I Don't Really Want To Ask People This IRL, So...

Peace.

A quote I like, although not sure of the source, is: "Do not ask God to guide your steps if you are not willing to move your feet." Those that offer prayer without any action or willingness to act if called on dilute the prayers they say they offer. You are correct in this sir, and it's a constructive criticism that all of us believers should strive to do better at. More pairs of hands (both believers and non-believers alike) that work together for a better world are needed everywhere.

very true, many r told if u just ask God 4 something it'll just fall in ur lap if u just "have faith" instead of work... this is absolute nonsense & just trains christian adults 2 act like very very lil kids...

that's why i like the song make it happen by mariah carey... it's about believing in urself 2 make things happen AND praying to the Lord... the 2 r needed... XD

Yeah. I agree. It’s lies. This is why I listen to Fr. Mike Schmidt

whos that? lol

A Speaker. He does mostly Catholic stuff though

ohh... im reformed baptist XD

Yes, gotta pray too though because you never know when that answered prayer just might be dropped in your lap as you say, it happens!

yup! that is very true! XD

Figures an Earth Pony wouldn't believe in magic. ;)

It’s definitely calming

Even though I don't pray I think it gives people hope that someone is helping them, even if no one is.

True. Whether or not any god exists, placebos definitely do.
It's like the example of the guy trapped in the mine. If he prays for God to save him, and he believes God is going to, then he'll be more calm, so he'll use up oxygen more slowly, so he'll have a greater chance of being rescued.

I believe in prayer and believe it to be an effective way to both do good and calm the soul. I've had many answered prayers, many that went unanswered at the time and realized later on that had I gotten what I thought I wanted it would have been way worse for me. While I think all prayer is effective, I prefer conversational prayer. When I pray I speak to God as though He were right there with me and we are just having a conversation. Jesus recommended prayer in quiet and private places, which I also think is a great way to pray. Those that blast their prayers out to the world tend to dilute the prayer by turning the attention to themselves.

First of all, thanks for your comment. If you don't want to answer any of these, don't feel obliged.

1: When you say it can calm the soul, does that mean the soul is the seat of thought and emotion? Is it distinct from the mind?

2: How do you know you've had prayers answered? Were you praying for something previously thought to be impossible, or at least very improbable, the kind of thing that couldn't have happened anyway?

3: When you say you speak to God "as though He were right there", that implies that He isn't. I know the concept of omnipresence is kind of vague, but surely He must be there in some sense if He can hear and respond to you. And if this isn't the case, how is prayer different from meditation?

4:How does it "dilute" a prayer if one prays publicly? The attention being turned to themselves is that of other people. Sure, these people aren't thinking of the prayer because they're preoccupied with the person, but if one prays privately, these people still wouldn't be thinking of the prayer. They would just be thinking of some third thing. Is God just less likely to answer publicly made prayers? And if so, why?

Sure thing, and I'm happy to answer. In order:

1. I'm not a philosopher so I dont know how I would really describe the difference between mind, soul, spirit, etc. Prayer is just calming period.

2. I believe I have witnessed answered prayers, due to very improbable odds and very convenient timing of the answer. Anything from looking for something for an hour, only to pray and find it seconds later in a place I'd already looked countless times. Being in dire need of someone, praying for them to reach out and have them call before i can even finish praying. Seeing someone with a health death sentence be miraculously cured against all doctors odds. Etc., it's a long list.

3. I'm wasnt saying He isnt right there, I'm saying I pray as though speaking to a friend sitting next to me in the car, conversational in nature and not formal at all. Make sense?

4. I see your points, definitely valid and good to think about. What I meant by that is Jesus' example of the pharisees, who stood before crowds and prayed long and elaborate prayers simply to show how religious they were. I do believe public prayer can be effective as it joins all those present together in a collective way that can be very powerful. It's the ones that put the prayer on display and take away from the actual issue at hand that I compare to the pharisees. As to Gods likelihood to answer prayers, I have no answer to that! They will be answered in His time, not ours which can be incredibly frustrating.

Cool, and I want to make it clear that when I said not to feel obliged to answer, I wasn't trying to imply that you wouldn't want to or that you didn't have any good answers, I just know that sometimes people have other stuff going on. Anyway:

1. Okay. I kind of suspected you were speaking figuratively, but I wanted to make sure. And I'm not a philosopher either, so. Yeah.

2. Dude, seriously?! I mean, terminal patients going into remission, I would expect that, given such a large sample size. Desperately needing someone and having them call at the exact right time, yeah, that does seem pretty convenient. But a thing suddenly being somewhere it wasn't, with (I assume) no apparent physical mechanism by which it could have gotten there is the kind of thing that, by rights, should make global news! I'm in a weird place right now because, on the one hand, I don't think you're lying, and it sounds like this has happened a few times, so it's probably not faulty memory. On the other hand, I can't quite believe that it has actually happened, either. It's certainly not your responsibility to prove the supernatural to my satisfaction, though. If these kinds of things do happen, I'm sure I'll find out somehow, someday.

3. I think I get it. So it's basically like a casual talk with a friend? Also, it's great to hear (or read) someone say what I've thought for years, which is: If God exists, there is no one to whom formality could possibly matter less. He's the almighty creator of the universe; you really think He cares if you're a little irreverent?

4. Ah, so it's about the sincerity of the person doing the praying. A sincere person could pray alone in their closet or on national television with the same effect. It just so happens that a person who's only praying because they want to be all sanctimonious is probably going to try to do so in front of as many people as possible. Have I got that right?

No I get it, but thanks for clarifying! Thanks for hearing me out, I also enjoy hearing other perspectives on things. So many relationships could be bridged if only more people would try to see things from others' viewpoints and attempt to understand where they are coming from.

2. Yep. People may think what they will, but I've seen it. I was in a prayer session once, praying for a woman I didn't even know who was in a coma and experiencing liver and kidney failure. 10 minutes after the prayer, our pastor got a phone call from her sister saying that 10 minutes earlier (the time at which we were actively praying) she had woken from her coma. The next morning we found out that after testing they had discovered that her liver and kidney functions were significantly better and appeared to be continuing to improve. The doctors had notified their family that everyone should try to come see her that night of the prayer as she may not make it through the night. We once held a worship service on a hilltop in the midst of a severe thunderstorm and never so much got but a few raindrops on us. I highly recommend against anyone doing that by the way, but after the service I checked the weather radar history and the whole storm system (about 2 miles wide) had basically gone right around us and continued on in a straight line. I have lots of things like that, and skeptics can usually find ways to explain them or propose theories on what could have happened, but after a while it became apparent to me that there is a definite connection. That's my belief anyway!

3. Yes, exactly. And yes I honestly believe that although God appreciates reverance He probably also appreciates someone just spending time with Him in a casual way. If we are made in His image, and consider that casual chatter amongst friends is much more enjoyable than speaking to one another with all the formalities of a royal coronation or courtroom like structure, I think God would see it the same. We are to respect God, but He also has a sense of humor and the best humor is irreverent in many ways! You can't tell me that God didn't pull a "hey yall watch this" when He made a platypus, lol.

4. Yes, sincerity is a good way to put it :)

I have to say, while there are other streams where I enjoy the actual memes more, this stream is proving to have the better comment threads.

2. Wow. Well, I believe you really experienced the things you're describing, but without experiencing them myself and knowing the full context, I can't really appreciate how miraculous they must've seemed. I guess you could say I can't help but be skeptical.

3. Makes sense. The phrase "made in His image" means different things to different people, but if I take it to mean that our personalities are generally modelled after God's, then I can see your point. Also, if the platypus was a "hey, y'all, watch this", then I propose that the giraffe was God playing around with the resize function and then accidentally hitting 'Generate Creature'. :P

Hey that's why I spend a lot of time in this stream, it's a different environment to actually have productive conversations, unlike the politics stream and others where potentially good debate/discussion topics resort so quickly to name calling and schoolyard insults. I'm glad you've found some enjoyment out of the stream too! Welcome.

So now that you compared the giraffe to resize functions and creature generators, I can't help but think the platypus is like the AI Meme Generator on Imgflip, lol! Sort of funny but makes no sense :)

I find the politics stream somewhat perversely entertaining, but yeah, no one follows the stream description there.

I've actually never tried the AI Meme Generator. Maybe I should give it a go!

I pray every day to my gods and it truly helps me to deal with the stress in life. And in taking time to thank the gods for all my blessings, I am able to see how fleeting and unimportant many worries are. I come away reminded how fortunate I am.

When I hear people poking fun at prayer, I often note these are folks who believe it is just asking for something; a kind of magic incantation carried out by the superstitious. Of course, most of these people have a very nihilistic view of life already, so I don't expect them to respect anything beyond their dark, pessimistic beliefs.

It saves me on a day to day basis lol
I used to have doubts but my experiences prove otherwise. It may not be the same for you, but it sure as heck helps me get through

Abramelin lol jk

well, it depends on what u mean by "works."

i definitely believe praying 2 God results in a closer relationship with Him and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. However, I also know that God doesn't always give His people what they want (sometimes what we want ≠ best for us too). He can, & will sometimes, but sometimes He doesn't. Many churches don't teach that & i believe it's very dangerous 2 set that mindset in2 ppl's minds, especially children trying 2 find their place in the world. God never said that He would b a self-pleasure-generating machine 2 anyone who believes in Him (though ppl'll misuse verses 2 basically imply this). And if u believe this, then if God doesn't fulfill what u are mistaught 2 b🍁 He promised, it now seems like He's breaking His promise 2 u, which now puts His perfect character in2 question. Normally when ppl get to this stage they just leave the faith. But God doesn't deliver on promises He didn't make. This can b tough to hear, but it's tru. On the brighter side, He does answer yes 2 prayers sometimes & that's when we are thankful to Him 4 it.

The other problem is something a rapper summed up in a song i really like when he said:
"...God is not a crutch, you can use Him when you wanna
You only look to heaven when you goin' through some drama
And when they goin' through some problems and that's the only time they call Him..."

This is quite accurate 4 some, & something I've noticed is that God doesn't tend 2 feed this kind of attitude b/c pp'll often not even credit Him 4 what happened (they may thank Him 4 1 day & then move on) & will ditch all thought of Him until their next life problem happens. This is just using God & is just the sort of nonsense up w/ which He will not put.

Also, there r things mentioned in the Bible that if they r not done (or in negative cases, they're not avoided), it says our prayers'll be hindered. For example, in 1 Peter it says if we don't treat our wives in a certain way (which not many ppl in the world do) our prayers will be hindered. If you want God to listen 2 your prayers, definitely make sure all those things are checked off...

And finally, remember, prayer = open communication w/ God. (this = why i said it depends on what u mean by "works"). U don't have to hide sins or embarrassments from God (He knows 'em all anyway). U can ask Him 2 help u overcome problems in life, deal w/ struggles, & many more things. 🙏requests r a natural part of that, but they rn't the full thing.

this is quite important.
(i hope i helped somebody :)