People often complain about how their prayers always go unanswered, and I was just wondering what the AG community thought about this topic. I was also interested in where your opinions where on asking God for something.
People often complain about how their prayers always go unanswered, and I was just wondering what the AG community thought about this topic. I was also interested in where your opinions where on asking God for something.
Nope. Actually, some studies found that prayer has an insignificant, yet interesting, negative effect. Asking a god who isn't there for something he, if he somehow existed, that he wouldn't care about and would have put you in in the first place sounds like a bad idea to me.
What was the quote? Something like "Prayer is a way of telling god his plan is horribly full of holes and stingy" or something like that. Ill have to look it up later...
Well, if we look at science and common sense, no. But it makes people feel better about themselves if they do pray. It makes some people feel at peace.
Although as an atheist I do not prey I still see the meaning in prayer.
Prayer to God always has helped me. When I'm needy I pray and ask that it is only to be given if it is truly God's will. If that thing is helpful to approach to God, it is granted. I am strongly Catholic, since birth and I shall always be.
Even if God is real, and I'm not going to get into that debate right now, he would have hundreds of millions of people praying to him every day. God or not, most of those people are going to end up disappointed, unless they are very lucky and something else in their life other than a supreme being answers their prayers by chance.
How closed-minded of you not to explore the other options - I find it so sad when people decry the merits of an open-mind in favour of blindly sticking to something. Anyway, you can't really prove that prayer to God has helped you, it merely proves that you're a weak person that can't rely on their own inner strength and has to turn to a placebo in the form of a deity to help yourself.
Those hands that are clasped in prayer could be used to change the world, one should indeed connect with ones deity but surely that should come from actions and not words, to sit and pray in times of need is useless.
That's basically what I meant Ernie - I kinda left the 'logical and intelligent thought' step out because it interfered with the look of my psuedo-philosophical ramblings.
Bahh, prove to me that your soul exists and then prove to me that prayer is vital for the 'health' of your soul, we'll talk when you do.
It has for me on a multitude of instances. But I've seen the power it can hold and the hope it can bring. In my opinion you have to honestly believe what your asking for, and not just do it because it's customary or your just trying to "see" what happens.
It has for me on a multitude of instances. But I've seen the power it can hold and the hope it can bring.
Hope for what?
Either your god has a plan for you or not. If he has a plan for you, then why pray? It would just be pretending you know more than him. If he doesn't, then why would those bad things happen to you?
In my opinion you have to honestly believe what your asking for, and not just do it because it's customary or your just trying to "see" what happens.
Didn't work for any one, now has it? Or if it does, than go heal an amputee. It would be good for everyone.
