C.S. Lewis characterized prayer nicely: "I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God; it changes me."
God knows everything (if he didn't, he wouldn't be God), so prayer isn't going to somehow give God new information, and change his mind. God's character and purposes are unchanging, so if something changes when I pray, it's me, not him. God gives us free will... with that free will comes responsibility for our own actions. You can't blame God for the consequences of things you do. But you can come to him with your needs, and he will act.

 

 

 

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When you pray its telling Jesus that you give thanks for what he has done. Its the least we can do back to him for what he has done for us.

Jesus had taken all the sins and put it upon himself to be crucified. So the least we could do back is to pray for what he has done for us and everyone else. At least we could give him thanks. At least we could give him appreciation for what he had gone through. Which is a lot.

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dizilluziondmasokist, not all people pray for things to happen. Many prayers are for strength, understanding, and courage to do things for ourselves. Prayer differs from spellcraft in that they are meant to be reaffirmations of faith... to speak and feel yourself be heard. If you don't talk to a friend in a long while, chances are you'll drift apart and stop talking at all. Its a way to align yourself with what you consider divine and keep the sacred from being buried by the mundane daily trials of the material.

As for scientific evidence of god's existence... you won't find it if you aren't looking. Empirical science is based on the physical senses, and on the belief that all things can be observed through them and (in time) comprehended. If you are looking for evidence of something that presupposes all known things (including the physical realm science is bound within) and is by definition beyond human comprehension, then emperical science is the wrong route to take. The concept of god is a philosophical truth -- or untruth. To accept the concept of god shows a belief that life, matter, time... in short the world and everything in it.. exist for a reason, and that the will behind that reason is still somehow alive and in effect. To reject the concept of god is to reject the idea of worthy reasons beyond our own (either as individuals or as a collective); without it this is all entirely pointless and/or accidental, and we have to make the point ourselves. Belief in god is a philosophical choice, and belief will outline what you percieve. How you choose to define that belief, or what name and face (if any) you choose to give to god, are other matters entirely.

Science is not necessarily contrary to faith; it is the study of the "hows" of a "why" we already have. There is no anser to the "why's" in science, only more explanations of more machinations... and machinations are systems, not reasons.

**grinz** i'm finally out of things to say.. so i'm gonna stop now

 

 

 

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Praying to anything ( a thing in which you belive from your heart ) .. not necessarily GOD, Any person or any abstract thing in which you have faith is going to make you feel better...

When I say pray, here I mean, seeking help. when ur in your examination hall ... all alone in between hundreds of other students, where you know, no one is going to help you out, you need someone ( or something ) on whom ( on which ) you belive so much that just by bringing a thought of it is going to make you feel better.. which is going to assure you that everything's gonna be fine.

That Faith or abstract feeling on which you depend to consolidate yourself is God. ( this is purely what I feel ). Usually, The prayers ( phrases which are usually repeated and not the big ones ) are things which help you to have a firm will power and better concentration.

I got a friend, he openly abuses god .. most of the times ( on phone, on chat .. ) just like the way one abuses an enemy or evil .. Well, all I can see is that he is fit n fine and he rides his bike as if he is playing road rash... and if there was such a thing, he should had been propably died in an accident or so.. which fortunately hasen't happened yet. If God was there, he would had probably screwed him for saying all those sorts of things .. especially for making it a habit. No doubt.. this guy is an *BLEEP*.. but WTF, I sometimes feel that there should had been a harder rule or something. You do something wrong and you pay 4 it!

So, I guess, it is only an abstract feeling which helps you get good things like trust, will power, concentration ... Even though being astract, it is one of the best friends, one can have. So dont lose trust! and have faith!

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yeah i can see where you are coming from, but God doesn't do stuff like that. We're going back to the basic principles of christianity here, 1. God Loves us, 2. God is Just.

Because he is just he will punish us for our sins.
Because he is loving he wants to give us another chance.

He ain't just gunna smote us with a lightning bolt or anythin.
I mean, justice comes eventually, look how it is with the courts and stuff
and everyone has their given time and place.

i hope this has helped in some way

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I believe in God, but I am not a very strong christian. Prayer is not just for asking for things. This is a common misconception of prayer. In fact, prayer shouldn't really be for asking for things. Prayer is used to interact with God, to ask Him for help, to thank Him for what He has done for us, and for repentance.

But, I also realize that people should not be forced to pray if they don't want to. God gave every human born the choice to choose what they want to do with their
lives. You don't have to believe in God. God will not force you to believe in Him. He
never has and never will. If the person truly believes in God, prayer will come naturally. Forced prayer is useless, vain and repetitive. If the prayer has no meaning, it has no value, and does not come from the heart.

But that's just my 2 cents. I won't force anything down anyone's throat.

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prayer can be good, but not if you just worship God or something. Prayer could be like meditation.

anyway, listen to this archive from WFMU:

http://wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=4179

it's a .ram. its an old show with Bob Lassiter making fun of prayer. It's pretty funny.

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A floundering want for someone ot hear you out when no one else will. Sounds like a good reason though why don't any of you actually turn to your good friends at times of need?

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OMG! I totally agree with you spawn_syxx9!!

I don't see the point in prayer. I mean, if anyone's gonna fix my life, it's me. I don't have to rely on anyone to do it for me.

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Spawn, this is an unsupported assumption.
Speaking for myself, I do turn to my friends when I need someone to talk to... but my friends aren't perfect, and a lot of times when I need them to counsel me or encourage me, they have their own problems to deal with, or they give me bad advice, or they aren't around, or they can't be bothered. Since God doesn't have any of these shortcomings, I can turn to him when my own strength has run out, and when my friends aren't enough.
We are encouraged in the Bible to pray at every opportunity. Since God has the role of father for his children, it wouldn't make sense to only talk to him when we need something.

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