What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Whateverist]

Isn't God able to do it alone?

If you're talking about miracles that is always done through intermediaries who are able to channel something God through themselves and bring that into physical manifestation. Spiritual healing as you see Jesus perform in the gospels would come under that. The thing to bear in mind though is that this kind of power is rare at least to the potency that we're talking about so you may want to rely a bit more on the brain God has given us instead.

Sadly that too is rare among some practitioners of healing by faith.

[Gil Gaudia]

This really sounds quite convoluted. Don't you think? Can prayer heal or not?

It can but would manifest itself in what we call the placebo effect. It wouldn't normally be transferable, not by the average person anyway.

Little Billy is accidentally shot in the brain by a playmate and is in a vegetative state. His mother prays to Jesus that he be restored to full health. Can her prayer influence the outcome? If so how?

[Whateverist]

It can but would manifest itself in what we call the placebo effect. It wouldn't normally be transferable, not by the average person anyway.

Little Billy is accidentally shot in the brain by a playmate and is in a vegetative state. His mother prays to Jesus that he be restored to full health. Can her prayer influence the outcome? If so how?

Let me guess. The answers will be:

1) Yes, of course.

and

2) No fucking idea .. that's why we call miracles superstitious, I mean, supernatural.

[Sword of Christ]

Little Billy is accidentally shot in the brain by a playmate and is in a vegetative state. His mother prays to Jesus that he be restored to full health. Can her prayer influence the outcome? If so how?

Ummm...no. It may work for a headache, back-sprain or something if you want to try it out.

[Paraselene]

Since we are just making up crap as we go along....

[Whateverist]

Certainly true for me, the difference being that I realize it.

[Sword of Christ]

The average person won't be able harness that much in the way of spiritual potency, the power level will be way under 9000. You're not going to heal a bullet wound.

[Chas]

Erroneous statement. I worship nothing.

You will have something you revere in your life more than anything else. It can be person possibly. I don't mean Carl Sagan someone important to you personally.

Lets have a look at what Jesus himself said.

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37

Now clearly here he was speaking with the authority of God. And he's telling his followers not to put anything before God.

No, it is not at all clear that he was 'speaking with the authority of God'.

He may have thought so; I don't.

---

Firstly, SoC, I'd like to thank you for not responding to my post. It lets me assume you had no counterargument.

Secondly, you bet your damn ass I'll put my love for my family over my love for a guy who didn't even exist. Your God's a pretty selfish dude.

How can a person that does not exist be selfish?

The person would have to exist in order to be selfish right?

Very funny.

We, of course, refer to the extant description given in the myths.

[Paraselene]

The average person won't be able harness that much in the way of spiritual potency, the power level will be way under 9000.

Are you sure you are not confusing one of your theistic video games with reality?

[Gil Gaudia]

The average person won't be able harness that much in the way of spiritual potency, the power level will be way under 9000. You're not going to heal a bullet wound.

God has an alleged Power of the most unimaginable magnitude. Power that presumably was the source of the astounding creation of hundreds of billions of galaxies, which are composed of hundreds of trillions of stars, dotted with singularities and "black holes" possessing immense gravity and crushing annihilatory densities; all of which are dancing with exquisite accuracy in spectacular elliptical orbits over a time- and distance-span of 14 billion light years; Power that has designed astonishingly complex molecular systems, composed of amazingly intricate atomic foundations; all operating according to the mechanics of gravity and other little-understood forces that bind atomic nuclei together while swarms of electrons maintain their balance around their stupendously dense centers in microscopic imitation of the grander galaxies; Power that orchestrated the rules of light propagation and spectrums of colors all arranged in fantastically diverse, visible, as well as invisible, wavelengths and patterns.

Why can’t he fix a bullet hole?