this case, and for a believer in the generosity of God, He only stopped this for your own interest, and because that's the way to get even a better thing than you asked for. Examples from the qur'aan prayers of the mother of Mary to have a male son and God granted her better than that a female, Mary. Also in chapter 18 we have this lesson things are not as bad as they look. Not to mention the many examples we see in our own experience and the experiences of others.
This attitude has a great psychological benefit to accept the outcome, how disappointing to you it is, with high spirits, and not allow disappointment to stop you from progressing and struggling anew. This lesson, and all what God advises us, is not just for believers, but even atheists recognize the effect of (moving on). God does not speak in alien concepts.
I found this way of thanking God for everything much more effective with children, who do not understand why to move on, but do understand a merciful God...(well, I haven't met yet a child who made up their mind and decided that there is "no God". It was very powerful with my kids anyway. Nowthat they are grown-ups, they never regret anything that happened against their wishes, nor do they linger on injustice done to them by others...They know very well how to move on.
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peace,
but its not about being too arrogant to worship - i just wonder what the point of "worship" is? I mean why does God ask it of us? How does praising God change anything here on earth or make us better people? Again - what does God get out of our worship?
I like this analogy - but the benefits of worship you name - contentment happiness peace etc.... I know many non-worshippers who have these "benefits"
And you say he wants his creation to be close to him - why? what difference does it make to God if we are or arent as long as we are decent human beings?
I knew you would say that. What I am saying is people get these benefits as a result of closeness to God, but these benefits are more lasting for those who believe in God and the Hereafter. All the feelings of happiness etc that disbelievers have in this world are fleeting, because they do not believe they will return to God. If a hurricane or famine hits them watch how their happiness crumbles. Because they do not believe God is still there with them to keep them going. Whereas believers have a DIFFERENT type of contentment and peace, they know that they will be resurrected and return to their Lord therefore they have a deeper sense of peace, examples being no fear in death/famine/disasters/estrangement etc. Worship and prayer brings steadfastness and surety. When one is sure of himself and his life he cannot be mislead or lead to panic and fear. Samia explained it pretty well as well.
As to the other question, you're asking something I can't answer. It's the same type of question as how do I know I am not part of God's dream or another being making it up as he goes along? Am I in the Matrix? Many things we take as assumed to be true to progress in life. To ask a question like this is in short ridiculous because it cannot be answered, except by God. Why did God create the devil when he knew he would lead us astray? Why did God make Jesus' birth so confusing such that people take him to be the Son of God? Why does God not roll a revelation before my very eyes as soon as I can use my reason? All these are just Questions, with no answers only assumptions/guesswork. We may think we have an answer but we do not know for sure.
Peace
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If a hurricane or famine hits them watch how their happiness crumbles. Because they do not believe God is still there with them to keep them going. Whereas believers have a DIFFERENT type of contentment and peace,
This is not stricktly true and is a generalisation,have you any evidence to prove statistically of how believers and none believers react?
I suspect that there may not be alot of differance in overall reaction and effect.Look at example of how faith communities behave terribly in difficult time,well documented in recent years.