There are any number of people eager to try and sell a message that if you're religious enough, bad things won't happen to you. It's a curious message, because some of the most devout people in the Bible have some really bad things happen to them. Daniel is so devout that his prayer life will not be changed even under threat of death, but he has a den of lions awaiting him. Jesus, certainly the most devout person who has ever lived, had an even worse fate awaiting him.
So bad things happen to the devout and non-devout. The hope is that by establishing a life rooted in prayer in the good times, we've trained ourselves to understand that the challenges of life do not mean that God does not love us, it simply means that evil has not been completely banished yet. The challenges in life come regardless, but if we are prepared, we can recognize that God has suffered for us on the cross and therefore understands our pain, be it physical or emotional, and has the strength to deliver us through it.
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