Why should we pray to God?

We shouldn’t.

Why not? By living our lives in a loving manner it’s kind if the same thing.

Where it’s stated in most major religions that god loves you no matter what, it’s also stated that he doesn’t love everyone no matter what.

There isn’t anything in the world that makes us pray. So we shouldn’t! Many religious people pray however and that’s up to them. And as you said, God should love you anyway…

People can pray if they want and I’m not going to treat them as inferior when they decide to.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic

That did not answer the question in any sense.

Personally, this doesn’t apply to me as I don’t pray and find no need to but I believe the reason some people should pray to God is because then they’ll feel better and maybe more assertive about a certain situation

I’m not a believer, but I did hear a good explanation by a believer that actually seemed reasonable (this applied specifically to the practice of praying for the benefit of others, not for one’s own benefit):

The value of prayer is that it focuses one’s own mind on the needs of others and makes you think of what you would want for them. Doing this regularly cultivates an awareness of the suffering of others and takes one’s own troubles out of the spotlight.

I can see how even a non-believer could benefit from an exercise like that. Of course, one would also have to be willing to be the instrument of aid, should the opportunity arise.

I know that the question is specifically about more formulaic prayers, but maybe the same applies. Someone else said, “Prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind; it’s about changing our minds”.

Prayer isn’t only utilized to find help or confidence that God is near as Simone stated but it can also be used to repent, as an avenue for God to show his love and power, it can be used to show our submissive attitudes towards God, to increasingly become more like Christ, to worship God, to help gain better spiritual understanding, to help us gain better attitudes about our enemies or people who have harmed us, it is a way to thank God, and most of all prayer is a commandment from God.

You are correct we won’t be judged by how much we pray but in my opinion prayer is an avenue for believers to stay connected with God.

God created us for a reason. Let me explain.

What is the WORST possible thing, you can get in a game of golf?

Well, the answer would be to get a hole in one with nobody around. Nobody to enjoy it with you, to celebrate.

God is and always has been almighty, but think, he could do ANYTHING, but he wanted someone, something, somewhere, to enjoy it with Him. He created us to love him, and for him to love us.

Why, you may ask, did he not just create us to be, for lack of a better word, robots, for him? To always pray to him, to have no free will and always love him no matter what. Why did he give us free will.

What if your whole life, all your friends were payed for by your parents. They didn’t really love you, they just acted like it. Would that really truly be love? No.

That is why god created us, giving us the choice to love Him. Prayer is our way of contacting and loving him, and we should rejoice that he gives us the ability to be so close to him. We should pray, because it would be such a huge waste if we didn’t.

why do you talk to your wife?

because she likes to interact with you.

because you love her.

does she like when you say pre-programmed responses because you’re really doing something else? or when you talk to her from your heart?

:]

As a very strong christian, and somone who has a relationship with God, I can tell you exactly why. We are God’s creations, and he love everyone one of us. He love everyone of us just like you love everyone of your kids. The reason he wants us to pray, and the reason to that’s not for anything else, is that he wants to have a relationship with you. Just like most want to have conversations with your lover because it satisfies a human need for love and connection. You pray to God giving him all the glory he deserves, and he speaks to your spirit. I know God through my pray life, my bible and mostly though whorship music. You were created to need and love God, and it’s God speaking through the holy spirit to tell you whatever at any given moment. As for the reason why would it matter cause he wouldn’t judge us if he loves us, that’s very not true. We are called and created to serve him and love him. You have a free will to choose not to because he doesn’t want to make anyone love him. But you will be judged according to your decisions, and your ultimate choice in the end to whom will you serve? It’s simmilar to the thing when you love your child but they decide to become somtehing terrible like a murderer, or whatever, you still love them, but if they do that then they need to be in prison. Same thing for God.

Beattheboss, I kinda wrote the same thing! I comepletly agree with you!

I’ve found that William Shatner doesn’t really respond to my prayers, so maybe I should give God a try instead.

Because it helps us get into a meditative state and it calms us down so we can gain perspective on our lives and our place in the world. I doesn’t matter who you pray to, or even if there is a “who” at all. It’s the practice that counts. If you are devoted to the practice, it will probably be very beneficial. There won’t be a direct cause/effect relationship between what you pray about and what happens in the world. However, it often happens that when we relax about things we’ve been worrying about (give it up to God), things come out the way we were hoping they would.

As has been said God want’s a relationship with us. I don’t generally pray pre-written prayers, but I like the Lord’s prayer (Our father) because it hits all the key points and things we need in life and more than anything it reminds me what I need. Other than that, I mostly have honest normal conversations with God.

To everyone who makes a point like @daloon that it’s helpful with any God or with or without a God it is a little bit, lots of things are. But prayer without faith is nothing like real prayer done in faith, without having experienced both you have no way to see that.

“I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.” Friedrich Nietzsche

God doesn’t want anything. God already has everything. All knowledge, all power, all time.

I used to wonder why people would pray FOR something or someone. A friend is hurt and people pray, “Please god, help him pull through. He is a good boy.” I always wondered why god would need to be reminded of that. Doesn’t he already know that?

The purpose of prayer is to attune the mind of the prayer. You don’t ask for things from god, you look for a deeper understanding of our place in the world. You talk to god because it is an acknowledgment that there are forces at work in this universe that are WAY bigger than one puny, human life. The purpose of prayer is to become one with, to be in harmony with, those greater forces.

God doesn’t need it. We do.

If thats what makes you happy, but don’t let it replace action.

He makes miracles happen
So you won’t go to hell!

Read this for the results of a scientific study on the effectiveness of prayer:

link

I prayed to my end table and got no where.

@cyndihugs are you seriously saying that?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir perhaps…

@cyndihugs just checkin

Why would God want us to pray? Because he wants to be in a relationship with us.

Because He’s always listening. Who else can you say does that?

@Facade People who hide on the other side of the door listen too.
:)

you’re very funny

prayer answers. it takes your faith and then your belief that what your pray for will happen. it WILL happen if you stay faithful to what you asked God. but it will not always get answered when you want it to be answered. and what you asked for in prayer will not always be what you thought it would be, but it will sometimes manifest in ways you did not expect. it is up to you to discern and know your prayers are answered.

the closer you are with God, the more you are able to see answered prayers.

I never felt any compulsion to pray. I don’t even believe I ever was told I HAD to pray. I do it when I want to thank God for certain things (He’s done a lot for me) or when I just need to touch base. And I don’t feel required to use “canned prayers” I learned in Catholic School. I often just “talk” (in my head, not aloud).

The point I’m trying to make is that when I pray, I don’t do it because I feel I “have” to, because I don’t.

In fact, If God had a cell phone and I had the number, I wouldn’t pray. Without the phone, however, prayer is all we got.

Beause we care and love God=]
It makes me feel good to pray since I know God is listening =D
He takes time to listen and care and make miracles and all! =]

I’ve heard a couple of interesting ideas about prayer that I will share here. 1. The idea that the one who prays is changed by the experience. (Interpret that how you will.) 2. The idea that you regularly pray to G-d, just like you might regularly talk to a parent. Sometimes, you are not even very moved by inspiration or emotion, but having a regular prayer routine helps to ensure that the lines of communication with G-d are open for whenever you most feel the need. —I think that I find the former idea to be more compelling than the latter one.

@answerjill ; I think you’re right, because part of prayer is being still and realizing that it’s a two way conversation.

Prayer is conversation—we pray to keep talking. It’s like any other relationship—you need to keep the communication lines open. At least that’s how I see it.

I agree Judi and serendipity! You’re right Perrydoila, God doesn’t need, he WANTS it! You must not have read that part of the bible, but God created Adam because he wanted a SON! When sons failed him he ultimatly had Jesus. Yes, he already know that, but he wants to HAVE it. Do you know that we can please and have the Lord delight in us? We can make him proud, just like you want your kids to make you proud, and how much more do you fall in love with them when they show you how much they love you? I can’t wait to hear Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant! I know a lot of people think that dumb, but it’s so awesome! It’s not much different than wanting to please your mom or dad, and not all kids or people can get love from their parents, your heart longs for praise and love, and there’s nothing better than God touching you and saying I love you, and you are my child and I will protect you! And yes, you guys are right, you don’t have to pray in ways that are pre-written, I don’t do that either! I talk like conversation with a being that is the most understanding that exists.

Critter1982, AWESOME answer!

@tramnineteen I don’t know whether you’ve always had faith, or not. But I think it’s pretty condescending to say you know for sure that prayer with faith is better than prayer without. In fact, it’s pretty condescending (and probably mistaken) to say that you know anything about what prayer will do for anyone else. You know your own experience, and that’s it. I hope that in the future you will try not to make generalizations that you can’t possibly offer any evidence in support of.

Your experience is yours. Mine is mine. I’m not going to tell you you don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will caution you about talking about things you have not experienced, and also about making generalizations based purely on your own personal experience. Other experiences will vary.

I’m sorry you feel that way. But I know God. You are right, you are free to think and feel however you wish. But I know the truth! You don’t have to believe that. I know the God of the universe and creator of all things. I do know what prayer does for other people because I have the same GOd they do, and know many many other people who have gotten AWESOME answers to prayer. There is no answered prayer without faith. I don’t know if you’re a christian or not, but either way I have this for you “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:6. That’s from God himself.

@Steverpeeps aww, you lasted so long without quoting scripture. ah well.

lol, well, if you ever need anything that I can help with I’m more than willing. Prayer, a friend, or if you decide you want God. I’ll be here

@Steverpeeps that’s good to know

I’m so glad! You seem like you’re a really great person!

Evelyn finds prayer annoying. So Evelynists don’t pray, but we do enjoy meditation and sitting quietly enjoying nature. People should take a page from the book that animals follow. Animals don’t bother with prayer, and neither should we. But hey, if you want to pray, who am I to stop you? Just don’t waste your time praying for me, it won’t be appreciated. =)

No one can answer that. What prayer means to you and what it actually accomplishes is the real question. Based on those answers, one will be able to discern whether or not it is a waste of time.

If you believe in God, you will pray as apparently God likes it. if you don’t believe in God, you can pray too, It really does not matter. It may help you focus on your need to pray and develop a strategy to solve a problem. Probably will make you a nicer person too.

Prayer? All you need to know right here:
http://mrdeity.com/s1ep4.html

I don’t like to call it praying. it sounds so…religious somehow. Why not just say hi and kick it around with the big guy? he’s cool with that, you know.

Prayers can make you and other people stronger.

Here’s an example: Someone with a large (extended) family is in the hospital with a very serious illness. We will all pray for you, says one family member to the patient. They all pray and they do mean it. They visit him frequently. God listens to all the prayers, but of course there’s no direct answer in a physical sense. Everyone in the family is religious, but none of them is superstitious and no one believes in magic. They have faith in God, but they also have faith in science and modern medicine. They keep praying but also keep talking to the doctors discussing treatments and options. Now why are the prayers important as well?

Here’s why: to the patient the prayers of his family are a very powerful symbolic sign about how much he is loved and that he is really needed in this world. It makes him stronger. It deepens his sincere wish to get well. God cares for him. People care for him. The doctors and nurses care for him. He is seen as a wonderful human being and his hopes keep rising. And indeed, his chances for recovery are good.

Now compare this case with another patient without the support of family and friends. No prayers. No moral support. Maybe there’s one friend, but he tells the patient praying is a waste of time. There are still the doctors and the power of modern medicine. But mental strength can complement the scalpels and drugs. Self-healing capacities are an important factor as well.

I have no clue why people should uphold silly customs that have no measurable effect whatsoever. So I don’t. And I feel great, plus I don’t waste my Sunday mornings with old folk in a stuffy old building with an old dead guy plastered everywhere listening to old messages.

Prayer can actually make you weaker. Here is a study into prayer and medicine. The result? Those who were prayed for (and who knew they were being prayed for) had MORE complications than those who were not prayed for. With our limited knowledge of the placebo effect, I would argue that knowledge of being prayed for reduced the desire of one’s body to enact the placebo effect and increase healing naturally.

@Steverpeeps But I know the truth!

Now there’s a reckless statement if I ever heard one. Well, I’m not going to question your “knowledge.” I do wonder if you distinguish between knowing and believing. I also would like to know what kind of evidence (if any) do you need in order to know the truth. I’d like to know what kind of experiences in your life lead you to this truth. Your personal experience, not secondary experience.

Another thing to reflect on is how your “knowledge” or beliefs help you in daily life. What do they do for you? What kinds of cause and effect relationships do you perceive as a result of your beliefs and knowledge?

And, in relation to the question, what are your personal experiences with prayer (if it’s not too personal). What happens inside you when you pray? What happens (if anything) in the outside world when you pray? Are there any effects you attribute to prayer? I’m really not interested in your interpretations, but I am interested in your experiences—the source material for any analysis and interpretation. I find it’s impossible to understand someone’s interpretations of their experiences without first understanding what experiences they had.

Praying is not only for asking for something to God; by praying we spend some time with him. Unknowingly, his qualities flow in us and clears our heart to welcome God.

To my mind there is no SHOULD about it. I pray because I want to and I only believe that other people should pray if they want to not because that was what they were taught they should do.

We pray because we as a species do not live to be alone, we need companionship. Though sometimes you would not see it that way.
When you are alone with your thoughts and concerns, as close and connected you are with another person. There are things inside of you that you cant clearly and coherently convey to another.
That “loneliness” can be tolerated knowing/feeling that there is “someone” that is listening and knows your heart.
Someone that we do not have to fear, or have to be at risk of being judged for being honest and open.
Knowing and or feeling you are never alone.

As far as anyone saying, “I know the truth.”

So do I and in the end that is all that matters. I really do not need to prove to you. I need to prove to myself. Then at that point you either see it that way or you don’t. I will still respect you, I will listen. But at the end of the day it is what works best for me. I do not take it personal.
You have to find the path that works best for you.

@dynamicduo – Your study mentions praying for the health of strangers. My scenario was very different. And I didn’t say the prayers had a direct magical effect. I’m not surprised you can’t see the difference. Dogmatic atheism often leads to close-mindedness and intolerance and volleys of insults. Open minded atheists talk about different customs and diversity instead of silly customs.

Pray to who?..

Daloon –
I have have SEVERAL AWESOME experiances. Some are like trying to describe how love or sex feels. You really can’t decribe it in its’ fullness, but I will do my best for you. I do know the difference very much. Knowing is where you are sure of something with out a doubt, or knowing is 2+2=4. That is something you know. Believing is where you HOPE something is true with some uncertainty – like winning the lotto. That’s like asking me if the man i’m married to is real. I know he’s real. In the very same way I know God is. That one you may not like. What do they do? They give a closer walk with God and I know him and what his will his more and more. Cause and effect? Just as an example – sometimes I have very bad pains in my ovaries due to cysts and what not. One night, when my husband and I got into bed I was in so much pain that I was going to pass out or throw up. My husband asked me if I wanted him to pray. Of course I said yes. I put his hand on that ovary and spoke the authoritive words “In Jesus name I command you to stop” the pain stopped INSTANTLY! What happens inside and out? Sometimes, Inside you can feel the PRESENCE of God all around you. It’s amazing. you can feel his love just cover you. You can feel like his sweet angels are literally wrapping their arms around you. In other cases, he can speaks to your spirit whatever he may need to at that moment. As far as outside can go, how about casting out demons. Have you ever seen that. It’s crazy! That’s a sight. Watching evil spirits leave the body. Attributing to prayer – You walk with Christ. You could be in a resterant and if it is not your time to go, then the holy spirit can tell you to get out know, in the event that there’s a bomb in the building and you have to leave. That is only is your walk with Christ is close. So, That’s the best I can give you without you having it. But I don’t know why people wish to refuse such things. So what if you can’t see God. He’s there. You can’t see love or the wind, but it’s there.

@Steverpeeps – An awesome experience indeed. But to me what you are describing are symbolic connections to God and his son Jesus Christ. He gave your husband the strength to overcome his pain. It is my belief that what took away the pain isn’t a magic wand, because magic wands by their very nature would violate God’s sacred natural laws. God doesn’t perform miracles directly, but he helps us to do some “miracles” ourselves. Evil spirits leaving the body is a result of good thinking. Positive psychology for example is a branch of psychology that “studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive”.

Why do people wish to refuse such things like the effects of prayers? Well, it seems that to some Christians science doesn’t matter at all. They say I got the bible. This is everything I need to know. And this kind of thinking can become dangerous. Suppose it wasn’t about pain. Suppose someone gets diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and someone spoke the authoritative words “In Jesus name I command your body to produce insulin”. It won’t work. I believe in God and the teachings of Jesus Christ and I’m telling you in this case, prayer can’t solve the issue alone. Prayer can help a diabetic to better cope with his or her life. But science and medicine is needed as well.

@Steverpeeps Thanks for those stories. I believe I understand more about how you got to your beliefs and knowledge.

You seem to assume that everyone feels these things, but some refuse them. Do you think it is possible that some people (or most people) do not feel these things, and that you are unique (to some degree) in your experiences?

I’m also still not clear about what “know” means to you. You say you know your husband is real, and you know God is in the same way. How does this work? I know my wife is real because I can sense her in a number of ways. I can measure the things that provide evidence that she is there.

I can’t do the same thing for God. First, I don’t know what I’m trying to detect, because people say that God is so many different (and often contradictory) things. So I don’t even know what I’m trying to perceive.

Second, I can’t sense God with my eyes, ears, nose, mouth or skin. Can you? And if so, why do your senses work for you, but mine don’t work for me? Shouldn’t our senses work in pretty much the same way? If not, why not?

I can think of another reason that might explain the difference between you and me. Perhaps you have some other sense that I don’t have. Perhaps that is why you “know” God is real, and I don’t. Alternatively, perhaps you believe my senses do work the same as yours, but I am ignoring some of the information I detect through my senses. Then there is my theory, which is that our senses work the same, but our interpretations of what we sense are quite different. Further, we use different standards of evidence to support our interpretations of what we sense. What do you think of these ideas?

everyone likes good conversation, and maybe an ego boost every now and then.

The biggest problem is one that you will not like and probably not accept. It’s that you have to be filled with the holy spirit. I can testify to this personally because I have lived with and without him. The greatest advice that I can give you is the scripture God gave us ” Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” This is the best there is. I was a christian all my life, but could never feel God, or know him. I just prayed to him and spent time reading and whorshiping. The biggest deal is that God judges the heart, so if you go after him to see if he’s real, it won’t happen. When you declare and acknoweldge that his died for your sins and rose again and submit to him that you believe he is who he says he is, also that you’ll put all your trust in him to guide your steps – the holy spirit will enter you. The way to descibe it is like your a lamp and you can’t see (God) with the light off. When you plug it in (plug into the holy spirit) you got your connection. I know this is so far for people to accept. But it’s real. How does it work? You mentioned having the senses to know your wife is there, right? Well, you can sense God with internal senses. Kinda in a way that your in an airplane and you close your eyes. How will you know when your off the ground if you eyes are closed? With you internal senses. You can FEEL that your not on the ground. It’s kinds the same thing. WHen God is there it’s another sense that you can FEEL. So, the difference between us is just the holy spirit. God will not dwell where he isn’t desired. You can’t just want him scientifically. Science is just the discovery of God’s creation. So, you are on to the same idea, but that is what it is. So, you can, but It’s the God of the creation of all human. He desires to have your love.

Amd Mattbrown – You are incorrect. That is the power and authority Christ gave us when he left. It’s not “magic”. It’s just God’s supernatual power. God gave his children the power and authority to do whatever God’s will is. You could pray for anything and it will be done as long as it’s God’s will. There are people that are healed from paralization, some have a whole foot grow back, and much more that you wouldn’t believe. You could have “more insulin” if it was God’s will for them to be healed. God has healed many that were goin to have surgery’s with muliple tumors, and were prayed for and instantly they were gone. Doctors went in and they were ALL gone!

@Steverpeeps but I don’t believe in sin. so I can not acknowledge it. on a related tangent, as I’m sure you post stuff like this a lot or talk about it a lot, did you ever get anyone’s mind to change?

Yes actually. When God moves so do you. And if you don’t believe in sin than I can understand where you are coming from. And you don’t have any intentions on changing that thought until you do, if you do. It’s not bad or anything. People think life would be terrible to live by someone else’s rules. But it’s so fulfilling to be lead by God, which he has your best in mind, and his will. He has done countless miracles that people couldn’t have without God. It is truly living life to the fullest.

@Steverpeeps but don’t you see – I do life my life to the fullest

@Stevepeeps; you need to see the Rob Bell video Bull Horn Guy.
Your approach doesn’t work.

God is not a cosmic puppet master. But Satan might be.

Satan-the puppet master..coming to theaters near you

I gotta see this bad-boy!

But you know me… My definitions of God and Satan are completely different than standard religious interpretations.

God=Truth=Information=Clarity

Satan=Deception=Information Entropy=Noise

@Steverpeeps – Your faith and my faith, your form of Christianity and my form of Christianity are quite different. Your God seems like a whimsical magician whereas my God is the intelligent creator of our orderly biophilic universe. The orderly part is very important. Gravity worked last week, gravity works right now this very moment. God might be powerful enough to suspend gravity for one minute or so and we could watch @Steverpeeps floating in the air. It would be an amazing sight to be sure. But to me it’s very obvious God doesn’t want His orderly universe to behave that way. His natural laws are very reliable. Even the math and the probabilities in quantum mechanics are orderly and predictable. I have faith in science and firmly believe gravity will work the same way next week. No scientist can prove this to us right now. So you see, there’s no proof which means science requires faith as well.

Prayers won’t lead to insulin production once the islet cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the immune system. You won’t find one single example in the whole world. The pain examples and even some tumor examples work because God gave the patients wonderful strength. But what happened inside their bodies is no violation of the holy natural laws God created when He created the Universe. As long as you sell the healing cases as complete magic you will drive atheists nuts especially the dogmatic ones. In fact you drive more people away from Christianity, a trend which I find very sad. Because Christianity has so much to offer. Believing in God is a smart thing to do and of course a personal choice. I know many smart Christians. But I’m also realistic that Christian fundamentalists are very unlikely to open their minds and embrace both science and healthy religion and spirituality. You will stick to your form of faith and I’ll have to accept this. The gap between religious fundamentalism and atheism is likely to keep widening.

mattbrowne – Right on!

Even if someone is an athiest there are scientific reasons for prayer or at least something similar to it whether it is simply an outward verbal or written expression of gratefulness or an actual prayer or a meditation. Dr. Masuro Emoto has done studies regarding water & it’s ability to literally hold memory. Our bodies are between 50–80% water & science has shown on many occasions that our bodies are affected by positive (or negative) speech & thoughts. You can search Dr. Emoto on YouTube to see videos of water crystals that literally change between beautiful to ugly depending on words said near the water. In addition our adrenal glands which are affected by stress can also have more positive function after positive thoughts & speech. These glands if not functioning properly can increase weight gain & much more. Also, there are scientific studies which prove that our environment is literally affected by focused meditation/prayer. In one study sun spots were measured before during & after a meditation by a particular global meditation group & the sun spots were literally reduced during the meditation days & fir a time afterward. Additionally, plant life has been proven because of it’s water content to be affected literally by the electromagnetic interference caused by our thoughts & nothing more. I watched a video where a plant hooked to monitors literally identified a person guilty of damaging a nearby plant it was amazing. There are places that actually research our positive thoughts/prayers/meditations for results – one of those is called The HeartMath Institute google it & have fun looking around. Dr. Emoto is another great research source as is the movie entitled The Secret Life of Plants if a person is interested in seeing how humans being positive can affect others around us including space & the environment. So basically the answer to why we should pray is because if done in the right way it can literally change the world whether you pray to a god or simply speak/write about what you ate grateful for having/know that you will have. Have fun researching it’s quite eye opening & mind opening even for the skeptical like me. If you want links send me a message it’s a fave topic of mine.

@Jenniehowell yes but positive thoughts, not prayer…in that positive thoughts are good for us..i read someplace recently that negative thoughts are as well..neither of those = prayer

All I have left to say if that the day is coming when you all will know the truth and I’m sorry there is no convincing you all the truth.

And mattbrowne all I have to say to you is that you don’t believe in God, because there is only one true God. Period.

Exclamation Mark

@Steverpeeps and I’d have to say is if it wasn’t for people like @mattbrowne I would lose all faith (pun intended) in religious people…so rather than, yet again, dismissing others, head and learn

ok

I am glad the folks here on fluther are smart enough not to paint all us Christians with the same brush.

oy

@Steverpeeps – No, I don’t believe in your God. But my Christian belief prevents me from hurting people’s feeling by insinuating that Christian fundamentalists don’t believe in God. I accept that their way is different, but I point the consequences of their belief system.

@Jenniehowell – What do you think about this article?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto

@Simone_de_Beauvoir I just wanted to be more clear – perhaps because I made mention of things other than prayer specifically it insinuated these studies are not prayer inclusive which isn’t what I meant, but instead meant to be more inclusive of those who are atheist or not for specifically naming a God/particular practice. Actually on a scientific level thoughts/prayers measure out much the same & though meditation in some cases measures higher relating to it’s results it is by many considered prayer because historically speaking it is what prayer used to be before people became lazy with simple & in some cases ‘canned’ schpeels – a perfect example of the meditation as prayer is the story in the bible where Peter (I believe it was him) prayed in his roof receiving visions which told him to go against the accepted religious law & associate/trust in accepting a gentile. (perhaps a good lesson for @steverpeeps to review considering the lesson that teaches us to each follow our own path to God & that there are more than one way even when it seems against what you/others may understand as ‘God’s law’) @mattbrowne I’m gonna read that article & come back to let you know my interpretation of it.

@mattbrowne I couldn’t get your link to work but went to wiki & looked up Emoto. It makes mention of his studies being controversial & challenged etc. Which is true. There are many scientists before him who have done much the same. The guy responsible for the technology in Bose speakers (can’t remember his exact name) did similar studies finding some great facts & yet is known for a speaker – Einstein also did many scientific studies relating to the spirit & ways of measuring/proving it & yet is only known for a bomb – a still living scientist before Emoto & in my opinion more qualified/in depth than Emoti found & proved the same things about water & how things affect it in our bodies & was pretty much immediately shunned from the community for not backing down on revealing what he had discovered. Many believe that the reason for the skepticism & shunning is related to political agendas that will keep people from truly knowing themselves & each other & becoming unified as humans while independent from being puppeted by the leaders of science, religion, govt. Etc. I tend to agree to some levels. Unity would ruin most religions & governments who survive only by creating separations between people in various categories for the soul purpose of profit. In order to truly know God one must know Self in order to be able to discern between the voices & make decisions without baggage strongly without danger if being puppeted by others & that is scary for the puppetmasters to consider however sensible or true. So Emoto & others risk being shunned in their quest fir truth but a person with a true scientific mind & intelligence can see & decipher the studies for themselves. In the sane way a person should read legislation & study before voting as opposed to believing a bunch of talk so should we do the same with regard to science, self, god, spirit, religion. Those who attempt to corrall individuals in fences that create fear around exploring other teachings & science are in my opinion most likely being pacified by their own power over others. But that’s just me.

@Jenniehowell – When unusual claims by someone are strongly criticized as pseudoscience there are two options

1) Many years later the guy is declared a genius and wins the Nobel prize, example Albert Einstein
2) Many years later the guy is declared a complete nut case, example Trofim Lysenko

Let’s see how Emoto gets judged by history.

@mattbrowne so true – we shall see. I have noticed tho that those in power write the history & only those who search it out find the whole story so for me again it comes down to our individual search for truth/research/findings etc. I myself have experimented with Self & water after reading Emoto’s (& others) studies. I have found that by being in touch with my own self/emotions I can discern ‘extra’ feelings that are not making sense to me at specific times. Each time I have done this I have figured out what others are feeling without them even speaking. I have done this with hundreds of people & been accurate each & every time. This is why I tend to support the water studies by these scientists because of my own research that is consistent. I suspect that those people regard as psychic are actually not but are instead simply able to ‘read’ others on a more in depth level that requires a deeper understanding of self. I think on the simplest of levels we have experienced our moods being influenced by the moods & attitudes of others & after much research I relate that to our inner changes which can be felt by all on an electromagnetic level. To me this is why all forms & levels of prayer are important as it helps us know self & others which can literally in the end change the world in good ways & bad.

“All I have left to say if that the day is coming when you all will know the truth and I’m sorry there is no convincing you all the truth.”

Your truth or Gods truth?

Gods

Well, to me it’s always been this:

Knowing God is great, but having a relationship with Him is even greater! I know it sounds preachy but it works! God can be your best friend, your Father, your everything, and just as you would talk to your friend or your father, so would you talk to God, but how would you do that? The answer is prayer. Any form of prayer is a form of communication with God, whether it’s just one word or a sentence; no matter how long or short the prayer is, it counts.

That’s all, of course, my opinion.

=)

Peinrikido – I love that!

@Steverpeeps, thank you!

=)

I love hearing about those who love God! lol

Me too! =D

Who else would you pray to (not that I necessarily do)?

You could all pray to me.

Probably get the same results. Except for my closest of friends and family.