Prayer

[Kushtor]

Have you ever prayed?
Yes
If so, what benefits did it bring?
How should I know?
Who did you pray to?
Omnipresent impersonal "God" of unspecified form.
How did you pray?
Mentally
How many prayer experiences have you had?
Lower end of double digits

[Angleter]

Have you ever prayed? Yes.

If so, what benefits did it bring? None I can think of- but my life is quite good generally, so who knows?

Who did you pray to? The Catholic God, Jesus, and some saints.

How did you pray? In the Catholic way.

How many prayer experiences have you had? None that spring to mind, but who knows?

[Katganistan]

Nothing wrong with prayer. I've done it tons of times. There is also nothing wrong with, after having prayed for people in some far-off-disaster, picking up the phone, calling the Red Cross, and donating money to them for that disaster, or collecting food/clothes/water and sending it to that disaster.

[Siromizu]

There is also nothing wrong with, after having prayed for people in some far-off-disaster, picking up the phone, calling the Red Cross, and donating money to them for that disaster, or collecting food/clothes/water and sending it to that disaster.

But if you're actually going to do something to help, why bother doing something that feels like helping but isn't, in the first place?

[Nightkill the Emperor]

[Italiani a Roma]

I pray every day to the Christian god. I pray for forgiveness from sins, I pray out of gratefulness, and I finish up with the Our Father. I then read a bible passage.

[Rokartian States]

There is also nothing wrong with, after having prayed for people in some far-off-disaster, picking up the phone, calling the Red Cross, and donating money to them for that disaster, or collecting food/clothes/water and sending it to that disaster.

But if you're actually going to do something to help, why bother doing something that feels like helping but isn't, in the first place?

Well, it certainly couldn't hurt.

[The Rich Port]

My family rarely went to church both here and back home, so I prayed my tits off in the meanwhile, mostly telling God BS about why we wouldn't go to church.

I stopped after my first year in the U.S., since it was obvious God hadn't gotten to me in over 16 years.

I still do transcendental meditation, but it's more for me than for a god.

[Azaca]

tried the christian god satan many many pagan gods but nobody picked up to bad

[The High Lizzleness]

But if you're actually going to do something to help, why bother doing something that feels like helping but isn't, in the first place?

Well, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Sure it could ^__^

Let us say that some natural disaster happens in my nation. You pray, and then you feel as if you had helped. Then, you don't donate money to help out the people of my nation because you already got that warm fuzzy feelings from praying. You probably would have helped if you hadn't already received that warm fuzzy feeling from praying.

I know plenty of people who pray for X to get better or happen, but then they don't do anything tangible to help. Now, I don't know for sure if it has to do with their praying, but it makes sense.

[Rokartian States]

Well, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Sure it could ^__^

Let us say that some natural disaster happens in my nation. You pray, and then you feel as if you had helped. Then, you don't donate money to help out the people of my nation because you already got that warm fuzzy feelings from praying. You probably would have helped if you hadn't already received that warm fuzzy feeling from praying.

I know plenty of people who pray for X to get better or happen, but then they don't do anything tangible to help. Now, I don't know for sure if it has to do with their praying, but it makes sense.

The post I quoted referenced Kat's post concerning both praying and donating.

[Azaca]

if you exist god please just send me a call or email or even a postcard

[The High Lizzleness]

Sure it could ^__^

Let us say that some natural disaster happens in my nation. You pray, and then you feel as if you had helped. Then, you don't donate money to help out the people of my nation because you already got that warm fuzzy feelings from praying. You probably would have helped if you hadn't already received that warm fuzzy feeling from praying.

I know plenty of people who pray for X to get better or happen, but then they don't do anything tangible to help. Now, I don't know for sure if it has to do with their praying, but it makes sense.

The post I quoted referenced Kat's post concerning both praying and donating.

I know. That doesn't mean that everyone who prays donates anymore than my post means that everyone who prays doesn't donate.

You said that praying couldn't hurt, and I showed a counter example.

[Rokartian States]

The post I quoted referenced Kat's post concerning both praying and donating.

I know. That doesn't mean that everyone who prays donates anymore than my post means that everyone who prays doesn't donate.

You said that praying couldn't hurt, and I showed a counter example.

I said that praying couldn't hurt within the context of praying and then subsequently donating.

[Bottle]

I've tried praying a number of times in my life. When I was younger, I was interested in religion and I tried praying in the tradition of several different faiths. I attended a number of churches and temples.

Since getting older, I've found that when shit gets really awful I will often fling a plea out into the universe. I don't actually believe it's going to be heard by anything, nor do I believe it will do anything, it's sort of a howling-at-the-moon thing. "This sucks, please make it stop, arrooooooooo..."

[Ifreann]

it's sort of a howling-at-the-moon thing. "This sucks, please make it stop, arrooooooooo..."

Arroooooooo!

[Xenohumanity]

Yeah, back when I played Runescape.

Zing.

[Bottle]

it's sort of a howling-at-the-moon thing. "This sucks, please make it stop, arrooooooooo..."

Arroooooooo!

Ok, that's just freaking creepy...that is PRECISELY what I was picturing as I typed my post.

Get out of my brain, you.

[Ifreann]

Arroooooooo!

Ok, that's just freaking creepy...that is PRECISELY what I was picturing as I typed my post.

Get out of my brain, you.

No can do, I'm afraid. I'm like brain herpes.




Yeah.

[Bottle]

Ok, that's just freaking creepy...that is PRECISELY what I was picturing as I typed my post.

Get out of my brain, you.

No can do, I'm afraid. I'm like brain herpes.




Yeah.

Well, at least I can be happy knowing that when the zombie hordes eat my brains, they'll get stuck with a case of Ifreann for their troubles.

Take that, you flesh-eating undead bastards!

[Dakini]

Have you ever prayed? Yes. I used to pray twice daily and more often when I was trying to regain my faith.
If so, what benefits did it bring? None. I don't remember it being very comforting, even when I was religious and nothing I ever came of it.
Who did you pray to? The Christian God.
How did you pray? It varied. At the table before a meal, in bed, I tried kneeling beside bed a couple of times too, but that wasn't usually the way it happened.
How many prayer experiences have you had? I'm not sure what you mean by prayer experiences. If you mean "number of times prayed" then that would be a lot, if you mean "positive benefits from prayer" then that would be none. Praying never did anything at all for me, even when I was religious. It didn't make me feel less guilty about things I'd done wrong when I asked for forgiveness, it didn't give me any insights into helping anyone around me, it didn't give me any extra strength, it didn't heal me when I was sick, it didn't prevent my loved ones from dying when their time came.