Do you pray?

Prayer is a communion with God. But how do you pray? The bible says: ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you. If God is powerful, then he already knows our problems and wants, do we need to remind God of our needs and wants when we pray? When an atheist student says, “please let me pass this final exam” is the student talking to himself or acknowledging that there’s a higher power and he asks/seeks/knocks?

I used to pray during times of strife, but I do not anymore. It does nothing for me. Kind of like how certain drugs do nothing for certain people, I don’t get off on praying. I figure it is a waste of time and not to be confused with “hope”.

Although, I do have an “atheist” (she is not, although she is self-proclaimed) friend who prays to the parking lot gods whenever she pulls into the mall’s parking lot.

No :smiley:

I have learned the only thing I am in control of is my own thoughts and actions. I remember praying kind of when my parent’s were divorcing when I was about 12 then I just steeled myself and grew up. I have gotten this far w/o doing it and have no intentions of starting.

Prayers only do what they were claimed to do – when a powerful psychic or a magos performs the prayer, and he or she is not actually talking to “God”, either, just some powerful being or force, maybe…

I pray, often. It seems logical to me. I believe God exists but I believe God gave people free will. So I can choose to try to do everything myself, or I can get other people to help and advise on occasion, and/or I can see if I can get the best advice & help in the universe.

But I’m not sure why you asked the question on this forum, I would have thought it fitted a different topic.

ilovephilosophy.com/phpbb/vi … p?t=151985

Pray for me… Pray that I find and understand God fully. Pray that I make suffering and delusion end.

i don’t tie my shoes without praying!

Prayer is like talking to a brick wall…pointless.

I agree phil, however talking to a brick wall is good for the mentally handicapped.

If you believe a brick wall is more powerful than yourself, talking to it will help you be humble. There is a benefit to all things.

Prayer is more healthy then keeping a journal/diary, if you pray to a God who isn’t all about judgment and conformity.

Saying what you feel and think – is even better then writing it down. And when you are offering up these deep concepts to a higher power, it elevates the issue to a higher, more healthy state.

You can pray to anyone… if you are a spiritual anarchist the way that I am. :smiley:
Who cares what’s “right” or “wrong”, just do what works and don’t regret.

For everyone here who prays:
Keep it up, as long as it’s healthy for you. Be mindful of how you feel before and after the prayers. You can also pray to real, live, normal people.

[I believe it was, if I remember correctly, that] Thomas Edeson, whome discovered – that when I thought about writing a letter to someone, wrote it as if he would send it to them, but then burnt it… he would soon recieve a similar letter from them, within a few days.

I wont start up about burncasting principals, but externalized Will can do subtle, inexplainable things [especially when it is imprinted upon a material & then transfigured from matter to energy]. Experiment with how you pray and who you pray to, antil you find whichever means work the absolute best for you.

^ true,

Not true. Only problem is when people think that a literal being is literally and miraculusly listening/acting.

It’s only pointless if you don’t believe in God. So is it true? I guess will know someday, but for now that statement isn’t true just because you don’t understand prayer.

“Prayer” is a very large word, that can be completely different in concept, compared to the semetic sort.

Example:
In some religions or cultures, prayer is seen as a form of positive affirmation. One doesn’t beg for some all-mighty being to do things for them and forgive them, instead, they affirm their strong moral will to do good and have good done for others. etc.

The whole “Religion” area of ILP is hopelessly swamped with semetic poo and American-Christendom + atheist reactions to it.