What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Walking Void]

You just need more practise, Min.

Sometimes choosing to not wear a fedora is beneficial.

[discipulus]

Lets just say it is my hunch that none of those alternative explanations for my experience is true.

Ok.....

So let me ask you, do you have any experiences which you attribute to your unconscious mind - dreams, daydreams, bouts of inspiration, etc? If so then at least you comprehend the category in which I am suggesting we place your communing with God experience.

And I could place your "hunch" that your experiences regarding a world of physical objects that you perceive with your five senses in the same category.

Where does that leave us?

---

You assume that when i use the word communicate I mean talk, but there are ways to communicate with God without talking. When I pray, sometimes I talk, but most of the times I use another form of communication.

Like how? I have to ask, because we had one guy here that said god communicated to him through digital clocks, and another who said god communicated to him through his opening the bible to a random page.

More importantly, how do you know you are communicating with god and it isn't an illusion or a construct of your unconscious mind?

How do you know that when you are communicating with a loved one that it is not an illusion or a construct of your unconscious mind?

---

This is great. Today at lunch my friend told me that she opened the Bible at a random page to allow God to talk to her and that through the verse God slapped her and told her to forgive. After a while I told her about my experience doing that when I was a Pentecostal. I would open the Bible and I would get something to the effect of, "... and washushu gave birth to luki and luki gave birth to tutifruti. Tutifruti gave birth to fafi and fafi gave birth to tatertot." I would close it up and go again. After a while I would find one that made sense to what I was going through and get excited. lmfao

Means of communication with God that I can think of (in a Christian's point of view):
God speaks through a sermon
God speaks through rocks (people who are not Christian, a newspaper, a book, a commercial, anything really)
God speaks through a feeling
Christian speaks to God through thoughts and meditation
Christian talks to God through good deeds

Meh. Few examples. Of course, all of these have logical explanations. I'm just thinking like I would have responded back in my churchy days.

In order for communication to be effective between two people, what are some of the requirements that must be met?

[Esquilax]

In order for communication to be effective between two people, what are some of the requirements that must be met?

A second person.

[Captain Colostomy]

Lets just say it is my hunch that none of those alternative explanations for my experience is true.

Ok.....

So let me ask you, do you have any experiences which you attribute to your unconscious mind - dreams, daydreams, bouts of inspiration, etc? If so then at least you comprehend the category in which I am suggesting we place your communing with God experience.

And I could place your "hunch" that your experiences regarding a world of physical objects that you perceive with your five senses in the same category.

Where does that leave us?

You looking for a toehold to wedge a bible in? Discounting our collective senses does nothing for a theistic argument; after all, those same senses are how the notion of god became known in the first place!

How do you know that when you are communicating with a loved one that it is not an illusion or a construct of your unconscious mind?

Are you a parrot? Your redirect doesn't absolve you from answering.

In order for communication to be effective between two people, what are some of the requirements that must be met?

Kudos to Esquilax.

[Faith No More]

How do you know that when you are communicating with a loved one that it is not an illusion or a construct of your unconscious mind?

Do you always avoid answering a question by simply posing one of your own? Because it comes across as fearful and evasive and is detrimental to fostering a fruitful discussion.

Besides, I never made the claim that I do know. I can only have a level of certainty based upon my detection of that person with my five sense(yes, I could taste the person if I wanted to) and the fact that others can confirm my detection with their senses, too. Could I still be a brain in a vat? It appears very unlikely, but I never claimed I wasn't.

So, now would you like to back up your claim that you communicate with god, or should I just abandon this conversation before I waste more of my time?

[discipulus]

How do you know that when you are communicating with a loved one that it is not an illusion or a construct of your unconscious mind?

Do you always avoid answering a question by simply posing one of your own? Because it comes across as fearful and evasive and is detrimental to fostering a fruitful discussion.

Besides, I never made the claim that I do know. I can only have a level of certainty based upon my detection of that person with my five sense(yes, I could taste the person if I wanted to) and the fact that others can confirm my detection with their senses, too. Could I still be a brain in a vat? It appears very unlikely, but I never claimed I wasn't.

So, now would you like to back up your claim that you communicate with god, or should I just abandon this conversation before I waste more of my time?

I don't understand what you are asking me to do.

---

In order for communication to be effective between two people, what are some of the requirements that must be met?

A second person.

Is that all? Or are there more requirements?

[Esquilax]

Is that all? Or are there more requirements?

Of course there are more, but that first step is too high a barrier of entry for god.

[Faith No More]

I don't understand what you are asking me to do.

I'm asking you how you are communicating with god and how you know that it is god you are communicating with.

[Sword of Christ]

It's essentially talking to God, there are various different ways you can pray it doesn't always have to be verbal or asking for something particularly.

[gall]

It's essentially talking to God, there are various different ways you can pray it doesn't always have to be verbal or asking for something particularly.

So one is more valid than the other invalid ways it gets nothing done but spend your time talking to your imagination?