Why bother praying?

[jewscout]

Only in your mind that is.

the same thing could be said for love, which has been determined to be nothing more than a form of OCD and can be treated w/ Prozac. (not kidding it was in this month's national geo)
but would you go around questioning the validity of love?

We both know that if you wouldn't pray for a day, nothing will happen, the same with the next day and the day beyond etc..

no you don't know. I have gone many many months davening (yiddish word for praying) on a regular basis, then when i stopped something was missing in my life. It wasn't just the ritual of going everyday for Mincha/maariv but a feeling like the connection to G-d wasn't the same.

Without praying you will keep on living, you will keep on going and what happens after death will be just a s hard a question.

this is true, but life just wouldn't be the same without it. sorta like love.

look i'm not trying to make a believer out of you, i'm just saying that this is my feelings and reasonings behind it.
you want something quantifiable, i can't quantify G-d.

 

[BucephalusBB]

the same thing could be said for love, which has been determined to be nothing more than a form of OCD and can be treated w/ Prozac. (not kidding it was in this month's national geo)
but would you go around questioning the validity of love?

questioning? Totally!!! like i start by questioning everything.
But even love can have answers though, as love is mostly hormones, just like most (if not all) emotions. So actually the same could not be said about love..

no you don't know. I have gone many many months davening (yiddish word for praying) on a regular basis, then when i stopped something was missing in my life. It wasn't just the ritual of going everyday for Mincha/maariv but a feeling like the connection to G-d wasn't the same.

So you could stop!
And yes you were missing something. I always wear my watch, if I forget it a day, I would be missing it. If I would have to work this weekend, I would be missing it. And if I do not watch tv before going to sleep, im having hardship sleeping..
And if I don't breath for only 1o minutes, I'm out.
ehr, getting my point?

look i'm not trying to make a believer out of you

No prob, I really don't mind if people try. I like it when people are enthousiastic over something. no matter what..

you want something quantifiable, i can't quantify G-d.

That's because God is the only thing in the world besides fiction that can't be quantified for me..

 

[michel]

I view prayer as a simple form of meditation. It is more for the person praying than anything.

I don't believe in an anthropomorphic god, so no.

According to my definition of Tao, yes my meditation can make a difference. By meditating, I change myself. By changing myself I can change those around me. By changing those around me, they can change the world.

Since I don't pray for a god to help those in need, this question is irrelavent. However, as my answer of number 2 stated I can affect change enough to help those in need.

I see myself vascillating here. I believe in God (but I do not know how to 'define' him) - I often see him as a form of energy (which you can, for example call 'tao') and I agree with your points on the meditation.

perhaps if it was not for my love for Christ and what he did for us, I would be tending far more over to 'your corner of the world'; as it is, I don;t think there is that great a divide between us.

 

[jeffrey]

IMO, We pray to God for us, our benefit, to keep him in our heart and mind. God knows my needs.

If I need something from the store, I got to go to the store, it don't come to me. By praying, I'm keeping a path open to him. By thinking of him.​

As I said before, God does not need us, we need him.

 

[jewscout]

questioning? Totally!!! like i start by questioning everything.
But even love can have answers though, as love is mostly hormones, just like most (if not all) emotions. So actually the same could not be said about love..

actually yes it can. the sensation of love releases chemicals in the brain (thus it's in your head, get it, in your head...ok i know it wasn't that funny). The same could be said for the religious who become emotional during prayer.

So you could stop!

yes...and i could also stop doing alot of things and still be alive, as you have so illustrated.
i never said i couldn't stop.
I simply choose to pray.

 

[Ernesto]

In the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, he makes a very good point about people submitting themselves to a religion and therefore spending their entire life praying and inevitably wasting the beauty that there is aorund us, out of mere fear of the possiblity of the existence of hell.

 

[jewscout]

In the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, he makes a very good point about people submitting themselves to a religion and therefore spending their entire life praying and inevitably wasting the beauty that there is aorund us, out of mere fear of the possiblity of the existence of hell.

maybe for certain sects of Christianity

i do not find that an accurate reflection of Judaism's views.

 

[Ernesto]

maybe for certain sects of Christianity

i do not find that an accurate reflection of Judaism's views.

Mmhm, I think the only point Pullman is really making is that you shouldn't spend oyur life in solitary prayer for fear of an afterlife when you could be spending oyur time instead enjoying the only life you know for certain exists.

 

[jewscout]

Mmhm, I think the only point Pullman is really making is that you shouldn't spend oyur life in solitary prayer for fear of an afterlife when you could be spending oyur time instead enjoying the only life you know for certain exists.

1) jewish prayer is not solitary, it is communal. To recite certain prayers in prayer service you require a Minyan, a quorum of 10 Jewish men.
2) i do not pray for fear of any afterlife as Judaism places little emphasis on the afterlife. This was a creation and idea of the early Church, especially during the middle ages when this life was so crappy.
3) "...when you could be spending your time instead enjoying the only life you know for certain exists." this is a statement very much in the vein of Judaism's world view. Life takes presidence above pretty much everything else.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I never pray for Things
It is the intangables that God helps with most.
Giving hope
comfort
wisdom
strength
love
Direction
spirituality.

To pray following a disaster; is too late to pray that it goes away.
We can only pray for those things that will help us cope with the situation.

Gods plan for us is in motion, only those things that could contribute to his plan will be answered.

An important part of prayer is thanks and worship.

Terry___________________
Blessed are the merciful, mercy shall be shown unto them.

 

[cardero]

With some people, prayer seems to be a one way street, located somewhere between the corner of Request Dr. and Expect Ave. There is a tremendous distinction between talking at GOD and talking with GOD.

 

[c0da]

"When Did I Realize I Was God? Well, I Was Praying And I Suddenly Realized I Was Talking To Myself"

peter o' toole