Does prayer achieve anything?

[marco]

People congregate after a disaster and pray. Life goes on. People pray for someone to get better or for success. And churches across the globe have been praying for peace for centuries. There is no evidence that prayer has ever done anything for anyone. As a boy we used to pray for "the conversion of Russia."

Some people just pray to praise and thank God for all he's apparently done.

Is the point of prayer:

To give some psychological benefit?

Just to acknowledge God's authority and keep him from hurting us?

To ask in the hope of receiving a reward? One can always try.

Can anyone think of any other reason why folk should pray?

[liamconnor]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

What controlled test could we possibly apply to show that petitionary prayer does or does not work?

I think it is intuitive no such test could possibly exist, and therefore all answers are simply faith assertions of both sides.

[Claire Evans]

People congregate after a disaster and pray. Life goes on. People pray for someone to get better or for success. And churches across the globe have been praying for peace for centuries. There is no evidence that prayer has ever done anything for anyone. As a boy we used to pray for "the conversion of Russia."

Some people just pray to praise and thank God for all he's apparently done.

Is the point of prayer:

To give some psychological benefit?

Just to acknowledge God's authority and keep him from hurting us?

To ask in the hope of receiving a reward? One can always try.

Can anyone think of any other reason why folk should pray?

It all depends on what people pray for. Apparently answering a prayer to them means God has to grant everything they wish.

Imagine if everyone got better. There would be no death. How could this world exist without death? To pray for success is wrong. Success can be detrimental to one's life. Success can go to one's head and a person can become greedy. Why should prayer always be about "me"? God can only answer prayers to those who completely abandon their lives to Him. Else why could they listen and appreciate any answer He gives them?

We cannot pray for peace. It is the devil's world and it is full of violence. People give him the power by sinning.

I think many people pray out of duty. Many just want benefits materially from Him. People may be scared of Him and think if they don't pray they will go to hell. Yes, and many pray hoping to get a reward in heaven.

So why should people really pray? To have a more intimate relationship with God to experience His love. And that means going through hard times. We can't know God without going through trials. Prayer is a way for us to ask God for guidance. When I pray to God for peace when I'm fretting, I get it. It's out of this world.

[Tcg]

Imagine if everyone got better. There would be no death. How could this world exist without death?

If they also prayed that the world would get a little bit bigger with each birth, there'd be no problem. That is if prayers were answered of course.

We cannot pray for peace.

Why not?

When I pray to God for peace when I'm fretting, I get it. It's out of this world.

I thought you said we can't pray for peace?

[Claire Evans]

Imagine if everyone got better. There would be no death. How could this world exist without death?

If they also prayed that the world would get a little bit bigger with each birth, there'd be no problem. That is if prayers were answered of course.

Come on. Don't you think if God could do all this there would be no imperfections in the world in the first place?

We cannot pray for peace.

Why not?

Because the world does not want it. I mean those who are in charge. And those who do evil empower the forces of hate.

When I pray to God for peace when I'm fretting, I get it. It's out of this world.

I thought you said we can't pray for peace?

Inner peace for myself. Not peace for the world. That can't happen.

[Tcg]

Come on. Don't you think if God could do all this there would be no imperfections in the world in the first place?

If god can't do this, there is no reason to call it god. Of course, in order to do this god would have to exist. A feat it has yet to accomplish.

Because the world does not want it. I mean those who are in charge. And those who do evil empower the forces of hate.

So your god is powerless. That adds up given its nonexistence.

Inner peace for myself. Not peace for the world. That can't happen.

I see. Your god cares about your high, but not the safety of others. That's quite a god. Is its name Claire Evans?

[Claire Evans]

Come on. Don't you think if God could do all this there would be no imperfections in the world in the first place?

If god can't do this, there is no reason to call it god. Of course, in order to do this god would have to exist. A feat it has yet to accomplish.

That's why I prefer to call Him the Father. God indicates omnipotence which He does not have.

Because the world does not want it. I mean those who are in charge. And those who do evil empower the forces of hate.

So your god is powerless. That adds up given its nonexistence.

He is all powerful in the lives of those who believe and love Him. And that power can spread to other areas. We can see instances where good outdoes evil. Yet in the grand scheme of things in this world, Satan dictates the outcome of the world. Yet he doesn't dictate his own fate because Jesus has conquered Him.

Inner peace for myself. Not peace for the world. That can't happen.

I see. Your god cares about your high, but not the safety of others. That's quite a god. Is its name Claire Evans?

What makes you think He doesn't care about the safety of the world? He grants inner peace to all those who want it. Do not mistake inner peace to being at peace all the time. There will always be trials but God will give us the peace to overcome it.

[Tcg]

Inner peace for myself. Not peace for the world. That can't happen.

I see. Your god cares about your high, but not the safety of others. That's quite a god. Is its name Claire Evans?

What makes you think He doesn't care about the safety of the world?

I have no reason to believe your imaginary Father thingy exists. I am basing my statement on your assertion about your imaginary Father thingy stating, "Not peace for the world."

He grants inner peace to all those who want it.

Sure, and you are one of the extra special lucky few who "want it". Most other fools are not smart enough to "want it". They obviously prefer inner turmoil.

Do not mistake inner peace to being at peace all the time. There will always be trials but God will give us the peace to overcome it.

God? I thought it was a Father thingy that cares about your personal high?

[marco]

So why should people really pray? To have a more intimate relationship with God to experience His love. And that means going through hard times. We can't know God without going through trials. Prayer is a way for us to ask God for guidance. When I pray to God for peace when I'm fretting, I get it. It's out of this world.

Perhaps God could supply some truths on the honour we pay to Mary and that would save a lot of repetition. Basically we pray not to receive anything but to discover,through suffering, that he's fond of us. I don't know what a "more intimate relationship" with God would be since an intimate relation is, I would think, denied to all but a few prophets.

So basically we pray just to remind ourselves there is a God, otherwise it could so easily slip our minds.

[H.sapiens]

Pray that an amputee will regrow the removed limb, when he or she does ... drop me a line, until then, I recommend that you not hold your breath.

[OnceConvinced]

Pray that an amputee will regrow the removed limb, when he or she does ... drop me a line, until then, I recommend that you not hold your breath.

You would think this would be a simple thing for a god to do considering he made an entire man out of dust, so why not make a new limb out of dust? And let's also consider that he made an entire woman out of a rib. Growing back limbs should be a cinch for a god. It should be an every day thing, like people being cured of cancer.