NationStates

Hello, people of Earth! My name is Gagatron, and I have a very interesting topic for you today. This is directed to anybody and everybody.

Have you ever prayed? If so, what benefits did it bring? Who did you pray to? How did you pray? How many prayer experiences have you had?

Let the multi-religious discussion begin.

Yes, I've prayed many times to the Christian God. I tried silently, I tried out loud, and as my faith became more and more strained, it eventually turned to angry shouting at the supposed god. Occasionally praying helped calm my petty fears, but other than that, I can claim no experiences.

Yes, christian god, didn't achieve anything, meh.

Yes, daily. And next year, I intend to do so at various shrines across Iran, Syria and *gasp* Iraq.

Islamic Hazarastan wrote:Yes, daily. And next year, I intend to do so at various shrines across Iran, Syria and *gasp* Iraq.

I think that should be in reverse order if you are looking for dramatic effect.

Islamic Hazarastan wrote:Yes, daily. And next year, I intend to do so at various shrines across Iran, Syria and *gasp* Iraq.

Do you pray five times a day?

Gagatron wrote:Have you ever prayed?

Yes, loads.

If so, what benefits did it bring?

None really. Made me into a happy hippy Jesus freak for a bit, but I wouldn't label that a 'benefit'.

Who did you pray to?

The Judeo-Christian God.

How did you pray?

From meditating to the usual CofE way to singing and dancing and whatever.

How many prayer experiences have you had?

What do you mean?

United Dependencies wrote:

Islamic Hazarastan wrote:Yes, daily. And next year, I intend to do so at various shrines across Iran, Syria and *gasp* Iraq.

I think that should be in reverse order if you are looking for dramatic effect.

You might be right
Iraq is the most risky, what with all the unrest going on there. Still, I'm looking forward to the trip.

Gagatron wrote:

Islamic Hazarastan wrote:Yes, daily. And next year, I intend to do so at various shrines across Iran, Syria and *gasp* Iraq.

Do you pray five times a day?

I try. Sometimes, I can't, but I make up for it with an extra prayer.

Georgism wrote:

How many prayer experiences have you had?

What do you mean?

I mean how many times have you had spiritual experiences while praying?

Gagatron wrote:I mean how many times have you had spiritual experiences while praying?

Quite a few times. I've come to dismiss them as I've come to dismiss all sorts of other things like that.

I used to prime to saints (when I lost things) and the Abrahamic god (during hallucinatory episodes), but stopped when I realized it didn't do anything at all. I tried the whole 'hands clasped, prayer spoken aloud" thing usually, but some of the later ones left me trying it as a madness mantra...

Nowadays I'm more into science.

"Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer"

pretty much sums up how I feel on the subject

Yes, I have prayed. It brought me a faux sense of doing something good. I prayed to the Catholic God. If it wasn't at Church, I prayed by kneeling on my bed, clasping hands, and praying for people like victims of various natural disasters. If by prayer experience, something metaphysical, nothing while praying to any God. I felt something that could be described as spiritual as I was meditating by the sea.

Well, I've always found prayer helpful for achieving personal growth. It's a great way to calm the spirit.

Kalibarr wrote:"Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer"

pretty much sums up how I feel on the subject

For me, it's Edmund Wilson's "I have had a good many more uplifting thoughts, creative and expansive visions — while soaking in comfortable baths or drying myself after bracing showers — in well-equipped American bathrooms than I have ever had in any cathedral."

As for personal growth, Gagatron, the only one listening is you, but if that works for you, who am I to deny it to you?

Farnhamia wrote:As for personal growth, Gagatron, the only one listening is you, but if that works for you, who am I to deny it to you?

Wow, you live in a depressing universe.

Gagatron wrote:

Farnhamia wrote:As for personal growth, Gagatron, the only one listening is you, but if that works for you, who am I to deny it to you?

Wow, you live in a depressing universe.

And thus begun another 40 pages of tiresome religious debate.

Gagatron wrote:

Farnhamia wrote:As for personal growth, Gagatron, the only one listening is you, but if that works for you, who am I to deny it to you?

Wow, you live in a depressing universe.

I get the sense that Farn is pretty happy, actually.

No, praying is pointless. There is no god to there you, a point we made last thread, the one you quite because you had no answer for us, and were scared and to proud to admit that we were right, so you ran,because he doesn't exist, and you can't admit it.

Gagatron wrote:Wow, you live in a depressing universe.

Why is everything depressing to you?

I use to pray regularly when I was a Christian. Nothing ever happened...

Dear God, I pray that people will stop posting annoyingly banal threads about religion that all eventually degenerate into the same pointless debate repeated ad nauseoum.

...

Fuck. I guess it really doesn't work.

Gagatron wrote:Hello, people of Earth! My name is Gagatron, and I have a very interesting topic for you today. This is directed to anybody and everybody.

Have you ever prayed?¹ If so, what benefits did it bring?² Who did you pray to? How did you pray?³ How many prayer experiences have you had?⁴

Let the multi-religious discussion begin.

1: No.
2: The same benefits that it would have if I had prayed... i.e. none.
3: N/A
4: Zero.

Gagatron wrote:...Have you ever prayed? If so, what benefits did it bring? Who did you pray to? How did you pray? How many prayer experiences have you had?...

Yes. It brough me benefitz. Christian God. Hands together, in bed.

I don't know what you exactly mean by "prayer experiences".