Prayer Wars
- Thread starter EvilPoet
- Start date
Disclaimers and sobriety
Of those who do understand the post, few will understand what it equals as regards the larger considerations.
Besides, it's too long for some, not aggressive enough for others, and it addresses prayer as a question, instead of just condemning prayer as a fantasy. As such, I estimate that 90-95% of my fellow Religion Forum posters simply don't get it, which is sad because that's one of the best six-minute posts I've ever written.
Oh, yeah, the post doesn't presume the Christian God. That, in itself, ought to be annoying to Christians and atheists alike.
So at least this time I disclaimed myself. 95% of the people who read it are likely to find it balderdash because they simply aren't smart enough to figure it out. Whether that's a permanent condition or a Sciforums-related malady is beyond my present knowledge. Either way, it makes me sad because there's just nobody to talk to in the world. But I'm not about to sit here and listen to them complain about the length of the post, the complexity of ideas, or even that silly insistence on one deity or another. I'll fully admit that the post just isn't helpful to the greater portion of people who will come across it.
And in the meantime, I shall hope for the travelers who spill water as they go--see! the five footprints of a camel ....
thanx,
Tiassa
Actually, Spookz, I'm merely dealing with the fact that 90-95% or so of my fellow posters are incapable of understanding that post, and it makes me sad.
Of those who do understand the post, few will understand what it equals as regards the larger considerations.
Besides, it's too long for some, not aggressive enough for others, and it addresses prayer as a question, instead of just condemning prayer as a fantasy. As such, I estimate that 90-95% of my fellow Religion Forum posters simply don't get it, which is sad because that's one of the best six-minute posts I've ever written.
Oh, yeah, the post doesn't presume the Christian God. That, in itself, ought to be annoying to Christians and atheists alike.
So at least this time I disclaimed myself. 95% of the people who read it are likely to find it balderdash because they simply aren't smart enough to figure it out. Whether that's a permanent condition or a Sciforums-related malady is beyond my present knowledge. Either way, it makes me sad because there's just nobody to talk to in the world. But I'm not about to sit here and listen to them complain about the length of the post, the complexity of ideas, or even that silly insistence on one deity or another. I'll fully admit that the post just isn't helpful to the greater portion of people who will come across it.
And in the meantime, I shall hope for the travelers who spill water as they go--see! the five footprints of a camel ....
thanx,
Tiassa
I just want to dispel a certain misconception in this forum. Prayer is NOT a supernatural powerful phenomenon. God is. Prayer has no power. God has.
Evilpoet - It seems to me that Larry Dossey believes more in prayer than in God. I doubt very much that he was a Christian himself. It also supposes that prayer can be separated from God or even from the person praying. It's very much a matter of mutual love and respect between God and man...
Proverbs 28:9
If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Matthew 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.
You can't 'invoke' God to do something for you or against someone. Just like you can't invoke love (I know Cupric will disagree). It can't be removed from the person.
Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
1 Samuel 1:13
Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.
God listens to what anybody says or asks. You don't have to be special, or adept or phrase it right or anything. But you have to believe:
Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Jesus showed his disciples how to pray... and Cupric, formulation has absolutely NOTHING to do with it:
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
And also - if you are not sure what is best you will ask God, who knows everything, to choose for you. That is something nature won't do. Spells can only give what you put in, they are totally dependent on your own strength and knowledge. If you look at the examples of people who prayed in the Bible, it was in humility and weakness, not out of strength. Authentic prayer is the submission of a person to God, not a battle or imposing of wills.
Lastly prayer is a way of asking God to pay particular attention to something, and to help others in this way:
Ephesians 6:19
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.
The is another form of prayer, called intercession, where Christians take the suffering or danger of another upon themselves. By mediating in this way, a person prays to God on another's behalf.
Evilpoet - It seems to me that Larry Dossey believes more in prayer than in God. I doubt very much that he was a Christian himself. It also supposes that prayer can be separated from God or even from the person praying. It's very much a matter of mutual love and respect between God and man...
Proverbs 28:9
If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Matthew 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.
You can't 'invoke' God to do something for you or against someone. Just like you can't invoke love (I know Cupric will disagree). It can't be removed from the person.
Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
1 Samuel 1:13
Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.
God listens to what anybody says or asks. You don't have to be special, or adept or phrase it right or anything. But you have to believe:
Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Jesus showed his disciples how to pray... and Cupric, formulation has absolutely NOTHING to do with it:
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
And also - if you are not sure what is best you will ask God, who knows everything, to choose for you. That is something nature won't do. Spells can only give what you put in, they are totally dependent on your own strength and knowledge. If you look at the examples of people who prayed in the Bible, it was in humility and weakness, not out of strength. Authentic prayer is the submission of a person to God, not a battle or imposing of wills.
Lastly prayer is a way of asking God to pay particular attention to something, and to help others in this way:
Ephesians 6:19
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.
The is another form of prayer, called intercession, where Christians take the suffering or danger of another upon themselves. By mediating in this way, a person prays to God on another's behalf.