I go with “…in my thoughts…” and sometimes when pressed or if in an awkward situation, I just go along with it. I just don’t need the arguments.
If “Keep me in your prayers” or some such is due to a seriously horrible situation, I’ll give an affirmative just to be compassionate.
If the request seems frivolous (as in, “Going in to talk to the boss about a raise…”) I’ll sometimes out with a, “Your god will do as he sees fit with you. He doesn’t take orders from me.”
Oooh, I like that!
Does this mean I’m going to hell?
I’ve only seen people ask “pray for me” on the Internet. I usually don’t say anything in those threads; when I do, I say thinks like “I’m sorry.” Saying I’ll pray or giving the impression that’s what I’m going to would be dishonest.
How do I respond to requests to “pray for me”?
With a good deal more grace than upon being informed that someone is “praying for me”. 
Well, first you have to get past the semantics.
I believe prayer is much less mystical and entirely non-exclusive in its true essence. Instead of relating to it as some religous protocol, I believe it is virtually impossible not to pray. I believe thoughts in themselves are prayers with or without invocation or intention. It’s all the same Geiststoff and is equally weighed in the cosmological scheme regardless of belief. Why get hung up in the divisiveness of terminology? Your projected well wishes, hope, and Love (thunk or unthunk, concentrated or natural) are all that’s really needed.
I’ve seen some posters say that, if pressed, they will admit that they are atheist. How often does this happen, that others try to press you into prayer? I’m genuinely interested.
Except that I have no idea HOW to pray. How the heck does one pray, anyway?
No, I’m not being faceitous. I really don’t know.
Anyway, I’d also do the “thinking of you/good wishes” thing. On the rare occasions that someone has asked me directly to pray for something, I just respond “I don’t pray.” That seems to work fine.
And for the record, I’m not an atheist. I’m a pagan deist Jew.
Well, in the specific case of the "pray for me"thing, not that often but more broadly speaking occasions do arise where I get invited into group prayers or asked to bow my head for grace while having dinner at someone’s house. Things like that. My usual policy is just to keep quiet and hope nobody notices but it’s happened maybe a half a dozen times that people have pressed me until I had to tell them I don’t pray.
Weddings and funerals are other occasions where requests for prayer tend to come up.
Weird. I’ve never believed in any god, but I’ve always said “Of course, I’ll pray to Jesus for you,” even when Jesus wasn’t mentioned, or “God Bless You Too” – I mean, who cares? I’m no missionary. Unless, of course, atheism were a belief statements about which would belong to the same language game as theism – in which case, one would obligated to correct the misspoken “Jesus” with a “~Jesus.”
Eh, I’m with mittu. It’s no sweat off my back. I just go ahead and pray for them.
Of course they probably don’t realize I’m praying to the Great Pink Unicorn in the sky. But hey…
What are you trying to pull you heathen?
Everyone knows the Great Unicorn is chartreuse.
I’m an agnostic/atheist (I vascillate between the two) I generally will smile and tell the person that I will send good thoughts their way. This is enough to satisfy them. If someone says they will pray for me, well it depends on the context. If it’s a statement made in kindness I just thank them.
If it’s a “I’ll pray for your soul you satanic dyke heathen” well, then it gets ugly and they get a very colorful invitation to join me in the firey depths of their god’s hell .
I agree with Misnomer. Come to think of it, I agree with **Misnomer ** about a lot of stuff. Misnomer, are you me? :dubious:
Agreed! I hate being prayed for…I know someone is going to scold me for this, but it just irks me.
None of my family is Christian! So saying “I’ll pray to Jesus” would be just a bit weird. 
I can see their reaction…“Huh?”
Well, I don’t think that I’m you, but I’ve been wrong before… :eek:
I just tell them “I’ll light a candle for you.” (I grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood. It seemed like everyone was lighting a candle for something or someone.) Lighting a candle keeps them in your thoughts, and makes the house smell better.
Holy war! Holy war!
::vibrotronica kills them all and lets the Unicorn sort it out.::
(I usually just say “I’m thinking about you.”)
*My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:
Words without thoughts never to heaven go. *
(Claudius, from Hamlet, Act III, Sc. iii)
Just personally,
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I would not ask someone’s prayers for me unless I knew they were a religious person, of whatever sect.
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If I did not know, I would just ask that they keep me in their thoughts, it would be up to them how they did so.
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If I knew they were atheists, I would ask only the same as #2.
I would not do ANY of this unless we had a fairly good personal relationship. I consider it kind of presumptuous to just ask someone to pray for me without knowing their beliefs.
Please do note, that I do not say “Christian” anywhere above, just “religious,” referring to a belief in God or another deity. (I’ll take anything I can get and I don’t judge)
Agreed. Or (on this board) “Sending supporting thoughts your way.”
And *as *an agnostic, I have requested prayers, good thoughts, spells or whatever you believe in for me and my family several times.