I don't understand - why do people pray for someone? (such as for someone who is encountering health trouble)? If God wants that person dead, they'll die, right? Do you think your prayer is going to change God's mind? If you pray that it's God's will that that person lives, well... God already knows what his will is going to be, and your prayer isn't going to change that, is it? Do you think it helps to have more people pray for a person? Why? Most people believe that "everything happens for a reason"... well, isn't your prayer useless since there's a reason that the person is struggling? When so many people die, doesn't it seem fruitless to pray for people? When you pray for someone's family, what exactly are you praying? Are you praying that they can cope with the problem? If so, won't they cope (or not cope) regardless of whether you prayed for them? Do you honestly believe that prayer can save?
offering someone comfort and support when they are in need is such a pointless waste of time. have a nice day .
Whether it actually works or not is less the point as it is providing a symbolic and psychological gesture of support and sympathy for someone.
free will and intervention God respects both free choice and compassionate intervention If a father was drinking himself into the ruin of his marriage, children and job and the wife was asking God to intervene- God will have respect to both the free choice of the father and the prayer of the wife and do the right thing. when you frame prayer by answers and situations only you over simplify a complex issue- prayer is not a substitute for men making right choices, but it can be a merciful intervention- God balances that out in very wise ways
I must spread some rep before I can rep you, and I am not even a religious person, but this is a nice post.
I'm not religious and I do so because it's out of tradition. There's always a spiritual and comforting value in certain things we do. Why do fathers kiss their kids on check? Why do we shake hands? Why do we say "good morning"? etc...
I refuse to say "I'll pray for [you/them/him/etc]," because I won't. Sorry. I don't pray. I'll say something like "I hope [you/them/him/etc] get better!" or whatever, because I do hope that. I'm not going to lie, symbolic or not.
I can understand praying for someone. What I don't get is the many people who pray for things. I cringe when I hear something like: "I just really needed a vacation and I prayed about it and God delivered me the Hilton weekend special which made it affordable. Praise his Holy Light!"
I don't understand - why do people post threads about how prayer is useless when someone just posted a thread asking for prayer for his newborn niece and her family?
You know what thing I don't like? Asking for prayers. It's just asking for a tip, IMO. If there's a tragedy or something major that you'd like people to pray for, you should be able to mention the tragedy and people should pray for a good outcome without being asked to do so. It defeats the purpose if you ask for it, just like asking for a tip makes it no longer a tip, but more like a service fee. I don't expect people to agree with me, though, and I'd never post this view anywhere near a thread where someone is asking for prayers; I just posted it here because droxford opened the box.
1. Who really knows? 2. Who really knows? 3. Can't hurt, really, but who knows. 4. Presumptive. For the faithful, I suspect it would fall along the lines of "The Lord works in mysterious ways." 5. Not really... but it might be. Again, can't hurt, really. 6. Perhaps whether it is true or not, a family that is having difficulty coping might find strength and peace knowing others care for them and are praying, especially or specifically if they are faithful. 7. Who knows, but again I don't think it can hurt.
This just in, your god won't do 'the right thing' unless you specifically pray to him to intervene. Oh, never mind, it is more complicated than that. Answered prayers are like dolphins saving people but with worse results. 99.99999999999999999% of the prayers see not 'answered', but those that are 'answered' are shouted out to the rooftops.
What is wrong with asking for folks to pray for you? Is it wrong to ask someone to help you move a heavy object? Why is it wrong to ask folks to help remove a heavy burden via prayer?
Not wanting to shed too much cosmic debris around, but it doesn't take much to offer "to keep someone in my thoughts" and send positive energy their way. For some, that could be prayer, for me, it is positive energy, for others, it could be the same thing.
Free will/intervention, as was said before. I'm agnostic, so it's more of a 'generating good will to the collective consciousness' type of thing versus praying to an actual deity.
