Does prayer work?

Not for me. I tried to pray my gay away when I was closeted, and it didn't work, along with other things when I was still a Southern Baptist. If it works for somebody else, good for them.

 

I think I may have worded that poorly. What I was more getting at is that in matters of spirituality there are no right answers and that you cannot force anyone to believe what you do. So worrying about others ways of thinking gets you nowhere. Obviously though if you only think of yourself this can lead to you leaving others behind, or even causing them harm in some way. I think though it is important to always be happy with yourself. Even if it means others wont be happy with you. It is important for your own health to be happy with who you are and what you do. That's all I really meant...

 

I'm an atheist, so I would have to say no.

However, I do appreciate it when someone says "I'm praying for you," if I'm going through a hard time. They're thinking of me and want the best for me, even if I don't do the whole God/prayer thing.

 

From experience, no. Back when I was religious, none of my prayers were answered, and I realized they would never be in the worst of my self-loathing phase when I tried to pray my "unnatural attractions" away.

THe phrase "Two hands working do more than a thousand in prayer" comes to mind. In all my years of prayer, I never got anything but disappointment. FOr some prayer gives them hope, but I rather not leave things to chance and actually try and do something about it.

 

There are many important things I need to get over, that it would be useful to let go of - prayer however is something I care little enough about to roll my eyes at. Let people delude themselves, but they'll get no praise or encouragement from me.

 

If we are talking about intercessory prayer, then I have my doubts, but prayer isn't always about asking God to do our bidding... if that's all it was about I wouldn't bother praying at all, yet I do.

Contemplative prayer really does work for me, in a similar way to meditation, I guess and the best place for it (I find) is in the peace and tranquility of a Church.

It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

 

and



and

"Prayer: A petition that the laws of nature be suspended in favor of the petitioner; himself confessedly unworthy."
- Ambrose Bierce

Sum up my thoughts on praying.

 

I fully agree with this statement. Personally, I don't think prayer is supposed to be used to ask for stuff or things to happen. It should be a meditation wherein we reflect on our lives.

 

I think they were trying to discourage me from selfish wants. It would also cover their backsides if I didn't get the result I wanted. They could then claim 'god works in mysterious ways.'

 

I actually think it can work. If you are convinced it will work, it might. If you pray, but don't think it will work, it probably won't.

My stance on it, is that people shouldn't underestimate the placebo effect. =) Even with a placebo, people can get better. I think it can be the same with prayer. But the person does have to believe in it. Me praying won't work. But I'm sure it can work for others! :icon_bigg

 

Nope.

I've prayed for fairly routine things not to go sideways and they didn't.

I've also prayed for some things, which were likely to occur anyway, to in fact occur and they did.

As for others things, and none of them were ridiculous, most of my prayers have gone unanswered. It doesn't mean I don't believe in a higher power. It just makes me less likely to pray.

 

Atheist. I don't pray. when I did believe in god and it never worked then.

 

I think it can in a way.

Obviously religious people have their own views on prayer.

But for secular folk, prayer can still work in the sense of providing focus, clarity or calmness (its a momentary pause from our busy lives when we think about just one thing) - I guess most of us would call this "reflection" or "meditation" but its the same thing really.

Now I'm not one who believes in all this "The Secret" and cosmic law of attraction malarchy (where people wish themselves things), although there is probably a subtle grain of truth in there somewhere - someone who regularly focuses on a goal or something they want are probably going to be more likely to get/reach it than someone who rarely focuses on it.

Lets say you want a new job. If you think about that regularly your brain is going to be more likely to pick up on external stimuli relating to finding a new job (its "switched on" to the task) - you might spot job adverts in a paper that you would otherwise skim over. Just a thought, anyway.

 

This crossed my mind ... sort of. It's telepathy again. But I hear what you're saying.

Some people take the prayer thing too far. I've known some. For that matter, I still do.

 

I have recently lost my faith, that being said, here is my opinion.

Prayer isn't about God giving us winning lottery numbers or giving us things we want. It is about asking for courage to do something you didn't know that you could do. It's about asking for forgiveness for our sins. It's about bringing courage, hope and and a sense of wellbeing to us, our friends, family and those around us.

There's been time when I have both thought it has and hasn't worked. When I wasin High School, I prayed for a sign and got one. Then when my mom was sick, I prayed that she would get better and she was. However, the day after she got moved out of the iCU she died. In addition, the most recent time I was struggling with my faith, I asked for help, for a sign for anything. But no, the only help I got was from my best friend who is also an Atheist. When I asked for help, he wasn't there, my friend was.

 

I pray a lot I actually have a lot of faith.

 

I rarely use prayer to ask for things, particularly for myself (help in exams notwithstanding). I will pray for other people, particularly those going through a tragedy or people who really need something. I have particular Novenas (Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sacred Heart of Jesus) that I only "break out" for really important occasions.

My prayer life is probably closer to what people would call meditation. I see it as an opportunity to converse with and become closer to God. I am very much a product of the mystical union tradition of the Carmelite Order.

Nice little link on prayer:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a2.htm

 

As I plan to title my future autobiography, I'm still waiting for god to check his spam folder.