the Power of Prayer? (page 3)

trevor

Renaming this delusion: "transcendance" is like calling masturbation a love affair!

I suppose that if a person were to pray while masturbating, there are two persons involved so it is not so far of from having a love affair!

juni

Quoting from the movie "Sister Act", Sister Clarence (played by Whoopie Goldberg) is forced into giving the prayer at mealtime. Here are her words:

Bless us oh Lord for these thine gifts which we are about to recieve. And uh... ye Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of no food, I shall fear no hunger. We want you to give us our day of daily bread. And to the republic for which it stands... by the powers vested in me, I pronounce us ready to eat. Amen. Bless us oh Lord for these thine gifts which we are about to recieve. And uh... ye Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of no food, I shall fear no hunger. We want you to give us our day of daily bread. And to the republic for which it stands... by the powers vested in me, I pronounce us ready to eat. Amen.

Juni Everyone have a nice weekend and may you experience a plethora of blessings.

I can say that if you're praying for something altruistic and you get lots and lots of people to help, you do see results. I've seen it often in my own life since leaving the org. I ask people to pray and it doesn't matter to me if they are pagan, Native American, Jewish, Christian, etc.

Prayer does work. Asking for something selfish like winning a ballgame or the lotto, I don't know. I kind of doubt it.

jwfacts

A lot of JWs believe their prayers are answered. But then I spoke to Christians and they too have utmost confidence that their prayers are answered.Pagans see coincidence as planned, and self help books discuss the power of positive thinking.

There is definite power in prayer, the source of that power is the question.

startingover

Alot of JWs believe their prayers are answered. But then I spoke to Christians and they too have utmost confidence that their prayers are answered.Pagans see coincidence as planned, and self help books discuss the power of positive thinking.
There is definite power in prayer, the source of that power is the question.

I think the above post really lays things out as they are. What bothers me about those who believe prayer works is that they cannot seem to accept any other reason a situation has changed for them. From their comments, it seems to me that for them there can only be one reason, there being a god or Jesus that answered it for them. Why is it so unacceptable that you were just lucky, or by your actions things changed?

Show me an amputee who has had his prayer answered for a new limb and I may see things differently.

freetosee

As a JW I caught myself while praying to be speaking to myself or wondering off thinking about people or situations. I apologized to Jehovah and restarted my prayer. I felt praying helped me as it gave me the feeling I had Jah, Jesus and all the angels on my side. When I felt guilty of failing (which I often did) asking for forgiveness and strength gave me a new boost to continue. On the other hand, most of my prayers were unanswered. I think it was the positive thinking and the self analysis through prayer which brought along a positive development.

Being told that as a JW I was praying to the wrong God or in the wrong way, I find unreasonable, since a loving impartial God should answer every genuine prayer just as he lets the sun shine.

My last prayer was a “good buy” prayer, telling God I can no longer worship him. And if there is someone up there he/she will understand me.

Right now I don’t want God to answer if I pray, I would much rather he/she/it helped a woman from being raped or many, many other things Almighty God can do (and should have done in the past) instead of dealing with my little problems.

Freetosee

JH

I believe in God, but also believe that he doesn't answer prayers. He may listen, but wants us to sweat a little. Not getting what we ask for will build our resistance and make us appreciate the little things of life that we took for granted.

Whatever you want, you have to do it yourself.

Then, you can thank God for giving you the ability of doing it yourself....

poppers

To pray puts into play two assumptions: that there is a someone who is praying, and there is a "god" to whom those prayers are directed. In most cases both assumptions aren't investigated. People may question the existence of god but they seldom question the existence of a separate and distinct entity known as "me". Who is this "me" anyway? Find out first if there really is a "me" beyond any mind generated ideas of "me" and then see if there is a need or desire to pray to a "god".

katiekitten

Many theologians say that, even if you believe in the power of intercessory prayer, such a trial is doomed to failure because it "puts God to the test"

Oh thats the best bloody get out clause I ever heard of.

I know people like that - "you are so needy for my attention im not going to give you it".

Its the most cruel catch 22 ever invented. And guess what? It was invented by GOD!

Narkissos

Terry,

You invoke the subjective/objective split and imply there is a necessary fiction which must follow.

Erm... no, that was not what I meant. The "split" I mentioned was intra-subjective: being simultaneously the subject of objective knowledge (I know something) and the subject of one's act of knowing (I know that I know).

As far as objective knowledge is concerned, I agree with you.

the Power of Prayer?