I try not to do gotchas or rhetorical questions. If I had wanted to start a thread criticizing the practice of prayer as pointless, stupid, ignorant, or something else insulting, I would have started a thread entitled “Prayer is pointless, stupid, ignorant, or something else insulting.”
The thread title exactly captures what I’m looking for. I’m just looking for what goes through the heads of those who pray as they do so.
What goes through my head? Time and thought; especially thought about those around me more than thoughts of myself and what I may want. Consider it a sort of release valve where I think about the universe in general and not just a single instant in time. Often I start with prepared forms (such as scripture) and end in that fashion but most of my prayers are more what you (possibly) would describe as meditation.
Personally, even though I no longer believe in God as a seperate all powerful being, I find prayer can help me focus my thoughts about what’s going on inside me. If there’s a issue between me and another person of just somethnig personal that’s bothering me, I find prayer can help me see things more clearly and be open to possible solutions and/or keep on the right track. I suppose it serves as a form of meditation but because of my background it takes the form of a little quiet time and some casual conversation between myself and whatever something more may or may not be there. It still works for me so I’ve no reason to stop.
First, I believe prayers are answered. It might be a “no”, but answered. Second, I often find that I already know what to do and what to consider, but until I admited it and reached out to God, I diod not understand it. Third, it does eliminate a great many of the day-to-day cruft which fills the mind and spirit.
Prayer is direct communication with our loving true family. Sometimes it’s one way, such as a one way radio, text message or email - going from us to them, or sometimes them to us, sometimes it is 2 way radio, telephone, or IM.
It’s the same reason you may want to call your parents, let them know that you love them, tell them what’s on your mind, ask for advice, suggestions, and what you would like etc. Let them tell you that they love you, etc.
But instead of calling on your human family, you are calling on the family that God adopted you into, with parents with abilities to create worlds and create and bring forth life, and your brother who has been given everything in the universe and has shared that position with you.
Many requests that I have made to God have been granted.
A daily time of prayer strengthens my relationship with God and my identity as a Christian.
Prayer reminds me that my purpose in life is to serve other people, rather than to serve myself.
A daily time of prayer serves as a ritual to stabilize my schedule, allow stress and anger to dissipate, and is generally excellent for mental health.
It is the fact that prayer does play a role in my life as a viable process, more than anything else I think, that causes me to choose to identify as theistic. (I could deliberately use other words, declining to say “God” and so forth; my theology is sufficient far from mainstream that many atheists on this board have said I play Humpty Dumpty with the words “God” and “religion” and act like words mean whatever I decide that they mean…).
I get clarity, understanding, answers to heartfelt questions about what I should do or what my attitudes ought to be, when I’m in some personally challenging situation. Prayer is for that, to me.
I don’t pray ritualistically or all that often. It’s a very intense process when I do; if I did it regularly I’d be worn out!
Before I pray, I become aware again that every aspect of me is already fully in God’s understanding. I am not praying to inform Him of anything, even my wants and desires. He already knows them. But, in realizing this anew, each time, I become more aware of the character of my own acts, and thoughts with respect to the nature that God has given me the ability to create, or express. (by that I mean what I could be, could have done, could be praying about) This is generally the least enjoyable aspect of prayer for me.
Then comes the contrition aspect of prayer, where I once again plan on sinning less, doing good more, and being a more faithful servant. This is followed almost immediately by mental hand wringing, weeping and wailing and other unseemly things as I recall just how often He has had to listen to that crap.
And then, on a good day, I remember the Lord, my Savior as he made himself known to me, and I am filled again with joy and love that comes without my entreaty, nor because of me at all. (This is the best part.)
And after that, I just think about my life, both past and present, and the lives of those here on the earth I love, and because I am so aware of Him at that time, I think about those I do not love, as He has bidden me. And this part always leaves me imagining Him chuckling. A wonderful expression of His love with perfect knowledge of me. Yeah, Lord, I understand, but this time it’s really gonna be different. OK, not very different, but some.
Tris
My view on prayer is: If God is a supreme being, knows all things(even before they happen), then prayer would be a lack of faith in this being. If one trusts that an all knowing father will give one what is necessary and hold back anything that is harmful, (or not for the peron’s benefit), then prayer would be like a child begging it’s father for food when it’s stomach is already filled, or ask for something the father knows would bring harm to the child.
It can be like a mantra,relaxing the person until what is going to happen, happens anyway. Prayer itself in my opinion, is unnecessary if there is a supreme being who looks after us. If it helps the person who prays ,then that is for themselves, it makes them feel good and does no harm! If what they get what they pray for they say God answered my prayers, If they don’t, they say,God said No. Same result if they didn’t pray and just trusted in the God they believe in.
Even if you don’t believe in God and therefore prayer is not a (rather onesided) conversation with God, then at the very least, prayer is still a time of self reflection.
I bet tehre is some value to spending some time doing that.
This again? Here’smy answer, it hasn’t changed since last time.
Perhaps you should pray for patience.
I have derived much from the honest responses proffered by theists in this thread. I see that they pray for the same beneficient fate and solaces that I wish for as an atheist. I also see that they don’t actually expect that the Good Lord will grant them what they ask for in a blaze of glory. They seek the soundness of mind that will allow them to achieve what they desire by their own effort.
Prayer is not a plea for help from above, it is a short break from your worries so that you can have a dialogue with your stronger self. We athiests do that all the time, but we suck at it. We don’t consider our stronger selves to be the influence of God Almighty.
Well, so far this thread falls one participant short of a dialog.
Tris
Well then, it’s just like prayer!
I think the restraint shown by the board’s atheists regarding this board is admirable. I find it almost astonishing that this thread remains (remained?) shit-free, and hope it continues.
There is nothing to be gained by turning this into a ‘dialogue’; we already know what people who don’t pray get out of prayer, and pounding on it wouldn’t help.
Thank you.
sigh
Nevermind.
Izzat aimed at me?
In general, I believe that God does not need my prayers. He is perfectly capable of running the world and doing what He needs to do without them. Nonetheless, Jewish law requires prayer and I believe that (at least for me) the prayer is a tool for my own self-improvement.
Verbs, in Hebrew, can belong to one of seven binyanim (“constructs”). Of these seven, three are active (“I kissed someone”) and three are passive (“Someone kissed me”). The seventh, hispael, is reflexive. The word “to pray” hispallel, is in this reflexive binyan. It’s something I do to myself. Not to say that I actually pray to myself, of course, but it is an activity in which I both give and receive.
Prayer gives me the ability to contemplate and thank God for all the good that I have in life. It helps me to focus on things that I need to do to improve myself and make the world around me just a little bit better. And it helps me to recognize that He exists and that we, as Jews, perform His commandments.
That’s how it works for me. YMMV.
Zev Steinhardt
That’s pretty funny.
I’m an atheist too, you know. And to pretend that we as a class don’t love to jump on theists on this board is silly. After all, where else can we do it?
I’m just glad it isn’t happening in this thread - glad enough to restrain my own inclinations toward doing so.