Prayer?

[Shell B]

Well, why bother if he can so no whenever he wants? I'll just stick to making shit happen myself and at least have a little reliability.

[Minimalist]

Dont forget, sometimes the answer to a prayer is in the form of;

...''no ''

or

...''not now''

or

...''here, take this instead - it's better'''

I also like that other (biblical) word for prayer - meditation.

Meditation has definite health benefits.

So..."jesus" was a liar, according to you?

Matthew 21:

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Maybe it only works on fig trees and mountains? That would seem to make it fairly fucking worthless...unless you grow figs on a mountain.

[Zen Badger]

Does everyone know the difference between chanting, petition and prayer? More often than not when people say they 'pray' they are actually petitioning God for things they want. Making Prayer little more than a formal wishing cermony. God is not a magical genie who's job it is to grant you wishes. Nor is He obligated to hear or respond to wishes.

At the same time Prayer is not a rehearsed or practice chant. Christ says the Father hates these meaningless many worded chants. at first glance the Lord's prayer is one of these chants, but upon closer inspection we find an outline rather than a perscribed word for word prayer/chant.

Does anyone want to know or discuss the formula behind the outline? It will transform a wishing cermony into a prayer that God will respond to.

So if it is not to ask god for favours, what then is the point of prayer?

[KichigaiNeko]

As far as I am to understand the Chants, petitions and prayers are used by arrogant religous people to subvert their god's will.

[C.W. Sims]

Maybe it only works on fig trees and mountains? That would seem to make it fairly fucking worthless...unless you grow figs on a mountain.

I seriously just laughed until I was crying. Haha. Thank you for that Min, you are simply awesome.

I also agree with the general sentiment that prayer is worthless. I only got involved in the conversation because of the glaring inaccuracies being presented about it. Might not like religion, but I won't stand by and watch someone mangle the fuck out of it and try to pass it off as education. It's bad enough already without someone fucking it up more.

[Cyberman]

In my experience, the whole purpose of praying is to give the person doing it a chance to tell you they're doing it ("Hey, look how selfless I'm being just for you!"). Else what's the point, if nobody knows? If prayer worked at all, it would work regardless of whether the prayee knows you've done it.

It's like using the ignore facility here; you can quietly stick some arsehole on ignore, or you can make a Busby Berkeley production number about doing it so nobody is in any doubt.

[Anomalocaris]

God is not a magical genie who's job it is to grant you wishes. Nor is He obligated to hear or respond to wishes......

"God is NOT" would be sufficient. Now stop wasting bandwidth.

[Thor]

But doesn't "God" have a plan? And if he answers your prayers, wouldn't that cause him to alter his plan?

I can see him sitting on a cloud now. Here comes a prayer from six year old Billy:

"Dear God, please cure me of my cancer. It hurts me a lot and I'm tired of being in hospitals all the time. I just want to run and play with the other kids. And my mommy cries all the time."

God: YOU WANT ME TO CURE YOUR CANCER? DON'T YOU REALIZE I HAVE A PLAN AND YOUR CANCER IS PART OF THAT PLAN?!?!? YOU WANT ME TO ALTER MY PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSE JUST FOR YOU!?!? LEAVE ME ALONE YA LITTLE BRAT!

[Whateverist]

Does everyone know the difference between chanting, petition and prayer?

I would have thought prayer was somewhere between an incantation and talking to yourself in your head. Is there really any more to it than that?

[Godscreated]

But doesn't "God" have a plan? And if he answers your prayers, wouldn't that cause him to alter his plan?

I can see him sitting on a cloud now. Here comes a prayer from six year old Billy:

"Dear God, please cure me of my cancer. It hurts me a lot and I'm tired of being in hospitals all the time. I just want to run and play with the other kids. And my mommy cries all the time."

God: YOU WANT ME TO CURE YOUR CANCER? DON'T YOU REALIZE I HAVE A PLAN AND YOUR CANCER IS PART OF THAT PLAN?!?!? YOU WANT ME TO ALTER MY PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSE JUST FOR YOU!?!? LEAVE ME ALONE YA LITTLE BRAT!

First of all that is a sick thought, no pun intended. God does not work His will in that way, the cancer of one child would not have an effect on God's greater plan, however God does have plans for individuals, families, communities and countries. God may not heal the child in your example, if He does not it's for a reason that only God understands at the time. Then He may heal the child and again if He does it would be for a reason only He would know at the time. God is not required to give explanations of His actions, though He has revealed them to many people in situations where he does or does not answer prayer as it is asked. Then there's something else to consider He may answer in a way that is far better, in a way no one has even considered.