I saw this ad on a Christian site the other day and laughed:
Is it really surprising there is a market for this kind of book, since unanswered prayers are the only kind that exist?
I feel sad for people who are stuck thinking their prayers are unanswered because their technique is bad or because they don’t know “God’s secrets” to prayer.
By the way, since I’ve stopped praying, I’ve noticed I still get the things I want… about 50% of the time. Same as before. And think of all the time I’ve saved!
It does seem a bit fishy that asking your best buddy Jesus for a favour would be such an elaborate procedure doesn’t it? I mean, if I need something from my spouse or a friend, I just have an honest conversation with them, right?
The theme just begs for an appropriate LOLCat picture captioned:
“Prair: Ur doing it rong”
Ah, but you see, if you and your friend are talking about what you want out of life, it’s expected that the two of you might disagree yet have equally valid answers.
Yet, going to Jesus and saying “please make me rich, please make me famous, please help me spread your word” – well, that’s just arrogant, presumptuous and greedy of you. What if God’s will doesn’t include making you rich and famous? You’re *supposed* to say “Lord, please help me know your will and help me serve you” . . . . (At least according to the various preachers and teachers in my church schools.)
Then, whatever happens to you, it was HIS doing, and you’re supposed to figure out what he wants you to do with it . . . . In *that* context, it’s really easy to take absolutely anything that happens to you and interpret it as him telling you something. You got hit by a car? Maybe it’s that he wants you to witness to the driver. Someone stole your purse? Well, God wanted him to find that New Testament you carry. Your 3-year-old is hit by a stray bullet? God loves her so much he wanted to take her “home” early, and you can serve him by showing your understanding and devotion despite the pain of loss.
Suddenly, 100% of your prayers are being “answered,” because there’s no objective thing that you’re asking for . . . .
“Suddenly, 100% of your prayers are being “answered,” because there’s no objective thing that you’re asking for . . . .”
Unless it’s world peace, because God just hears that prayer and says, “Fuck y’all.”
I would easily accept the idea that you receive more of the things you want now than when you prayed for them.
It makes sense that when you no longer rely on an invisible person to make things happen for you, you start to make things happen for yourself. You’re more proactive. You determine your own life path, instead of leaving things to a pre-determined “fate”.
If you believe in free will, prayer can’t work, because God would have to interfere with what was going to happen and alter the outcome.
If you don’t believe in free will, prayer is pointless, because God has already determined what’s going to happen.
Either way, it’s a waste of time.
This reminds me of a sign I saw outside a local baptist church a while ago. It read “God still answers prayers, so pray until you get an answer!”
A touch of open-ended criteria, methinks.
I have also struggled with faith issues,sometimes taking a step back after feeling that there must be something I’m not doing right as far as doing the right things, and prayers, are concerned. It’s especially been difficult understanding the whens, hows, and if-at-alls of God’s intervention. The feeling that people who pray and those who don’t are or at least look just about the same. And that where I come from, people are more religious (the Christian religion) than here yet there are relatively more problems, at least economically.
I finally made a conscious decision to always believe in God and believe that in every situation, at the end, He (sorry if that’s offensive, I’ve noticed some people would rather repeat ‘God’ than say ‘Him, He’) is working something out for my own good. Most of my prayers seem to have been answered but not within the set deadlines. As with my family and friends, I decided to always love and trust God even when He doesn’t do me every favor I ask of Him. I’m also not going to be stubborn in my requests, and our relationship is not going to be based on how many things on my list He can give me. I need to enjoy my life.
This reminds me of Charlemagne insisting that the priests improve their latin, because God couldn’t understand them when their latin was bad. Charlemagne had a very … limited view of omniscience.
“I finally made a conscious decision to always believe in God and believe that in every situation, at the end, He (sorry if that’s offensive, I’ve noticed some people would rather repeat ‘God’ than say ‘Him, He’) is working something out for my own good.”
That’s retarded. So if you or a loved one gets cancer and you pray to God for healing and it doesn’t happen…is that “for your own good”? If you’re in financial straits, and you pray to God for a fix, and yet you wind up declaring bankruptcy, did God allow that to happen “for your own good”? You say that where you come from there are a lot of economic problems–so why’s God allowing this to happen? You’d think at least He/She/It could be troubled enough to directly tell you (I mean, outside the usual cliches Christians bandy about).
“I’m also not going to be stubborn in my requests, and our relationship is not going to be based on how many things on my list He can give me.”
Not even financial security? Health? Y’know, the minimum things that make life happy? What is this “relationship” based on? Seems very one-way to me.
That’s precisely what I’m talking about. Folks who say that prayers ARE answered are the ones who have moved from saying “God, please give me: 1) a nice new 10-speed bicycle, 2) a cat, and 3) a nice family that will adopt me” to saying “God, do with me what you wish”. Then they get a foster family which happens to have a run-down old 5-speed bike and a not-very-nice dog in the backyard, and they say “God has answered my prayers!”
This isn’t limited to Christians, of course. My neo-pagan ex-girlfriend would often complain (in all seriousness) that her magic never worked. This is someone who was working on her PhD in anthropology, but every time she said this I would think, “Duh! I wonder why that is?”
I knew people who would cast spells to bring money their way (prosperity rituals, they called it). Then, when they got their paycheck, they’d say the spell worked. I never cast any spells, but I always got paid on time. Go figure.
Prayer is wanting God to intercede on your behalf. Magic is trying to force the gods to do your bidding. If asking nice doesn’t work, I don’t see why making demands would.
“The Other One” has modern Christianity Dead to Rights. That is exactly what Billy Graham would tell you about prayer, or any of the other gajillions of Christian leaders.
Of course the great thing here is that this same general approach to prayer is actually very accessible to atheists as well, with very little modification. Simply substitute “The Universe” or “The Forces of Goodness” or “Mother Nature” for “God”, and then ask Not what the Universe can do for you, but what You can do for the Universe.
I have not really tried to live a “prayerful” life since abandoning my religion, but I probably should. It can promote a heightened sense of possibility and wonder, and keep you looking for opportunities to do good in the world.
“The thing is, I mean, there’s times when you look at the universe and you think, ‘What about me?’ and you can just hear the universe saying, ‘Well, what about you?’”
a prayerful attitude isn’t really worth all that much. But I’ve found that the nicer you are to people, the nicer they are to you.