What is prayer really?

Think about it for a moment. Prayer. It is the moment of focusing your energy ( your thoughts, wishes, desires, needs whether for yourself or another).
Sure a lot of people don't see it like that. Most see it as a communication with Deity ( Dear God, Dear Jesus, Dear Goddess, Dear Shiva, etc). If you are religious I'm not going to tell you that praying ISN'T a form of communication or connection with your deity. I would just like to add to it.

I would like to touch base on the power of that focused energy. The power of prayer. No, you do not have to be Christian in order to pray and recieve any benefits or see any results. Nobody has the monopoly on personal energy ( regardless of what others may say). Praying can help relieve stress and bring a calmness to oneself. Well, I bet many of you already knew that. It's not like THAT's a news flash.

Did you know that prayer can PHYSICALLY affect things? No I am not talking about making the blind see, calling the autism out of someone ( my grandpa-in-law, bless his soul, meant well when he prayed over my daughter...) or making quadripeligics whole again. People tend to expect ALOT and fairly QUICKLY. Praying though ( channeling your focused energy with an precise intent) has been documented to have an impact ( and of course it has been documented to be hogwash too; of course there are always two sides to any coin).

For example there were examples done on bacteria. "Let's get some bacteria and divide them into two phials. Alrighty then. Now let's put them both in optimal growing environments.Check. Now we're gonna leave phial A alone to grow nicely by itself. Have fun fellas! Let's take Phial B over here and have some people pray over it to grow, grow, grow and thrive for so many minutes a day, so many times a week during the duration of this experiment."
The results were that the bacteria in phial B had almost doubled in growth.

Dr. Rubik is looking into the new view point in the medical world where energy healing is addressed, attempted to be scientifically proven, experimented with and still looked down upon as quackery in many circles. Here is what she said in a similar bacteria experiment.
You can check out more on Dr. Rubik at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~grassie/Student...ects/Rubik.html


Dr. Byrd did an experiment in prayer at San Francisco General Hospital CCU in the early '80's on prayer. There was a noticeable difference in recovery, deaths, and even over all wellbeing between the prayer group and the control group. You can check it out here : http://members.aol.com/garypos/Byrd_study.html

Still not convinced? How about that old adage "seeing is believing"? Check out this link to see the effects of prayer on water crystals. It's really interesting. https://www.hado.net/watercrystals/index.php

Prayer does not necessarily have to be a religious thing either. In fact I'm not even batting for it from that view point at all. And yes I am well aware of all the experiments that point to how questionable prayer can be ( that is why I think many people find it mysterious, religious, something questionable, uncomfortable or even a bunch of hooey).
I'm coming from this just from the point of view as describing prayer ( with or without religious intent) as focused energy. Focused energy has been proven to be a real thing, whether we are watching a martial arts master pound his head through four cinder blocks and survive without a scratch or we are watching a laser cut in the detailed facets to a diamond.
So why is it so hard for us to harness and utilize our own energy?

Any how it's something to look at, think on and maybe even try. After all it doesn't cost anything and doesn't need a manual to put your hand to.

Prayer, meditation, equalling your theatons. Whatever you call it, it's all the same. It's not really "healing power" or "boosting your spirit" or "improving your zen" it's simply making yourself feel better by psychologically believing you are.

The best way to put this into an example would be to think of someone with a compulsive disorder. For example, someone who has to have the objects in their desk in a certain way. If they're not in the correct order, the person will feel on edge, etc, but if they are in the right order, he will feel calm, relaxed, and sometimes safe.

When someone prays, meditates, etc, they calm themselves and relax, increasing the mind and bodies functionality. The person believes that they're making themselves feel better, and so the body does, im not sure of the science behind it, but your body begins to "work better" because you're not as stressed.

My opinion anyways

Let's re-look at the definition of prayer. You say there's no manual to teach someone how to pray, but how does one pray? To whom do they pray to? What does prayer involve?


(Though i quote Dagoth, i say this in connection with where i left off before the quote.) Prayer and meditation are two different things, where one takes the time to ask for things or be thankful, while the other is just to become relaxed and requires a clear mind. If one didn't believe there was someone on the other end that hears you, wouldn't they believe it to be silly to pray? For who else would you be talking to except yourself? People are labeled "crazy" when they talk to themselves. This is where meditation comes in.

So...
When you define what prayer is, you mix things up—this makes things confusing because of what you go on to say. You say that prayer is when a person starts focusing their energy (this implies spiritual energy), but you go on to include outside sources of energy (i.e. physical energy) (see your example of a laser and the link to water crystals). By using a laser and water crystals as an example, you remove anything personal from your definition of prayer [1], making a laser or water crystals, prayer.

The only reference you give that even gives a definition, though implied, for prayer is the Byrd study. The Rubik one only mentions the word "prayer" in the title, but it doesn't give a definition for it, and that's not enough to conclude that prayer is focused energy. Also, the title includes the word "love" though the article has nothing to do with love, so the word "prayer" could have been chosen for the same reason as the word "love."


The way you presented everything is contrary to the way you "would just like to" do something. So, indirectly, you are telling the "religious" that prayer isn't communication with a Deity.


You're using a loose term for "energy," which one do you want us to assume?

As i see it, you did not prove your definition of prayer. The Byrd article does nothing to convince because it adds opposing criticism. The Rubik article doesn't explain what they mean by "healed" and the experiments are questionable. The Byrd and Rubik article deals with human involvement along with your definition of prayer, so i'm not entirely sure where you're going with the water crystal thing, as they can form on their own.

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1.

Well, yes, they're done in different ways. But what i'm saying is, they both have the same "end result". One relaxs you by clearing your mind and becoming, well, relaxed (meditation) while the other one relaxes you by feeling all your badness/worries will be cleaned, and your good deeds rewarded (This may sound slightly offensive, but im trying to give a brief over-view of prayer in general).

That's just the point i was trying to get across

Mhmm; i saw that point, but having the same outcome doesn't make them the same thing. The logic you present is this: They have the same outcome, therefore they're the same. Is rubbing wood together the same as using wood, gasoline and a match? Is a hand-forged sword the same as a machine-made sword? But at the same time, in your own post you show differences between prayer and meditation.

Hellosies again!

I guess I came off kinda jarbled.

I'll try again

The power of prayer broken down ( as seen in my views):

Is not STRICTLY a religious thing ( at least from the angle I am coming from).



What I am talking about here is the focusing of one's energy via the title of prayer.

I am not DISCLUDING the power of prayer soley due to Jesus, Buddha, Mary , God or whomever. I'm just putting another angle on it to show a non- religious ( or even a non- mainstream) view point to it that is available to everyone.

Under this angle Jesus, Buddha, Mary, God ( whomever) would be a FOCAL point ( think some mental picturesque/tangible bridge) for you to use your own energy.

BTW while prayer and meditation may both bring a sense of calm I am not saying they are the same thing. With prayer one usually has a point of focus ( LOOSE example: Dear God, Sally is sick real bad can you please look after her?) while with meditation one is slowing themselves down so that one CAN focus ( possibly with a mantra such as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, pronounced as Nahm mee -oh ho reng kay kee-oh though can be drawned out as Nahmmm mee -oh hoooo reng kay kee- ohhhh , a much used by Buddhist sutra-).

In my examples used in my first post I was not trying to insinuate that one prays TO the bacteria, water,patient, etc. I guess I came across a bit off. I meant FOR. NOT TO. This means one is not praying TO anything or anyone to do anything. Instead this means praying ( or focusing energy via as examples lightening a candle for strength, praying to God, Jesus, etc, or sending personal energy with a precise goal) to help facilitate FOR said thing or person.
I used the water, bacteria,patient, etc. examples as a plausible, physical, visual, focal point. Our society these days depends so much on the whole "seeing is believing" bit ( and due to the technology of say photoshop- as an example-, even THAT is suspect to every detailed eye). I thought I would try to give some "tangible" examples to explain. Not to confuse. I do apologize for any miscommunication.

So what does this mean for God,Jesus,Mary,Buddha, etc.? Not a whole lot really. If praying TO helps you focus in your intent for a FOR then by no means don't stop. By no means am I saying that you are you wrong. I'm not saying that a said deity is NOT involved.I'm just saying that there is more involved in the power of prayer than the intervention ( or the expectation) of deity ( no matter it's origins or perceptions by individuals). That "more" factor is the individual him/herself. It starts with the person first before it can be carried out by the self or anyone/anything else.

even i too have great hopes in prayer. i have always heard it comes true and it has for me.. what about you all. dont know how is this magic happen now and then but still it haapens somethimes.