Why bother praying? (God, verse, prayer, divine)

[Faint]

To those of you who pray, why do you pray and how do you rationalize this?

1) Do you think that your prayers are heard and considered?
2) Do you think your wishes hold any sway on a higher power (like a child asking it's father for a new bicycle--"please please please can I have this", for example)?
3) When you speak of praying for someone in a bad situation, like Jill Carroll, or random disaster victims, why would you think the higher power would allow your desires to influence it's plan for everything (assuming it has a plan). In other words, if your god did not intervene to prevent something like the Rape of Nanking, 9/11, or the Indonesian tsunami, why would that same god heed your request to help those in need?

[michel]

Originally Posted by Faint

To those of you who pray, why do you pray and how do you rationalize this?

1) Do you think that your prayers are heard and considered?

Yes.

2) Do you think your wishes hold any sway on a higher power (like a child asking it's father for a new bicycle--"please please please can I have this", for example)?

I would never pray for anything for me, personally (except for wisdom, and help to be a better person)

3) When you speak of praying for someone in a bad situation, like Jill Carroll, or random disaster victims, why would you think the higher power would allow your desires to influence it's plan for everything (assuming it has a plan). In other words, if your god did not intervene to prevent something like the Rape of Nanking, 9/11, or the Indonesian tsunami, why would that same god heed your request to help those in need ?

Good point; the one question I cannot give a clear cut answer to. The way I look upon it is that there is nothing to be lost by asking God to 'help others' in a situation where they could do with help, if it is his will.

[jewscout]

do i think G-d hears my prayers?
I believe that He does.

Do i pray like a child sometimes, a child w/ the "gimme"s?
Yes sometimes i do

Do i think that G-d hears my prayers for others?
Yes i believe He does.

Can I explain why He permits terrible things to happen?
No, i can not.

but can you explain why sometimes when i pray for good things, good things happen?


the greatest pray is that my desire and His Will ultimately coincide.
now whether it is His Will that changes or my desire is another question all together...

[Faint]

Originally Posted by jewscout

but can you explain why sometimes when i pray for good things, good things happen?

Coincidence. Just like if you flip a coin and call heads or tails eventually you're going to be correct--but that doesn't mean you're psychic.

Originally Posted by jewscout

the greatest pray is that my desire and His Will ultimately coincide.
now whether it is His Will that changes or my desire is another question all together...

As you say, "ultimately coincide"--once again we're talking about coincidence, and you seem to recognize this. Basically, it sounds like you believe that ultimately your god is going to do what he wants to do. If it is ultimately your god's will that something will happen (or won't happen), you seem to have no say in the matter, so again, why bother praying? What do you get out of it?

[Bouncing Ball]

Originally Posted by jewscout

but can you explain why sometimes when i pray for good things, good things happen?

Because those good things were going to happen anyway..

I think that if you pray and good things happen, and this would be in most cases...
people would have tested that, put some math on it and statistics and I would be praying now as well..

[jewscout]

Coincidence. Just like if you flip a coin and call heads or tails eventually you're going to be correct--but that doesn't mean you're psychic.

nor am i claiming to be a psychic. What i am saying is, that as a believer, i believe that G-d takes my prayers into consideration in His Divine plan.

As you say, "ultimately coincide"--once again we're talking about coincidence, and you seem to recognize this.

no i am not talking about coincidence i am talking about the ability for what i desire and what is G-d's will to coincide, that they will ultimately come together, which i don't see being an accident.

Basically, it sounds like you believe that ultimately your god is going to do what he wants to do. If it is ultimately your god's will that something will happen (or won't happen), you seem to have no say in the matter, so again, why bother praying? What do you get out of it?

ultimately it's not about getting on Santa's lap and asking for this or that but to connect w/ the Divine force in the Universe that is IMPO the objective of prayer.

[jewscout]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Ball

I think that if you pray and good things happen, and this would be in most cases...
people would have tested that, put some math on it and statistics and I would be praying now as well..

if i could quantify the power of G-d then He wouldn't be G-d

[Faint]

Originally Posted by jewscout

no i am not talking about coincidence i am talking about the ability for what i desire and what is G-d's will to coincide, that they will ultimately come together, which i don't see being an accident.

Yes, because things coinciding have nothing to do with coincidence.

But aside from English lessons, if you don't see your prayers being accepted as part of god's will as being accidental, doesn't that also imply that god would have already planned out your prayers for you (i.e. he designed your prayers, and possibly your thoughts in general), which would kind of negate that freewill thing, and thus mean that you are simply god's puppet?

[cardero]

Faint writes: 1) Do you think that your prayers are heard and considered?

"I hear them ALL and K(NOW) distinctively if they are within the BEing's PURPOSE. But certain entities are more worthy and capable of dealing directly with prayers."

Faint writes: 2) Do you think your wishes hold any sway on a higher power (like a child asking it's father for a new bicycle--"please please please can I have this", for example)?

“Do not BE ashamed or disappointed or regretful if your answers do not come out the way you have anticipated them. This is not the fault of GOD not caring or listening. This is the TRUTH that the prayer is not meant to BE, whether it is for you or someone else. There is a PURPOSE to ALL prayers and ALL thoughts. Mostly, the problem with the outcome of prayers is the inactivity of the person requesting the prayer. It ALL falls back on that old adage that "if you want something to happen, you may have to make it happen yourself." Prayers are not wishes; there is no such thing as Santa Claus or genies, either.”

Faint writes:3) When you speak of praying for someone in a bad situation, like Jill Carroll, or random disaster victims, why would you think the higher power would allow your desires to influence it's plan for everything (assuming it has a plan). In other words, if your god did not intervene to prevent something like the Rape of Nanking, 9/11, or the Indonesian tsunami, why would that same god heed your request to help those in need?

I do not believe in an intervening GOD


“If a person with a incurable disease does not recover, this does not mean prayers were ignored or unheeded. It just means it was within the PURPOSE of this BEing (or person) to pass on at this time.
This is when people seem to lose their faith in ME. And this is why I do not buy into faith. I received the prayer and have sent it to the proper channels. But if it is within the will of the BEing that these prayers go unfulfilled, it is only because it is not within the PURPOSE for this BEing to receive the effects of that particular prayer. It is not MY will that must BE done but the will and the PURPOSE of the individual BEing who has chosen a PURPOSE before incarnating into a physical existence that must BE done.”


HELLO IT’S ME: An Interview With GOD
Chapter: The Purpose Of Prayer
Pg: 380, 381