I remember when I prayed for a jeep. When I got the jeep, I recalled praying six months earlier for that exact jeep, that included details like the motor, year, suspension, and vehicle color. Of course I had been continually asking for A JEEP, but when I got one, that particular SPECIFIC prayer came to light.
All through my young life, my parents and my church taught that it was wrong to have sexual feelings for other people unless you were married. When I was 12, I saw a couple of my classmates start to get a little close. I realized that I would probably like that. (this is when I first "started noticing girls") Before this, and for a long time after, I thought my classmates were as innocent as I was. Being attracted to them was bad, and why would anyone want to be bad?
About this time I figured out what my dick was for, and began using it. I felt bad every time I did this, and tried to do so as seldom as possible. If my parents found out, they would tell me time and again how bad I was for doing it and that I should pray for forgiveness. I wasn't allowed to watch MTV or shows like 90210 in my late teens because they were too "vulgar".
One time when I was 16, a girl pointed to the bulge in my gym shorts. She was cute and was nice to me, but her interest in my package completely confused me. Girls weren't supposed to like boys, and they weren't interested in sex, or so I had learned all along. They didn't like sex, but they would go along with it if they liked the guy enough, but it was still wrong for the guy to even think about asking.
Since that time when I was 12, all I wanted to have was a girlfriend. I didn't even want to have sex -- I'd be good. I just wanted to have a close, loving connection. I prayed and prayed about it. I prayed for years. I said I would not sin, would do anything and everything I could. Then, when I didn't get it right away, I went ahead and did what I said I would, just to prove myself, in case god was testing me.
After 8 years of constant failure (I tried about 9 times across those 8 years, asking girls out, to dance, to lunch, etc) I finally gave up. If god was really testing me, then he had pushed me too far and had not only broken me but had lost a follower. He lost one of his most loyal servants, and that church lost one of its most committed members.
Since that time 6 years ago, I have learned that it's charm, charisma, and confidence that attract women, not god or church or religion. God could have taught me this and shown me the way, or ran me into a religious girl who was also awkward but would like me. But no. Either he failed, or he decided that I wasn't worth it or something. If my best wasn't good enough, then it never would have been, and he wasn't worth my time.