I wouldn't expect him to. But you'd think, that, just once, he'd at least do SOMETHING.
He does something, and even more, it's that we don't usually see Him doing that. For me, there was time when I thought the same, but I looked to my past and found out that there were numerous events that were unusual, and all of them were pretty much crucial for my future life.
If God has planned out everything from the beginning, which I'm assuming is your belief since you have defended a perfect God (correct me if I'm wrong), how can our prayers have any effect or even matter if God already planned out everything?
I think He did outline everything, and He has many candidates to do each task He requires us to do. It's up to us to choose whether we will do His will, or do against it, each time we choose to not to do according to His will, He can find someone else to do the same, but this choice is what we call a sin. Sometimes we don't know that we're choosing like that, say if we choose which way should we go somewhere, left or right, provided they both will eventually lead us to where we want, because the choices seem to not do anything briefly bad. In this case our choice might have consequences that will affect someone else going alongside us, in a matter we cannot predict. But then we don't commit sins, because the "right" way to go is unknown to us, and it might be that we went exactly the right way while not being aware of it.
Basically BigP08, you're wrong in saying that everything is predetermined. The outline of events might be so, to a certain extent, for example in case of WWII there was a warning in Fatima, that "if the world won't repent, there will be a greater war starting in the times of Pius XI", so we as a society can affect even the world-scale events.
But if God doesn't reveal himself to the non-believers, they will not believe, and he knows this. If they continue to be non-believers, regardless of how good or bad they were in the world, he will condemn them to a place where they will be tortured forever.
Hell is bad for us in the long run, from what I hear. So it would be nice to answer this kind of prayer, if he exists.
In the long run, you are right, and it's the very reason why we pray for conversion of the poor sinners. But there is at least one moment of unknown, when the person is about to die. We do not know what happens at that moment, but some people do convert at the verge of death, and even the relatives receive the info that they were saved as a result. There are not many of such events made public, I can cite one that makes me happy - Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney, the famous French priest, once contacted a woman who came to Ars to consult him, seeing her in the crowd, and said "He was saved". She asked "What did you say?" and he replied "He had enough time between the bridge and the water surface to repent his sin. Virgin Mary asked for this grace to be granted to him.", and added "In May he and you together prayed a Hail Mary before her image. Do you remember that? She then requested God for repentance for him. But play for him, he's waiting for your prayers in purgatory." She had no time to say a thing to him about this situation, while everything he said was true.
Did God create Hell? (Yes)
No, it's we who created Hell.
You need to understand that everyone disobey's God, whether they like it or not. Only by faith and grace will you be forgiven.
Indeed, be it in the slightest. We can avoid larger mistakes, but we cannot avoid any and all small mistake there could be. A large mistake, made intentionally and when fully aware of the consequences, is a mortal sin. Anything amiss, and it's a "normal" sin which does not make a person end in Hell if unrepented. And if a person will sin gravely, and not repent, the darkness he created in his heart will consume him. Still, there is place for God's grace to grant someone repentance.
Man is not judged by anything that is in the sealed Book of Life.
There is a "
ersonal" book of life that holds all the person's intentions, actions, thoughts and other stuff, which will be opened at that person's death, and by that book he will be judged. You Shift4101 can read the details in Gloria Polo's testimonial, I think it will be interestring for you.
