If prayer works? (for other peoples health) (ritual, beliefs, soul)

[Bronze]

ok, what kind of benevolent god only heals people because other people have prayed for them?

if someone needs to be saved, and no one is around to pray for them, are they screwed?

is someone not worth healing in gods eyes unless others pray for them?


if the forementioned questions are not true, then what is the purpose of praying?

one of the following must be true of god:

a. he selectively heals based on other peoples prayers

b. prayer is useless

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Bronze

ok, what kind of benevolent god only heals people because other people have prayed for them?

Not the God I believe in.

Originally Posted by Bronze

if someone needs to be saved, and no one is around to pray for them, are they screwed?

Nope

Originally Posted by Bronze

is someone not worth healing in gods eyes unless others pray for them?

Every soul is of worth to God -- not matter if they are prayed for or not.

Originally Posted by Bronze

then what is the purpose of praying?

To be spiritually intune with our Father in Heaven.

Originally Posted by Bronze

a. he selectively heals based on other peoples prayers

b. prayer is useless

Nope. There is a lot more to praying then asking to be 'healed' or asking for things. In fact, I talk to my Father in Heaven everyday about things, and I am hardly asking to be 'healed'.

[kadzbiz]

Originally Posted by Bronze

ok, what kind of benevolent god only heals people because other people have prayed for them?

Where do you even pull this idea from? Who says He ONLY heals because people pray?

if someone needs to be saved, and no one is around to pray for them, are they screwed?

Saved from what? God helps those who help themselves.

is someone not worth healing in gods eyes unless others pray for them?

Everyone is worth healing.

if the forementioned questions are not true, then what is the purpose of praying?

one of the following must be true of god:

a. he selectively heals based on other peoples prayers

b. prayer is useless

You're making a final assumption based on your initial misguided assumptions.

[HB3]

Originally Posted by Bronze

one of the following must be true of god:

a. he selectively heals based on other peoples prayers

b. prayer is useless

These are some of the same questions I have wrestled with for a long time. I have finally come to a conclusion that works for me and may or may not work for others. I believe that God created people with a power to heal oneself from many physical conditions - the untapped power of the mind over the body. I also believe that when people believe that prayer from themselves or others has the power to heal, their positive attitude somehow opens that power of the mind. I also think this power of the mind can be reached through other means, such as meditation, but prayer seems to be the preferred method of the faithful.

In brief this leads me to two conclusions. If this healing power was a part of God's creation and prayer helps unlock this power, then in a sense God has healed persons through prayer, though not in the way most religious people conceive of it. The second conclusion is that if some people believe that prayer has healed them in the past and can help them again, who am I to cause them to question their faith by trying to discredit their beliefs in order to get them to accept mine. Admittedly sometimes I have to "bite my tongue" due to my ego, but have been successful so far.

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by beckysoup

Nope. There is a lot more to praying then asking to be 'healed' or asking for things. In fact, I talk to my Father in Heaven everyday about things, and I am hardly asking to be 'healed'.

Originally Posted by kadzbiz

You're making a final assumption based on your initial misguided assumptions.

I could be wrong (it's very early and I'm tired) but this seems, to me, to be avoiding the question. While it may not be the ONLY thing people pray for, people do, in fact, pray for people's health. Sometimes those people get better; sometimes they don't. If it's in Gods hands, why does God choose to heal some, and not others? And if it's all part of a greater plan, then what good does prayer do?

[kadzbiz]

Originally Posted by Nanda

I could be wrong (it's very early and I'm tired) but this seems, to me, to be avoiding the question. While it may not be the ONLY thing people pray for, people do, in fact, pray for people's health. Sometimes those people get better; sometimes they don't. If it's in Gods hands, why does God choose to heal some, and not others? And if it's all part of a greater plan, then what good does prayer do?

If the question is questionable, other issues arise, but to comment on your last point Nanda, I would say that it makes the pray-giver happy.

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by kadzbiz

If the question is questionable, other issues arise, but to comment on your last point Nanda, I would say that it makes the pray-giver happy.

Not always... I've seen plenty of people lose faith when their prayers for sick loved ones went unanswered.

[Hema]

God loves us all equally. Sickness is only of the body. The Spirit is whole. All souls eventually merge with God.

[Dream Angel]

Originally Posted by Nanda

Not always... I've seen plenty of people lose faith when their prayers for sick loved ones went unanswered.

You cant always get what you want in this life. Thats just greed! Their faith and love for God cant have been that strong anyway if they stopped just because what they wanted didnt come true. It is said that God can and will say "No". Its like if a mother or father takes a toy of a child - does that child stop loving the parents, just because he/she didnt get what he wants? No!

[kadzbiz]

Originally Posted by Nanda

Not always... I've seen plenty of people lose faith when their prayers for sick loved ones went unanswered.

Unanswered? Let's be totally sure that the pray-giver was sure of what they were asking. Sometimes we aren't clear about what we want, IMO. It's like the old backfiring wishes syndrome, if you know what I mean. If people asked that someone get better from their condition for example, death might have actually taken them to a better place, but to the pray-giver it doesn't appear so.

That's one thing I've never really understood BTW, one sees such faithful followers balling their eyes out for ages over the passing of a relative, when, in their faith, the deceased has obviously been taken to a more beautiful place. Okay, okay, before I get stoned, I understand that the survivors will miss them and feel lonely without them.....but stil, they should be happy for them, being in Heaven and all.