Say Amen

Do you pray?? how often do you do that?? would you make a prayer for someone you love and believe in it being received? what do you think about praying??

share your opinions and thoughts without insulting any others beliefs!

Mike is yours now..speak! :33

I'm not religious and I don't pray. I've been part of a prayer for a friend in a medical emergency though (it was pretty scary), and it was a really nice gesture. But that's all it means for me, more of an expression of solidarity than a request for anything.

BlahISuck said:

I'm not religious and I don't pray. I've been part of a prayer for a friend in a medical emergency though (it was pretty scary), and it was a really nice gesture. But that's all it means for me, more of an expression of solidarity than a request for anything.

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But IMO,prayers has nothing to do with being religious! doing prayers is hoping for something to happen and repeating it as a secret words only you know..religious or not someone up there listening ..honesty is all what it cost not religious ^^

Insomniac said:

I used to be though.

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Would it be rude if i asked what happened?..if so..i'm a curious rude girl :3

When I was little I wished on shooting stars and stuff like that, but I've never prayed. I never ran in religious circles either so I was never part of a group who prayed although I have of course expressed openly that I hope X happens for y and so on.

I am religious, but not like serious though. I don't really pray that much anymore.

I want it to be something like it's meant to be, but it just feels cheesy in some way or another.

…………………………maybe it's just me.

Yes I pray, and as someone whose religion begins with "I" I pray 5 times a day, but our praying system is different so don't judge.
However, I'm not a religion-crazy person like most of them out there, my belief in God is something that concerns me only, I keep my thoughts to myself & let everyone live.
I would pray for anyone, even if he/she did something bad, & I'm not the one who should be judging people & hating them & whatsoever.
BTW, "Amen" exists in our religion too ;)

No, I don't pray. I don't even nod my head anymore during school services. I was confirmed into the church but didn't even pray then. I don't believe in it as there's no proof of God, and even less proof that prayers are answered. God could potentially exist I guess (hasn't truly been disproved until we know every inch of the universe), but I don't see any evidence that praying works.

I pray than most people here it seems. I'm Catholic and used to be really religious and involved in religious groups and such and was told before "too spend at least 5-10 minutes a day devoted to prayer as it helps build a relationship with God". Which I agree with, but a lot of time I just prayer when in need or things or having problems and struggles. Usually I just pray at night before sleeping and to bless my food before meals. Just how I grew up is all. While I do believe that prayer helps, I also believe you can't just pray to solve your problems. You also have to take actions on yourself and the help of others if needed and not just relay on a spiritual being for everything. That's what I believe.

I'm a Muslim, but I don't pray. I'm not the most religious person out there (far from it). I understand how people can say that being religious and praying don't directly correlate, but I have to differ. I mean, by praying, I'm asking god for assistance. If I'm not religious, won't that make me a hypocrite.

I wouldn't be lying if i said laziness is also a factor.

AWsquared said:

I pray than most people here it seems. I'm Catholic and used to be really religious and involved in religious groups and such and was told before "too spend at least 5-10 minutes a day devoted to prayer as it helps build a relationship with God". Which I agree with, but a lot of time I just prayer when in need or things or having problems and struggles. Usually I just pray at night before sleeping and to bless my food before meals. Just how I grew up is all. While I do believe that prayer helps, I also believe you can't just pray to solve your problems. You also have to take actions on yourself and the help of others if needed and not just relay on a spiritual being for everything. That's what I believe.

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Wow I'm actually like you a lot, I have that same belief too! I'm not even a Christian but Christianity has a lot in common with my religion tbh.

Bloodex said:

I'm a Muslim, but I don't pray. I'm not the most religious person out there (far from it). I understand how people can say that being religious and praying don't directly correlate, but I have to differ. I mean, by praying, I'm asking god for assistance. If I'm not religious, won't that make me a hypocrite.

I wouldn't be lying if i said laziness is also a factor.

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You're not the only one (not me though :P) but it's never too late to ask for forgiveness, God will always be there for you so have faith in Him :)...

Broken_Arrow said:

But IMO,prayers has nothing to do with being religious! doing prayers is hoping for something to happen and repeating it as a secret words only you know..religious or not someone up there listening ..honesty is all what it cost not religious ^^

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Prayer is a spiritual verbal outreach to a god or higher power, whether the prayer itself be giving thanks or asking for something, so to say prayer has nothing to do with religion confuses me. Though, that is how I see it. I personally cannot separate prayer from its religious origins, no matter what the act of prayer may mean in the 21st century. I used to be Catholic, so that explains it.

Do I pray nowadays? No. Prayer is a fundamental part of religion imo and I...well, I stay away from religion most of the time. I say 'help me God' or whatever, but only as a way of expressing whatever frustration or sadness I am feeling at the time, not as an actual act of prayer, because I don't expect the Almighty to drop down from the sky and be like 'sup Chris what can I do for ya' or whatever. I just beg for something to happen, I don't dedicate to any specific power.

no. praying is for the unsure, life isnt a fairy tale. bad things happen all the time. and talking to a 'higher being' is silly, in my opinion. religion is for people that cannot handle that life is hard. and life can potentially go horribly wrong. i used to be a practicing muslim, and when i was very young i was christian. i once asked a priest what hes belief on aliens, he said that god made us in his image, and aliens do not fit in with what he believes in. ultimately saying that he doesnt think they exist. think about it. how can it possibly be true out of all the universes we are the only intelligent life form at exists. when there is limitless possibilitys for planets to be in the 'sweet spot'

your family could be horribly murdered in an incident and your lifetime of praying wouldn't of came into play at all. sorry if it sounds harsh. but its true.

O07_eleven said:

Like the OP asked though, has anyone believed their prayers have been answered?

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That's the thing though. When a prayer's answered, it's a helping hand from God, and when it doesn't, it's a test.

I'm a Muslim, but I don't pray, and I don't believe in praying. I'm only culturally Muslim.

.:batto:. said:

no. praying is for the unsure, life isnt a fairy tale. bad things happen all the time. and talking to a 'higher being' is silly, in my opinion.

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Well, yeah, praying is for the unsure. Don't know what you're trying to prove with that comment.

your family could be horribly murdered in an incident and your lifetime of praying wouldn't of came into play at all. sorry if it sounds harsh. but its true.

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.....????????????????????

I don't pray, no. However sometimes I have to participate in prayers as part of my job (sometimes just listening, sometimes reading the main prayer, I just don't say 'amen').

I think prayer is great for boosting someone's confidence and helping them through something personal.

I dislike it when people use prayer as 'doing something good'. For example, I find praying for people's recovery or safety very patronising and belittling. Even worse is when people pray instead of giving their time or money to actually help.

I used to pray because there is absolutely no harm in doing so, but I stopped when a couple of Mormons invaded my house and tried to get me to pray on my knees in my living room until I saw Mormon Jesus.

But yeah, I saw nothing wrong with praying before that. All through my adolescence I was one of those "Prayer is stupid religion is stupid" d-bags, but one day I met my girlfriend's roommate's pastor when I got roped into cleaning the church's rec room. Don't remember his name but he let me call him Padre and that still makes me laugh because he said that no one had done that before. Padre was a really sensible dude for a Baptist preacher. We sat in his office for a while and talked about religion and the things he had to say just completely blew me away because I had never heard such reasoning straight from the horse's mouth.

He taught me that prayer is harmless to those within the church because (as coincidentally stated before) it's a gift from God if it's answered and it's a test if it's not, and it's even better to those outside of the church because an unanswered prayer doesn't hold the weight of feeling like a test. Either way, prayers aren't magical incantations that invoke miracles. At their bare bones, they're tools for making people feel at ease during difficult times. No matter how smart a person may think they are, they should never knock something as harmless as prayer to the face of someone who prays because it's rude, to say the least. Telling somebody who's coping with hardships that their way of coping is stupid because of ideological disagreements is an extremely weak argument that serves no purpose but to attempt to harm the person even more.

Harlequin said:

Prayer is a spiritual verbal outreach to a god or higher power, whether the prayer itself be giving thanks or asking for something, so to say prayer has nothing to do with religion confuses me. Though, that is how I see it. I personally cannot separate prayer from its religious origins, no matter what the act of prayer may mean in the 21st century. I used to be Catholic, so that explains it.
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well i see it in a different way cuz you don't have to be relegious to ask god something you want cuz either way he listens! either way you're a sinner or not

when you have a friend or a sibling or even yourself having a hard time in life then you say.."Dear God,i know you hear me,please help "mention the name" with what they're facing now..protect them and keep them safe,healthy and happy,what ever you wish ..etc

this kind of prayers,you don't have to be religious to pray it ..as much as you love that person you just go ask something for them hoping for it to happen..it's not hypocrite it's not silly...it's something you do from your heart..even people who don't believe in that..it would mean much to the person you pray for...this is what i meant when i said you don't have to be religious to pray.

By not religious I meant I'm atheist, so I don't in anybody listening. I hope I didn't cause any confusion by saying I'm not religious :S