O God, ease our suffering in this, our moment of great dispair. Yea, admit these kind and decent posters into thy arms of thine heavenly area, up there. And Moab, he lay us upon the band of the Canaanites, and yea, though the Hindus speak of karma, I implore you: give them....give them a break.
In all seriousness, and getting back on topic, I have never understood the concept of praying for someone. ...and I spend 9 years in private Lutheran school.... and I'm currently a non-denominational Christian... and I've been regularly attending Catholic church for over 14 years...
I personally don't believe in any god and neither do I pray, but I was taught in medical school, that prayer has some positive benefits as evidenced by some recent studies. The professor who told us that used was an atheist and used to constantly make fun of religion himself. I still don't believe in it though.
I'm praying for more drox interpretations of bible passages. do any of you theologists have specific requests? Sunday school with Droxford. Lord Have Mercy! Halleluhia.
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I've asked for help, sure, but only when they can directly help. Prayers are not help, IMO. If a friend of mine had cancer, I'd ask a doctor for help in curing the disease, sure, because that's useful and actually helps. I wouldn't ask people to pray for my friend because I don't think it helps or matters. I suppose that's the fundamental difference between how you and I view this. Yeah, it's nice that people want a good outcome, but specifically saying they're praying for me (or whoever) doesn't make it any more impactful for me. Just a "hope you get better!" is enough, and I would never ask for such a thing; it's up to them whether they hope I get better and if they do hope so without being asked to hope so, I find it to be more meaningful. It seems like we just have differing views on what prayer is/does and that's fine.
I'm still trying to understand the perspective of those who pray for someone. I don't feel like this thread is making any progress in that.