About Prayer

[michel]

A quote I found; "The more we pray and the better we pray, the closer we come to reaching our desires." -

How true do you think this is ? why do you pray - to ask forhelp, to thank God for all that you have, why do you pray?

 

[Quiddity]

I mostly pray to say thanks. I hesistate to ask for things because I don't think I deserve it.

Peace in Christ
~Victor

 

[TashaN]

Allah said in Quran: وما خلقت الجن والإنس إلا ليعبدون

that means he created us to worship him only... that's why i pray.

 

[Aqualung]

I think that's very true. I used to be pretty bad at it, but practise has made me better, which has made it so I can talk more. They used to be really short, and now I talk for longer, which definitely makes me feel closer to God.

 

[michel]

I mostly pray to say thanks. I hesistate to ask for things because I don't think I deserve it.

Peace in Christ
~Victor

Why do you think you don't deserve what you need, Victor?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I mostly pray to say thanks. I hesistate to ask for things because I don't think I deserve it.

Peace in Christ
~Victor

I don't think we ever need to ask for things we want.
God already knows what we need.

Repentance and asking for forgiveness comes first
Thanks and Praise is the main bit.
prayers for the world and strength to carry out his will, help us to focus on what our lives are about.
Terry
_____________________________
Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall behold their God.

 

[Aqualung]

I mostly pray to say thanks. I hesistate to ask for things because I don't think I deserve it.

Peace in Christ
~Victor

Yeah, I sometimes feel the same way, but He has shown that He is willing to give us things we don't deserve (like his son), and He loves us so much that he is willing, even if we don't actually deserve it.

 

[Ardent Listener]

I pray to give thanks for God's blessings. I also pray for my needs and the needs of others. Prayer is a wonderful oppertunity to spend time in meditation on the grace and goodness of God. :shout

 

[Hazel]

Prayer is an opportunity to praise the God who created the world.

Prayer is an opportunity to draw closer to the God who knows us personally.

 

[Anon]

Here is a question - As I type, Hurricane Katrina is bashing the bible belt of the United States. How many people do you suppose are praying for the storm to go away? Is there any chance that God will intervene? If God answers prayers and is involved in our daily lives, then why doesn't he do something to stop this? And for that matter, why did he allow this storm to come in the first place?

I am an Atheist, and I am living up in Massachusetts. No death and destruction up here.

If this is not proof that prayer is useless, than what is?

 

[michel]

Here is a question - As I type, Hurricane Katrina is bashing the bible belt of the United States. How many people do you suppose are praying for the storm to go away? Is there any chance that God will intervene? If God answers prayers and is involved in our daily lives, then why doesn't he do something to stop this? And for that matter, why did he allow this storm to come in the first place?

I am an Atheist, and I am living up in Massachusetts. No death and destruction up here.

If this is not proof that prayer is useless, than what is?

I can follow the logic of your thinking; but I don't believe for a moment that God is sitting way up high somewhere, thinking "Oh, let's have a hurricane here....whatever"........The hurricanes are just a part of nature; maybe prayer does help....it might help those going through it all to have a better way of responding to what must be a devastating ordeal to endure. Maybe some who would have died are saved, through prayer - there is no way of knowing.

I do bellieve that prayer is an uplifting experience though, and the results of prayers will be a mistery to us all until we die.

 

[Anon]

I don't believe for a moment that God is sitting way up high somewhere, thinking "Oh, let's have a hurricane here....whatever"

So this God created the earth in 6 days, he is listening to each of the billions of people via thier prayers, he is making notes about who is "good" and who is "bad", but he either has no time or is unable to stop a hurricane from destroying the lives of some of his biggest fans?

 

[Aqualung]

Here is a question - As I type, Hurricane Katrina is bashing the bible belt of the United States. How many people do you suppose are praying for the storm to go away? Is there any chance that God will intervene? If God answers prayers and is involved in our daily lives, then why doesn't he do something to stop this? And for that matter, why did he allow this storm to come in the first place?

Because there are certain things we need. Everybody needs hardship. If I never had a challenge in my life, I would be like a little baby. I woudn't be able to think critically, solve problems, or anything. God isn't going to coddle us and make our lives easy and nice. We woudn't learn anything. Plus, they chose to live in hurrican territory. They aren't stupid. They know that hurricanes hit there. It's not god's will to just make our lives as easy as possible. That woudn't accomplish anything.

I am an Atheist, and I am living up in Massachusetts. No death and destruction up here.

Oh, and I bet just because there is no death (what, is everybody old and grey and past 200?) that your life is just peachy. I bet you have nothing you need to deal with. I bet you're just cruising along, never have conflict with anyone, never have any need to learn something new, because you're an athiest from Mass. That makes sense.

 

[Aqualung]

So this God created the earth in 6 days, he is listening to each of the billions of people via thier prayers, he is making notes about who is "good" and who is "bad", but he either has no time or is unable to stop a hurricane from destroying the lives of some of his biggest fans?

You die because you are good or bad. People die for various reasons, but it doens't really matter, because death is not the end of your life with God. Ulitmately, when you die doesn't matter, except perhaps in certain cases. The fact that I lived a long life on earth really won't factor in at the last judgement. It's what I did with my time on earth. "destroying the lives of his biggest fans" isn't what he is doing. He's just allowing nature to take it's course, since there is really no reason not to.

 

[Anon]

God isn't going to coddle us and make our lives easy and nice. We woudn't learn anything.

The people who die in the hurricane won't learn anything either - they'll be dead.

Oh, and I bet just because there is no death (what, is everybody old and grey and past 200?) that your life is just peachy. I bet you have nothing you need to deal with. I bet you're just cruising along, never have conflict with anyone, never have any need to learn something new, because you're an athiest from Mass. That makes sense.

I have challenges, and I learn lots of new stuff, and I am allowed to keep on living so that I can learn even more.

The point of this debate is about prayer, and my point is that prayer is useless. Atheists are no more or less likely to be saved from a hurricane, to win the lottery, to lose their job, than religious people who pray for things like this every day.

People can pray all they want - but it isn't going to change anything.

 

[cardero]

"To him who hearkens to the gods, the gods give ear."

– Homer



"A generous prayer is never presented in vain; the petition may be refused, but the petitioner is always, I believe, rewarded by some gracious visitation."

– Robert Louis Stevenson


Prayer is soul communication among all entities. It is a valid way of expressing and impressing your thoughts in the Universe.


Every thought is heard and can be enacted on by either the person who possessed the thought or by any other entities that receive it.

The prayers that receive valid importance are the prayers that pertain to purpose. An individual who makes a prayer and sends it out – whether it is for themselves or other beings – will only be answered positively if it is within purpose for that individual.


Prayer is very powerful. You cannot begin to fathom the response and consequences that prayer can achieve.


GOD receives as many prayers of praise as He does requests.


Answers to prayers usually come swiftly and heavily. All anyone needs to do is listen within and without for the answers.


The most repeated prayer next to "GOD, can I have some money?" is the Lord's Prayer.


GOD cannot grant forgiveness for someone. true forgiveness comes from within. You may pray for guidance on "How to Help Forgive Someone" if you do not find it within yourself.

Be thoughtful of what you pray for.


Do not be ashamed or disappointed or regretful if your answers do not come out the way you have anticipated them.


Prayers are not wishes.

 

[Anon]

So all you are saying is that God answers some prayers, but not others. Well, you would think he would answer the more important ones if he were really listening.

It's very simple, if there is a God who sees a hurricane coming and chooses to let these people's lives get destroyed, then he is not a very merciful god.

If you look around, it is very obvious that there is nobody answering prayers. If there was, at least some of the important prayers, such as to stop human suffering, would be answered.

If God answers some prayers, but chose not to answer these, then what kind of God is he?

 

[Aqualung]

The people who die in the hurricane won't learn anything either - they'll be dead.

That's not true. You may beleive this, but I beleive that life does not end after you die. Your spirit goes on to live in either "paradise" or the "spirit prison." If you happened to have a good life, you will live in paradise. If you didn't, you go to live in the spirit prison until you repent of your ways. I have a feeling that spirit prison is a lot like it is here. You will have temptations, and cravings, just like you have now.

I have challenges, and I learn lots of new stuff, and I am allowed to keep on living so that I can learn even more.

It's not working very well! No, sorry. Anyway, like I said before, death is not the end of your learning. That woudn't be very fair. Then little babies and stuff who haven't learned anything will god to hell? Nope. People learn after death, too.

The point of this debate is about prayer, and my point is that prayer is useless. Atheists are no more or less likely to be saved from a hurricane, to win the lottery, to lose their job, than religious people who pray for things like this every day.

That's because God doesn't want those things to happen. I, however, since I pray, am more likely than you are to understand some confusing scripture, am more likely, since I pray, to get help on certain problems that I may have (for example, not knowing whether I should wait for a couple of weeks to get settled into college before I start going to a church outside of the college), and I'm more likely, since I pray, to be less stressed out in situations. Those are all very helpful, and, in my opinion, more important than winning the lottery or keeping my job. Perhaps I don't win the lottery because I have a lesson to learn from being poor. Perhaps I don't keep my job becasue I have a lesson to learn from getting a new one. REally what it all comes down to is, are you praying for things that God is willing to give? Because if he's not, all the praying won't change that. But if he is, praying will help.

People can pray all they want - but it isn't going to change anything.

It has changed me more than you will ever know

 

[Aqualung]

So all you are saying is that God answers some prayers, but not others. Well, you would think he would answer the more important ones if he were really listening.

Just because you think it's important, doesn't mean it is. You can't see the big picture. You might be praying for something unimportant.

It's very simple, if there is a God who sees a hurricane coming and chooses to let these people's lives get destroyed, then he is not a very merciful god.

Untrue. This is probably the best thing for them. People can learn a lot from hardship.

If you look around, it is very obvious that there is nobody answering prayers. If there was, at least some of the important prayers, such as to stop human suffering, would be answered.

Just because the answer is not does not mean there is no answer. And I have gotten answers to most of my prayers.

If God answers some prayers, but chose not to answer these, then what kind of God is he?

"can I have a candy bar?"
"No."
"answer me! Can I have a candy bar?"
"No."
"Is my dad non existent? He's not giving me answer I want, so he must not be answering my question, so he must not exist."
The kid in this illustration thinks that a candy bar is the best thing for him. His father, being more knowledgeable and seeing the big picture, knows that, no matter how pleasurable a candy bar might be, it's not a good idea to let children eat candy all day.
What's that called when you only hear what you want to hear? I can't remember the word, but you're a good example of it.

 

[Anon]

I'm not talking about candy bars here. I'm talking about some of the worst humanitarian disasters around the world - hurricanes, rape, torture, ethnic cleansing.

But maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand that these are really not that important in the scheme of things. God, for reasons I am too dumb to understand, has determined that human suffering is just not at the top of his priority list. But making sure two men don't have sex together - that's very important to him, right?

To break it down, there are three possibilities here:
1) Either there is no god listening to prayers
2) or he is powerless to stop these disasters (the same God who created the earth in 6 days?)
3) or he lacks the compassion necessary to end human suffering.

I feel pretty confident that the answer is #1