Why do people pray for someone?

i thought we're talking here about praying to our respective God....

 

Then you don't believe in God. Not according to Judeo-Christian theology. The God of the Bible is an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent entity/force. Those characteristics are incompatible with free-will for human kind, and stipulate predestination.

Okay, so God knows every single path that every choice could possibly create...but He also knows which one will be chosen/utilized. Again, either He's all-knowing or He's not. If He is, everything is predestined and we have no free-will. If He's not, he's not God.

 

Do you really think that's why people oppose that type of thing? Are you kidding me?

 

If the future is predetermined in this way, why is there any need for this charade called life before judgement day?

 

Honestly, there's no point in talking logic in regards to religion. Religion comes from our own anxieties about the unknown. It gives a sense of comfort for those who believe in them. There's a reason why for the history of entire mankind, religions have been a dominant force in all cultures who came into existence and advanced without knowing each other.

Regardless of whether or not God exist or if he's all-knowing, those who believe in him take comfort in his existence. Otherwise, many would have a much harder time dealing with life in general.

Think of it as a placebo. It definitely affects people's mindset which may help them overcome obstacles, even if it's not truly a cure.

 

See, this is why sometimes you religious people make it out to be so black and white. Praying is not about God or gods. It's about a peace of mind.

When a friend was going through a ton of trouble in life, I prayed he gets his life together, and told him that. And I meant it deep in my heart. This has nothing to do with whether I believe Jesus will truly turn his life around. It's to comfort him and comfort myself, in hope that his future become better. And hopefully provide him with some support.

Not to mention the fact that there's no downside to praying to God in though, right? If he exist, and he actually helps, great. If not, it's not like I'm screwed because I lost a few seconds of my life praying when I'd otherwise spend on angst anyway.

 

I don't know about you, but I like living over being dead, regardless of whether or not there's a deity who's going to come and blow up earth and send me to hell.

 

Just some food for thought...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friend...yer-doesnt-work-christians-twist-the-results/

 

This thread is about praying to a GOD.


that's the problem with you athiest... you take the god part out of the subject and get out of context...

 

Good Post, from the bible in my opinion God does not know man's future choices, neither do we know His.

Getting back to prayer, if God were to act independent of prayer He would act consistently to every person without partiality and that would cause a chain of events that would pretty much eliminate prayer, God makes decisions based upon prayers, but only in the context of peoples choices.

I am often asked why doesn't God heal every sickness?
God does not intervene that often into the cause and effect of choices made by people. However He will intervene in some circumstances for a specific purpose.

When a tower fell over and killed some people Jesus told His disciples do you think you are different than those people... in other words things happen to most everyone by a cause and effect system God designed and he gives rain and sunshine to good people and bad people.

Prayer is a relationship effect.

Jesus said if a son asks a father for bread he won't receive a stone, this illustrates that in a father son relationship there is special ways requests are met.

 

Then he doesn't believe in that interpretation of God.

If there was something like a God, I suppose He/She/It would defy human explanation of His/Her/Its attributes.

 

Yep, God works in mysterious ways. Mysteriously similar to random chance.

He chooses to intervene to find people's keys, phones, and aid in millions of cases that could also be attributed to natural causes... yet he fails to intervene in any way where it would undoubtedly be supernatural - because he loves mystery and he never wants to prove himself. What would be the fun in that? He likes the idea of faith... because it's fun for him to watch us bicker back and forth over which god is the real god or whether or not he even exists.

 

You have made some great posts in this thread despite the hostility. This one stands out.

I've never understood the vile that many non-believers have for people of faith.

And, just for the record, I am not a believer.

 

Why do they need taking care of? Why didn't got create a world without such horrendous suffering? Is he making them suffer to teach us a lesson about "doing our part"? How cruel.

If he doesn't have the power to prevent such suffering, then he's not all powerful, is he? If he does have the power, but is just choosing to show us a lesson, then he's cruel, isn't he?

You can use all the fluffy words and esoteric concepts until your heart's content, but nothing will change the hypocrisies or blissful disregard for logical fallacy among those who believe in God.

 

I can attest for a fact (or maybe "testify" is the better term.) that Rhester has helped a lot of people. Rhester is doing what he can to live out God's plan as he sees it.

 

As I said earlier in the thread this is handicapping God with his/hers/its own plan.

I'm going to say something that might blow some minds out there. If God is truly omnipotent and omniscient God is beyond our mere human perception of reality but perceives not just our own reality but every possible reality that arise. God further has the power to change how we perceive reality. In that sense our own perception of whether prayer works or not is dependent upon which reality we perceive. Our own perceptions might change but God's plan doesn't since God's plan isn't one single of chain of causality as we perceive it but every chain of causality.

 

I wouldn't say I have "vile" against faith - but faith is the equivalent of irrationality in many cases. From personal experiences, growing up in a very conservative Christian community, I have seen...

The way faith inhibits action: One example is a wonderful couple I know that has prayed for years for their son to stop computer addiction (video games for 16 hours a day for 8+ years now) rather than do anything about it. If they didn't believe in God and the power of prayer, it is far more likely that they would have taken action to stop the destructive habit.

The way "faith" leads to intolerance: People don't just have faith that there is something more out there, they often believe they know the truth and other people are going to hell for not accepting their truth. This leads to intolerance on a wide-range of levels, from not wanting their sons/daughters to marry somebody of another belief to hate crimes (gays, other religions, etc).

The way faith leads to close mindedness: I know so many people who roll their eyes anytime they hear any reference to anything existing or happening beyond 10,000 years. They are closed to any information that goes against what they believe. It's not a matter of discussion or listening to new evidence - it is simply close-mindedness through and through.

The way faith leads to a lack of critical thinking: When you can believe something 'just because you have faith', it limits your ability to think critically and rationally on a whole range of issues - from business decisions "just have faith, it'll all work out" to political decisions "we can't fix this famine, so let's just pray - it can't hurt!", to a hundred other areas.

For those that have faith in something more - that's fine. I completely understand. But once faith impedes on people's ability to live rationally in the here and now, there's a problem. For some it has very little negative consequences (perhaps for most), for others the consequences are huge. Either way, it's still a problem.

With that said - I don't mind it when people say they'll 'pray' for me or my family. But if there's something they could actually do for me that would aid the situation at hand, I'd certainly see that as more beneficial (though I don't expect help from others for any problems I might have).

 

My fiancee's uncle was dying and needed a blood transfusion to save him. Well, guess what? He was a Jehova's Witness; they can't do blood transfusions. Instead, they prayed.

He died.

 

Yeah, but believers don't care about that... because they have faith! You see, it's okay, because they have faith that he's either in heaven now or going to heaven soon (after the resurrection). God had other plans - so who cares if we could have saved him with a blood transfusion or not...