Yeah, intercessory prayer seems pointless, but only if you take the position that such prayer is intended to convince God to change something, or at least to change it on a timeline suggested by the pleas of the supplicants involved.
But that isn't what intercessory prayer is for. Its sole purpose is to make religionists feel good about themselves without actually having to do anything. It almost always comes down to, 'Oh, those poor people in Honduras! I prayed for them' instead of, 'Oh, those poor people in Honduras! I donated $50 to Honduran Relief International.' Or 'Let us pray for the homeless among us' but never 'Let us go around and knock on doors, getting signatures on a petition demanding grant money to fund job training and low cost housing for homeless people.'
'Hands that help are better than lips that pray.' True enough, but prayer has the attraction of salving the conscience without getting you all sweaty.
Boru
But that isn't what intercessory prayer is for. Its sole purpose is to make religionists feel good about themselves without actually having to do anything. It almost always comes down to, 'Oh, those poor people in Honduras! I prayed for them' instead of, 'Oh, those poor people in Honduras! I donated $50 to Honduran Relief International.' Or 'Let us pray for the homeless among us' but never 'Let us go around and knock on doors, getting signatures on a petition demanding grant money to fund job training and low cost housing for homeless people.'
'Hands that help are better than lips that pray.' True enough, but prayer has the attraction of salving the conscience without getting you all sweaty.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
