Does praying "work"? (page 2)

kelsey007

Normon Vincent Peale wrote a book called "Expect a Miracle, Make Miracles Happen". Faith is a powerful tool. To me it is an important facet of life. However you choose to define "god" and whatever you believe about life and eternity we all place faith in something. Whether you pray, meditate or pratice yoga such a mindset does powerful things to a person physically and emotionally. Prayer in and of itself is a form of meditation. It provides one with the faith and will to accomplish things. It instills in ones self the belief that one can do. Another book is "The power of positive thinking". As simplistic as these statements may seem they accomplish powerful things. A positive, smiling, upbeat person inspires others and seems to go through life much better. They focus on the positive things of life- not the negative. By doing so they get more positive things out of life.

So simply put prayer works. Because it helps put one into the positive thinking mode. It empowers one to believe that big things can be accomplished.

IMHO

Francois

I'm a regular poster on a melanoma patient's bulletin board. It's been interesting place to be for the last few years.

If a 65 year-old person there is battling a 1.25 millimeter deep melanoma and it goes away after several years, and several surgeries and chemotherapy and prayers and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, GAWD heard their prayers and blessed them.

But there is no less praying and chemo and surgery and dollars dedicated to a three year-old who has a melanoma 2.5 millimeters deep.

I get so twisted about the application of guesswork concerning who God has blessed in these two situations, I'm seeing in two directions at once.

Jesus Christ

Sorry about not being able to answer all your prayers for quite some time. Our computer systems have been pretty screwed up here in heaven ever since dad opened that attachment that was supposed to be a picture of the nekkid ladies and it turns out it was a virus. Sorry about the inconvenience. We'll let you know when we get everything straightened out.

BTW, please don't ask for your dead pet rabbits to come back to life. Everytime someone does that all that happens is that people in Utah get more hair on their elbows. We have no clue what that's about.

iggy_the_fish

Well, it works for me - in that I don't belive in God, and every now and again I pray to Him saying "I don't belive in you, and if you have a problem with that please let me know" - it gets it all out of my system I suppose. Maybe it's just a way of focusing one's mind - like talking through your problems with a friend sometimes throws them into sharper focus. I happen to belive that if there is a God, he has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with us at the moment. The more I think about it, the more sense a Godless (and more generally a supernaturalless) universe makes. Writing this is a lot like praying - focusing the mind and all that. If I was a beliver, I'd probably think God was blessing me with peace of mind and deeper understanding. Ramble ramble.

ig.

freedom96

I think praying works.

I believe a person should pray as if it depends on God, and act as though it depends on them.

I always thought the song "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks was excellent. A good message in it if one takes the time to understand the meaning of the song.

Iwasyoungonce

Does it work? Well be carful what you ask for you might get it.. How many people who got Gods attention in the Bible had a good experience with man after that? I say let a sleeping dog lay.

I accepted the principles of Jesus at a very young age. Not a religion the guys modus operandi just makes sense to me. I thought I remember it said that you should pray and then ACT as if the prayer was already answered somewhere.

I have a lot of people who say they will pray for me. That's great but really if I need a prayer I will do one myself. I find that I do not ask for God's help much. I tend to do quite well as is. I hope that I help people.

Does anyone ever really look at the Lord's prayer? If I were to pray that's it (My model) I am done moving on.

ChrisVance

Since the jdubs say being homosexual is so terrible I prayed to be straight. Since that didn't work I prayed for god to make it bearable to pretend to be straight. That didn't work so I leff the jdubs. "Use your mind and you will find that nothing fails like prayer."

onacruse

It works for me. It has worked for me. I expect that it will continue to work for me.

Placebo? Self-delusion? Coincidence? I don't care...it works for me.

"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul...It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart."
Mohandas K. Gandhi

Craig

Big Tex

One of my earliest memories is of my grandfather raping me. I think I was 2, or maybe 3 years old. A few weeks (months?) later my father and some of his friends used me in the same way. I remember the pain was excruciating. Later that night I lay in bed with my pillow wrapped between my legs to stop the bleeding. I remember looking out my window (the shutters were open) and I saw a full moon. I prayed that night for God to make them stop hurting me. When they didn't, I thought it was my fault. For years I thought that perhaps God had no use for me since I was dirty. Eventually the rapes stopped and then I was left alone.

I still believe in God. But I struggle with the knowledge that if he is all powerful and yet stands by while innocents are brutalized, how loving can he truly be? My head says one thing, but my heart says another. I remember the quiet desperation of reaching out to someone, anyone for help; and I remember the sadness of a plea ignored.

onacruse

(((((((((((Big Tex))))))))))))))

No prayer I can think of could ever answer to your pain...

"the sadness of a plea ignored."

((((((((((((((Big Tex))))))))))))))

Does praying "work"?

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