Your thoughts on prayer

My dad was an atheist, Diana.

After my sister died in a car crash, my mother started attending a Spiritualist Church and thought she was getting messages from her dead daughter - so I guess you could call her religious.

Even then, I thought she was just being ripped off by the so-called medium.

Hi Ruth,

I just discovered this thread and had to read the whole thing prior to putting in my two cents’ worth.  I appreciate so much the fact that we have the freedom to engage in this discussion and share our thoughts and opinions, particularly on this subject.  This may not always be the case.  I don’t use the word “religion” to refer to my beliefs.  I believe one can do anything “religiously”, even doing evil.  My faith is about believing in one God, and then worshiping Him and following His teaching guidance for my life.

I am a firm believer in the power of prayer.  Being a born-again Christian, I pray to God the Father through our Advocate, His Son, Christ Jesus.  I believe His Holy Spirit dwells within me as the Lord promised He would when He ascended to Heaven after His resurrection.  For me personally, I can’t imagine getting through this life without the comfort of His presence and the knowledge that He is there for me 24-7, not only watching over me but simply being available for me to talk to, to share my burdens with Him, to thank Him for the countless ways He blesses my life.  I view prayer as the method by which we communicate with God.  I believe that our prayers are always answered according to His will, but not necessarily the way we expect or the specific request we made.  I believe it is important to spend time on a regular basis in prayer, in communication with our Father.  I pray for all sorts of things – my family, friends, world leaders, strangers on the street, not to get struck by lightening as I dash across the parking lot during a storm (I call this a "missile" prayer).  I pray for better understanding of His Holy Word and that I will be a better witness to the world for Him and His everlasting love.  One of my favorite things to share with people is that as a Christian I am not perfect, I am simply forgiven.  God’s main commandment to us is to first love Him with all our heart, body, mind and soul and second, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  The world would definitely be a better place if more people just did that.  There is so much I could get into here but I won’t, since you only asked about prayer.  May I just say also that I don’t understand how anyone can view the beautiful countryside of England (and some other places too) and think it was just a random, accidental convergence of molecules!  I see God’s hand in all the beauty and complexity of our universe.  My “big bang” theory?  God spoke it (or thought it) and BANG!  It happened.  :-)   

May the God who is Love itself richly bless you all.

Hi, Barbara. Nice to meet you.

I see Diana has already commented on the part of your post I wanted to address.

As I see it, the alternative to 'God Made It' is the theory of Evolution, which goes way beyond Darwin and the Origin of Species.

Evolution is often called 'a random, accidental convergence of molecules...' - but that's far from the truth.

There is an element of random chance in evolution, but that's only part of the story. It's what happens after random chances occur that makes evolution such a powerful explanation of the world we see around us.

Thanks for the welcome, Barbara.

I'm not sure I can grant God the title of clever. I mean, rainbows are great, and sex was a stroke of genius - but I don't think earthquakes, floods and the various other acts of God that have killed millions of men, women and children were amongst his best ideas.

Barbara, it is so refreshing to read your words. You have no fear of saying exactly what you believe, and no beating round the bush. I second everything you have said.

John, you choose to call catastrophes 'acts of God' because it makes you feel better. We are living in a fallen world. It will be turned into its original state in the end.  Hope I see you there!    Have you really, and I mean, really, dismissed all the complexity and sheer grandeur around you as an accident?!! You have science as your 'god'.  Barbara, Ruth, Diana and me  have the real thing.

I find it strange when things that happen during our existence should be put down to acts caused by outside influences. When a sunset, a new birth, a work of art or a catastrophe occurs I find some people cannot accept it for what it is and need to find a meaning or reason for it to have happened.

 I understand why people have to have a belief/faith, it gives them comfort in times of need, that’s completely understandable and normal. It’s also understandable that they should question horrible events but that means they then have to justify there belief/faith by attaching a meaning to it.

 I don’t believe anything has to have a meaning, it simply IS. I can see why people become involved and emotional with the wonders of the world but what that has to do with “God” is beyond me. All through history folk have tried to find answers to the meaning of life and written books about it, books in the millions in every language and every one have a corner to defend and a belief to uphold.

 The people who have inspired me all my life are individuals who are able to think for themselves, change there mind as new information comes along but the best gift of all is to listen with an open ear. I was lucky as a child not to have religion or religious people around me; I grew up in a village where the countryside and nature was my inspiration. The community around me looked after each other and not once can I remember faith/religion or belief getting in the way.

 At school I had to stand to attention every morning with the rest of the class while the teacher read bible passages to us, we then went to our class where the same teacher would cane us across the backside if we didn’t understand or get the meaning of something…. Food for thought.

Sue, I don't call such events acts of God - it's the insurance companies that do that! I'm just borrowing their terminology to make the point that, if believers give God the credit for all the good stuff, they have to accept that He could stop all the bad stuff if he chose to do so. Ot better still, create a world in which the bad stuff did not happen at all.

As for dismissing the complexity and the beauty I see all around me as an accident - no, I don't do that. But neither do I believe it was created by some kind of God. The problem with your view is that, in order to explain the origin of such complexity, you turn to an even more complex being (God) and say - 'There, that's how it happened. God did it!'

You them have the problem of explaining the origin of God.

Science isn't my God, Sue. I don't have a God, and I don't feel the need for one.

Science is a way of understanding the universe, based on reason rather than on faith, and I think I've explained earlier in the thread why I base my world-view on reason.