Do you believe in prayer?

[Wildswanderer]

So I've been under stress for quite a while, and it finally resulted in some really weird symptoms and serious loss of energy and appetite.
( This may or may not be covid but I tested negative.)
In the middle of the worst of it, a neighbor got me amoxicillin because I appeared to have a infection in my lymph nodes, and then she asked people in her church to pray for me.
Within two days, my energy and appetite is back, my swollen glands have gone down, and I feel almost normal again.

Now, you can always say it's the antibiotics, it's just sickness running it's natural course, whatever, but there's a difference you can feel when people are praying for you... It's far more than physical. I have experienced this before... Once my wife and I went to a marriage conference where people would pray for everyone there in shifts the entire time. It was like every conversation, and everything we did felt lighter and easier, and when we left we could feel the difference within a day.
Some people say prayers are energy. I prefer to believe that they move God's energy in some way. Do you believe in prayer?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Nope. Prayer is bogus.

However there is something to be said for placebos.

So prayer might have some benefit along those lines.

 

[JustGeorge]

Yes, I do. I've had some remarkable things happen because of prayer...

 

[Altfish]

No, I don't believe prayer works, but if it helps you fine.
However, if someone is in need, please don't pray for them, do something useful instead.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Glad you're better. There are mixed results on prayer.

 

[ChristineM]

No, I don't believe prayer works, but if it helps you fine.
However, if someone is in need, please don't pray for them, do something useful instead.

^^^ THIS ^^^​

 

[Kenny]

So I've been under stress for quite a while, and it finally resulted in some really weird symptoms and serious loss of energy and appetite.
( This may or may not be covid but I tested negative.)
In the middle of the worst of it, a neighbor got me amoxicillin because I appeared to have a infection in my lymph nodes, and then she asked people in her church to pray for me.
Within two days, my energy and appetite is back, my swollen glands have gone down, and I feel almost normal again.

Now, you can always say it's the antibiotics, it's just sickness running it's natural course, whatever, but there's a difference you can feel when people are praying for you... It's far more than physical. I have experienced this before... Once my wife and I went to a marriage conference where people would pray for everyone there in shifts the entire time. It was like every conversation, and everything we did felt lighter and easier, and when we left we could feel the difference within a day.
Some people say prayers are energy. I prefer to believe that they move God's energy in some way. Do you believe in prayer?

Absolutely. Prayer, when applied correctly, opens the blessings of Heaven with peace and strength, among many other things.

 

[Windwalker]

Nope. Prayer is bogus.

However there is something to be said for placebos.

So prayer might have some benefit along those lines.

So if it has the placebo effect, which is the intent and belief of the mind bringing about changes without the aid of pharmaceutical agents, it isn't exactly bogus then, is it? It has beneficial effects when it engages the beliefs or the faith of those who practice it.

That's what the placebo effect is. It's not that nothing happens. It's that something happens, with nothing but faith alone. I'm still a little surprised people don't see the direct connection there, and think of it as "nothing but a placebo".

 

[Mock Turtle]

I don't believe in prayer but if any would like to pray I win big on Premium Bonds I'll be grateful.

 

[Windwalker]

Some people say prayers are energy. I prefer to believe that they move God's energy in some way. Do you believe in prayer?

I would say that prayers engage positive energies, and positive energies have healing benefits. Negative energies lead to ill-effects. Is that moving "God's energy"? I'd say that's one way you could look at it.

I see it as accessing that Life energy that is in us and all that exists, like dipping your cup into clean pure waters. Doing that has health benefits. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". That touches into this principle. But I don't see it in terms of magic, saying magic words to get some being outside of us to do us a favor and grant us a wish. It's far more participatory than that.

I hear it like what Jesus said to the woman who touched the hem of his garment as was healed. "Your faith made has made you whole". It came from within herself. That's what prayer is to me. Engaging the which we already have from within ourselves, through "faith" or a positive spiritual intent.

 

[PureX]

If I pray for calm and clarity in a time of stress, and the act of praying calms me and the calmness then allows me to think more clearly, did the prayer work?

Yes, the prayer obviously worked.

 

[Quintessence]

What the OP calls prayer here I would call magic or spellcraft. Specifically, this sort of practice is what would be called energy work. Yes, it's a thing. Yes, it works. Yes, how it is a thing and how it works is often misunderstood.

If you shut your eyes, don't expect to see.

If you keep your eyes open, don't expect to always see what you want to.

 

[Wildswanderer]

If I pray for calm and clarity in a time of stress, and the act of praying calms me and the calmness then allows me to think more clearly, did the prayer work?

Yes, the prayer obviously worked.

But that doesn't explain why other people prayers affect me.
And I don't need to pray to calm myself. I can just breath deeply and listen to soothing music ect. If that's all it was, I would not give thanks to God, but myself, which sadly seems to be what a lot of people here are doing.

 

[PureX]

If I ask you to pray for rain, and it rains, did your prayer cause the rain? Or did it just rain, regardless?

If I really needed the rain, I don't see that it matters why it rained. I'd just be grateful that it rained.

Unless what I really wanted was be in control of the rain. That's a whole different kind of request.

 

[Heyo]

But that doesn't explain why other people prayers affect me.

Does it so? Or is it the knowledge that others are praying for you?

And I don't need to pray to calm myself. I can just breath deeply and listen to soothing music ect. If that's all it was, I would not give thanks to God, but myself, which sadly seems to be what a lot of people here are doing.

As @Quintessence said, praying to change the outside world is magic. Magic is not compatible with my world view. But autosuggestion, and prayer is nothing but, has been shown to work and some of the ways it works are known.

 

[Kenny]

I would say that prayers engage positive energies, and positive energies have healing benefits. Negative energies lead to ill-effects. Is that moving "God's energy"? I'd say that's one way you could look at it.

I see it as accessing that Life energy that is in us and all that exists, like dipping your cup into clean pure waters. Doing that has health benefits. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". That touches into this principle. But I don't see it in terms of magic, saying magic words to get some being outside of us to do us a favor and grant us a wish. It's far more participatory than that.

I hear it like what Jesus said to the woman who touched the hem of his garment as was healed. "Your faith made has made you whole". It came from within herself. That's what prayer is to me. Engaging the which we already have from within ourselves, through "faith" or a positive spiritual intent.

We have what we call "the laying on of hands" that hooks up with prayer.
The Healing Power of Touch May Be the Missing Link

 

[George-ananda]

I'm a believer in prayer and loving helpful spiritual beings beyond the physical that can focus energy. Some are more sensitive to that energy than others.

 

[Soandso]

I don't personally see any harm in the idea behind prayer if folks don't put it before actual clinical help, but I'm suspicious of it's efficacy - especially since everything that prayer proposes can be achieved within the realm of the mundane. If prayer can make someone feel good, a placebo effect of thinking the prayer is working might be at work. If prayer worked in a tangible way, how come it can only work within the realm of mundane possibilities? I want to see prayer regenerate umputated limbs - things that can't be faked or be resolved naturally

I dont know - I feel if people actually put real stock into the power of prayer, they would go to a church instead of a hospital when they broke their bones or suffered a stroke

 

[Viker]

Yes. I believe in prayer. Even when others may call it's results the placebo effect, at least it has yielded results. I would hardly ever use it alone when sick. I like attacking an aggressor (illness) at all sides with as many means as afforded. Prayer and the support of others is helpful. Modern medicine is an incredible weapon as well. Can't hurt piling all that on to an illness.

 

[Debater Slayer]

So I've been under stress for quite a while, and it finally resulted in some really weird symptoms and serious loss of energy and appetite.
( This may or may not be covid but I tested negative.)
In the middle of the worst of it, a neighbor got me amoxicillin because I appeared to have a infection in my lymph nodes, and then she asked people in her church to pray for me.
Within two days, my energy and appetite is back, my swollen glands have gone down, and I feel almost normal again.

Now, you can always say it's the antibiotics, it's just sickness running it's natural course, whatever, but there's a difference you can feel when people are praying for you... It's far more than physical. I have experienced this before... Once my wife and I went to a marriage conference where people would pray for everyone there in shifts the entire time. It was like every conversation, and everything we did felt lighter and easier, and when we left we could feel the difference within a day.
Some people say prayers are energy. I prefer to believe that they move God's energy in some way. Do you believe in prayer?

I don't, but I'm glad your condition has improved. Stay well.