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Do you pray?


Do you pray -   

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Stepping away from the political side of the politics and religion forum, I wanted to start a discussion on prayer.

This article below prompted the idea to talk about prayer.  So I'll start with a simple poll - Do you pray - or do you not pray.

You can elaborate on how often you pray, why you don't pray or why you do pray below.

 

This article talks about many of the benefits of prayer and think it is a good starting point.

 

Me - yes I pray daily.  Sometimes quick bullet prayers as things occur during the day (The pray without ceasing recommendation by apostle Paul).  If I didn't pray I might be cussing at the issue and that gets me no where.  Sometimes my prayers our more formal with family or friends or Bible study group. 

 

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/04/what-prayer-is-good-for-and-the-evidence-for-it/

Beginning:
 

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For most believers, it isn’t a substitute for data-based solutions. It is a personal resource that complements other thoughtful action.

Whenever there is a national tragedy such as a mass shooting or natural disaster, two phenomena can reliably be observed. First, people offer or ask for prayers. Second, others respond by criticizing, even mocking prayer. They argue that we need to turn to science, not faith, to solve problems. Atheist public intellectuals often make a similar case against prayer: that because evidence that it is effective is lacking, it is a waste of precious time and energy. It appears many critics don’t realize that empirical evidence reveals that prayer can be quite helpful.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, over half of American adults pray daily, and less than a quarter seldom or never pray. Prayer is not exclusive to the religiously affiliated. Pew finds that 20 percent of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated pray daily and that another 18 percent pray weekly or monthly. And despite people’s tendency to frame debates about the value of religious beliefs and practices in political terms, daily prayer is a bipartisan activity; 42 percent of people who pray daily are Republican and 40 percent are Democrat. People all over the world from different cultures, faiths, and backgrounds regularly pray.  Clearly, many people find prayer to be a worthwhile spiritual activity. Those who want to dismiss this should at least consider the tested psychological and social benefits of prayer as well as the reality of how most believers turn to faith-based practices in addition to, not instead of, other courses of action.

 

Ending Paragraph with a lot of research studies in between:

Quote

Tackling the many pressing social and personal problems Americans face requires action guided by focused deliberation and empirical evidence, and most of our nation’s problems are complex. People might disagree on what the evidence shows about any given issue and how best to respond, but few reject the idea that evidence is important. For most believers, prayer isn’t a substitute for data-based solutions. It is a personal resource that complements and may even help facilitate other thoughtful action. A friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer summed it up perfectly when she said, “I have complete faith that through God, the doctors, and prayer, I will be 100 percent healed.” Sounds to me like someone who is energized, not distracted, by faith to act upon science-based treatment.

 

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Prayer is essential to getting things done. I would say any worthwhile accomplishment is achieved in part through prayer whether that is concious or not. I truly believe all great discoveries come from a direct line of communication between God and man. If you ask, God reveals what you ask for in time every time. 

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I think it's good that praying seems to give so many people comfort.  I get nothing from it.  Perhaps that stems from the memorizing and recitation I had to do as a child catholic.  (Rosary anyone?)

 

I do feel strongly in karma and "everything for a reason, just don't always know at the time what that reason is".  I'm not sure how people pray to a god who supposedly is all knowing and involved and yet allows horrific things to happen. 

 

Count me in as a gal who takes a deep breath and says to SELF "you got this", or "what can I do to help".  If that is holding someone's hand and letting them know I'm there for them I'm happy to do it, but you will never get a "you have my prayers" from me. 

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I prayed when I was a Christian,  but now I don't unless I'm eating with believers who pray before meals. Everyone I know knows where I stand on religion, but when they pray I fold my hands and bow my head respectfully, and if it's the Common Table Prayer I say it with them. I don't have to believe what my friends and family believe to be respectful of them, and respecting the people I love costs me nothing.

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I would be lying if I said I pray daily. I need to start making prayer a priority every morning. I feel like prayer in the morning helps me focus on what is ahead of me, and focus on what God wants me to do. I think we all can admit that we seem to go to God for help as a last resort, and try our hardest to get through situations on our own. The good thing is that God is always there to listen and help us when we are ready to come to him.

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Every day, several times per day.  I don't  make a big show of it.  I generally pray silently while I'm doing something else, like walking to work or to the post office.  

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I do. For me it's generally at the end of the day, though I kind of like the idea of doing it at the beginning of the day as well.

 

I've never run into the issue of feeling like I'm not getting anything out of it, but I also wasn't raised Catholic. The Presbyterian Church doesn't really have anything similar to the Rosary, other than the Lord's Prayer, the Apostle's Creed and a Doxology after our offertory. 

 

Prayer is an incredibly peaceful experience for me, even when I'm doing it because life isn't going well (with is probably far often when I feel the urge to prayer). It's calming and a chance for reflection. For me it's similar to meditation for other folks.

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I'd have to be religious to pray, but I do reflect on life daily. It's not a set schedule like you might see with prayer. I do look at where I am, where I want to be, what is good, what is bad, and what can be done to make life for me and those around me better.

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I don't. If there's a god that's omniscient and omnipotent that created everything (including me), then that being will choose to help me or not given some set of criteria and reasoning that certainly isn't affected by my input. Said another way: any God that needs my prayers to help me, isn't God.

 

However, I do like to take some time to let my mind relax and be calm. If others do that through prayer, good for them. And as @knapplc said, it costs me nothing to be respectful of other people who do pray.

Edited by RedDenver
typo
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Many people find inner peace and strength through prayer . The feeling that God is on your side, helping you, and the feeling of turning your troubles over to a higher power can be a very powerful things . 

I don’t pray any more but my family all does, so I’ve seen that first hand . 

Edited by Big Red 40
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I'm not sure what effect it has, but I pray. Maybe it just helps me cope better. Either the act itself or God helping.


That said, toddlers die of cancer, and not because someone didn't pray hard enough.

 

 

People have every reason to mock the call for thoughts and prayers in some cases. That doesn't necessarily mean they think prayer is worthless, but that there is an obvious action to be taken that isn't being taken. There's especially a reason to mock when the thoughts and prayers are coming from people with the power to take that action. Or from people who are amoral.

Edited by Moiraine
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6 hours ago, Nebfanatic said:

If you ask, God reveals what you ask for in time every time. 

 

The possible answers to prayer are yes, no, and maybe. That's....all the possible answers to any question.

 

You can pray to a milk jug and it will give the same spectrum of answers if you're looking for them.

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10 hours ago, Landlord said:

 

The possible answers to prayer are yes, no, and maybe. That's....all the possible answers to any question.

 

You can pray to a milk jug and it will give the same spectrum of answers if you're looking for them.

Thats your opinion on that matter, but I personally have experimented with prayer and found very intriuging results that a milk jug could not produce. Also the spectrum of answers is far far far beyond that. If you are asking 'in which direction should I go, Lord?' That is not a yes or no question. 

Edited by Nebfanatic
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Yes I pray.  

 

As a Catholic, I don't get anything out of prayers like the Rosary.  It just doesn't do anything for me.  Now, I'm very happy that other do get something out of it....but, maybe it's because I didn't  grow up Catholic.

 

My prayers are more meditation like.  I firmly believe there is a higher power working within us and nature.  I believe and feel that presence sometimes when I am alone and internalize my thoughts and ask for guidance.  I feel it when I block out the Earthly world and concentrate on my thoughts and communicating with God.  I feel much more at peace when I am done.

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