Prayer Sucks! what the heck do you people do it for?

[spawn_syxx9 1]

Now this is not a religious bash or anything like that. I have been brought up Methodist but I have created my own views on life. My own religion if you will. I believe in myself. I don't turn to any god or goddess when my life goes down or is bad. My question is why do so many people turn to prayer when they are trying to make their lives better? Do you need that extra boost be believing that something really is listening to you and wanting to make your life better?

[BoSZ 0]

My question is why do so many people turn to prayer when they are trying to make their lives better? Do you need that extra boost be believing that something really is listening to you and wanting to make your life better?

answers simple
it makes ppl feel like they are back up by god so the quest will be easier and in my opininon praying for that is quite simple the stupidest thing ever invented. 90% of ppl praying dont think or analize the prayers so its like a poem reciting ,they just do it couse they were thought that way. If you belive that there is a god and that He can hear you why not use a regular words that mean something not some over overstated prayer.

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spawn_syxx9 ->enjoy your rep +
reason : logical way of thinking

[dizilluziondmasokist 0]

How ironic that it is a Christian that is saying that prayer sucks. If anything I should because my parents made me, and it was a complete waste of my time.People turn to prayer when they have been taught that, or when they observe that behavior. I think that praying does not work in and of itself. What it does is it can make you feel better and focus your energies on fixing whatever you are praying about.

[grrlfromoz 0]

I am a Christian; I do pray; and I do believe it is worth my time. When I pray, it isn't anything fancy and no one forces me to do it. It is just time spent with my Creator and Savior and I think it's crazefully cool that I have the ability to do that. I believe prayer is a form of worship, and it keeps me connected with God. It forces me to stop thinking of myself and focus on what His will for my life is, because in and of myself I am nothing and can accomplish nothing on my own. It is only by grace that I am saved and have a friend in Jesus Christ.

[iGuest 3]

For me, prayer isn't about just asking God for what you want or need. It's about relating to the most awesome power in existence and asking Him to lead you to him. Unfortunately, some people think if they don't get what they ask for... God isn't listening or doesn't care (ie prayer is useless).The truth is... none of us REALLY know what is best for us. Human nature is egocentric. We are easily blinded by our own selfishness. Only God (with His infinite wisdom and omnipresence) can lead us to truth and ultimately...eternal happiness.Now I can hear some of you all asking: "What about the little girl who died of a brain tumour even though her parents prayed for her to be healed, God Boy?!".Well since we don't know the mind of God, I see the answer to that question to be this:Man has turned from God to follow his own path. Sufferring and death are the result. Life isn't fair. It's full of heartache and tragedy. BUT God knows this and wants to end the sufferring! That's why he sacrificed his son for us. So that we can turn back to Him and ask his Holy Spirit to guide us through the quagmire of crap we've made for ourselves.I know I sound like a total Jesus Freak but that's because I AM! I just want everyone else to experience the peace and happiness I have through the Big Guy. It really is awesome!!!

[Mario 0]

Have you wondered? it might be something behind prayer.Muslims, Jews and other religion take prayer really seriously.I believe in prayer. Maybe you need a explanation of the religion before you can understand prayer.

[switch 0]

90% of ppl praying dont think or analize the prayers so its like a poem reciting ,they just do it couse they were thought that way.

 

yeah, that's a good point. i'm a full on 'jesus freak'too (good on ya neo_1972au!) yeah but that is true.

i heard a story once.

in a country where chrisitianity was not allowed, there was a church meeting, when a soldier stormed in with a machine gun and said "All you christians get out of the church or i'll shoot you!" about three quarters of the people in the church sprinted out the door.
"Great, " said the guy. "I just wanted to pray with some real christians and just find out what God really was like."

it's not so much about asking for stuff, its just chatting with our Lord, Friend and Creator. God made man in his own image. He enjoys a relationship with us just as much as we enjoy one with him.


Prayer is just talking to God. And God talks back too, although sometimes it's hard to hear (it's not always just verbal)

peace out, God Bless!

[qingtian 0]

As a christian in my opinion, prayer isn't useless even if you think it may be. You don't have to use fancy words or anything like that, you can just talk casually. Some prayers are usually answered but you may not realise it has been answered or if you keep thinking it's useless then you may end up with the answer right in your face but you're too blind to see it. You don't have to be overly religious to pray you just have to believe, prayer also doesn't just consist of asking things from God it gives you the opportunity to speak your mind and what your hopes are so you can share your journey with God and as he walks with you. So even when your life is down, at least you're not alone. If you think prayer is useless, maybe you just need to understand your religion more to appreciate it fully.

[logophobia 0]

I don't really like it either, I am at a Christian school (mainly cause my parents liked the disipline there) and sometimes we are asked to pray 4 stuff (at christmas 4 example) and really noone takes it serious anymore. Only like 10% of the students I think still believe in god (we once spoke about it in class and about everyone doesn't believe in god anymore). And was a recent poll in my country and only 30% of the population still have some remote connection with the church (like have a bible in the house or something like that). So, lucky 4 me, I live in a pretty religion-free country (the netherlands).

[switch 0]

yeah, actually its kind of ironic how that happens. i think that forcing people to pray doesn't really help anything (even though i am a christian and i think prayer is great). it's sort of like when your parents make you say sorry to people, i mean, what does that achieve if your not really sorry, or in the case of prayer, don't really mean it?

[Kirralouise 0]

when you have nothing, praying helps, when dad died i gave up faith in everything. now im slowly starting to belive again.

[spawn_syxx9 1]

I understand what religion is. I understand most of them. I understand the personal strength and faith it takes to stay true to a certain way of thinking and certain ways of living.I get all of that. I really do understand why people pray, I understand why prayer is so important to them and why at times they do need to believe in that "friend" or that "extra something" that will make their life complete. I get all that. This was merely my asking because I wanted to know how strong some people's convictions are. There is simplistic understanding but I believe that if a person can't answer every question posed to them about themselves in detail and with the full understanding of how it truly represents who they are, then they really don't know themselves and thus probably aren't fully happy. They probably give some *BLEEP* answer about themselves saying, " I don't need to know everything to be happy." Fact is, yes you do. Some people just coup with the fact that they don't know everything about themselves and that is cool. ^^ I don't really care if I know everything about myself. But I do strive everyday to learn why I do the things I do and why I do them in the way that I do. I think that asking questions like this, making people think about why they do things the way they do allows us to grow. Not only individually, but collectively as a community. Thanx BoSz for the point. I'll be sure to give you back one as soon as it is back up ^^!

[clergyq 0]

Spawn.. i agree with you. Humans DO need to pursue self-awareness to achieve any measure of happiness as an individual.. unfortunately (as far as i can tell) this isn't a widespread philosophical truth in Christian communities. I was raised baptist; when faced with difficult questions i burned with, my parents and their peers would often reply with "we are not meant to question... all will be made clear when we reach God." That usually meant upon death. I think the idea is that there is no need for individual development... you submit your identity to God.. and to the christian community.. and to your family.What i couldn't make them understand is that some of us don't have that option... some of us were born with questions to which we MUST have answers, and we can't surrender ourselves to a community that fails to provide satisfactory answers to those questions. Some of us are left with no option but to find those answers ourselves. My mother, in particular, was aware of this struggle ... but she percieved it as a battle between God and the devil over my soul. In her eyes, the devil won out.I'm an occultist now, and i 'pray' in my own way. For me, God isn't an invisible friend that listens to my pleas when no one else will, or a Man in the sky who loves me as an individual as my mother or father does, to whom i can hand a wishlist to be fulfilled according to my whim. God is a visible and active force that oversees and permeates all things.. that forces all things to adhere to its Laws and patterns. According to this force, Our cells are held together, our synapses fire, trees grow the way they do, the wind and the water moves to keep this place habitable to life... all of these things should be impossible in the face of entropy, and the "chance and coincidence" that made them so are literally the machinations of God. God speaks through order and seeming coincidence, and can be turned to when we cannot understand our places in the interactions of 'all things under heaven.' God does speak, but most of us explain the omens away as "merely coincidence'. Take out the 'merely' and you have the voice of God. Coincidence. Synchronicity of pattern.We have a saying in the circles i frequent: "you find what you seek." Too many of us view the subject from the modern bias that 'God is improbable," and when we look around with our conditioned vision we find exactly that: the improbability of God. This view itself comes from faith... faith in what our fellow man tells us. Too many of us listen when others tell us God does or does not exist, or tell us what God is or is not. We don't have to listen to the various factions of men who battle for what we will believe.. and try to tell us what is in front of us. We have eyes to see for ourselves, whether God gave them to us or not. Believe whatever you feel compelled to, just make sure such compulsion doesnt come from other men, with their own human agendas.. involving you.

[synapticflame 0]

Toyclergy,
It sounds like your stance is a reaction to the misunderstandings around you.
God is invisible, and since he's omniscient, he always hears what we tell him. But he's more than just an invisible pal.
Taking some things from the Bible:
God does have the role for us of father, since we are his children and we can turn to him for protection and support (matthew 7:11). But he's not like earthly fathers, who are imperfect, and as a result end up wounding their children's hearts. God cares for his people (Hosea 11).
God wants us to pray to him. But he doesn't want us to come boasting about how great we are (Luke 18:9-14), he wants us to come to him with our needs.
Since God created the universe and all that is in it (Colossians 1:16), he is the origin of the order that we observe around us. He preserves this order actively (Acts 17:28).
God does speak to us (John 10:27), and his workings can be plainly seen (Romans 1:20).

There are two ways to let someone else shape your beliefs: one is to dumbly believe what they tell you to believe. The other is to reject everything they claim, without saving the valid parts.

[spawn_syxx9 1]

Toyclergy.. that was an awesome read. I totally congratulate you on finding your own path. But I give everyone a pat on the back for even answering this. Finding yourselves and having the ability to communicate what it is you believe in is a great step towards what I feel should be a world where free communication shoudl reign. No offense SynapticFlame. But the bible only tells you what you what to believe it tells you. I could read those words and believe that god is a despot cruel leader who wishes to be omnipitent and control everything around him.It is all about interpretation.