Are Christians prayers the equivalent of a witch's spells or incantations?

Question

If someone prays for the wrong thing will it rebound onto them the way spells are said to if placed for the wrong reasons?

I don't think Satan is part of the Wiccan belief system, Satan is part of the Christian belief system and of course Satanism is a Christian-based sect because of it.

Answer 1

Seems logical to me. Some common sayings are "what comes around goes around" "as ye sow so shall ye reap". I don't think the Christian God would look on a person in a favorable way if the prayer had bad intent.

Answer 2

An interesting thought, since Christianity and Wicca are bound in a pattern, it could be said that yes Christianity also teaches that to wish harm or misfortune on someone is unchristian. I don't think that will make a dent on those football teams who pray for victory at the expense of the other team though.
Prayer and chanting have been used for centuries to focus ones thoughts on God, as such, it could be assumed by a nonbeliever to resemble at least outwardly the spell or incantation of a witch.
Satanist pray to Satan, Wiccans don't. Please try to keep your divisions straight.

Answer 3

Satan is not part of our belief system. Prayers more or less started from pagan prayers along with their holidays and most of their other beliefs. Christians back in the day looked down on us pagans and tried to kill us all. Nice people.

Answer 4

lol. No, not at all. Spells are a focus for gathering and using power granted by the gods. goddesses, and the earth. Prayer is talking to the big man upstairs.

Think about it this way. Spells are like chemistry. You take A, mix it with B, and if it dosen't turn out right, you end up with it exploding in your face because that power had to go somewhere. Prayer is more like asking your dad for advice- its more of a conversation then a gathering of power. If you don't get an answer, it probally won't hurt you.

Answer 5

They are very similar. The major difference is that when a Christian prays they are asking a higher power for change. When us Wiccans do magic we believe the power for change comes from us and our connection with the Universe. Wicca is about self-empowerment and being in touch with Nature, not bending our knees to someone's idea of the Divine.

Blessed Be )O(

Answer 6

Spells and incantations are the opposite of prayers. Kind of like stealling is the opposite of buying. You might think that stealling and buying is the same thing since they, both the thief and the legitimate owner, leave the store with perhaps even the same objects, but there is a difference.

Prayers are communicating with God, and they are very intimate. They have no power, God has all the power. We must pray according to His Will and desire, or He simply will not honor our requests, sometimes He will not even hear them. This is especially true if we are not God's children, if we are living sinful lives, or if we ask for something that is evil.

A Christian can ask for things that would seem to do much harm, like a famine for instance, in the case of Elijah. But he asked for the right reasons and not to just curse or to have power over the people. At the time, the people would have recognize the fact that a famine is directly related to them doing evil things and rejecting good (and God). This gives them a chance to repent and to avoid God's wrath. Naturally God only honored this request because it was necessary.

Genuine prayers are not for anything evil at any time. They are always for the ultimate good of others, or for something good. They are always kind, loving, and appropriate.

Answer 7

The prayers of Christians are not equivalent to witch's spells or incatations.

The prayers of the Christian have access to God, so they are superior. If someone who says they are a Christian prays with the wrong intentions, like to harm somebody out of malicious intent, then they really aren't a Christian and their prayer will not be heard. They don't rebound like a curse back on them, for they are already condemned.

Prayer with a right heart towards God is effective and powerful.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b)

Answer 8

No - if you pray for something bad your prayer will not be answered as it would not be Gods' will to harm another just because you want Him to but it won't rebound on you like a spell cast to harm someone would.

Answer 9

No. There is not way prayers are the same as spells. I have observed that prayer is mostly a way of self hypnotising oneself into a state where they feel one with their god. Spells are completely different and different for each spell caster. For me, spells are connected with the gods and nature. I would never wish harm on anyone.

Answer 10

That is a really good question and the answer is that they shouldn't be but yes with some ppl sometimes they are. If someone is a Christian, ie they know Jesus as their Savior and are living for Him then their prayers should be according to His will and be for blessing. But there are people who seem to try to work magic with their prayers. They say if you say this prayer or quote this verse you get what you want. That is like witchcraft in that it is trying to use a spiritual power to get what they want, to get their own way. God is not a vending machine and we have to realize that while we can ask for things and can pray as much as we know according to what His word says there are times He knows that what we ask for is not the best for us and so because He loves us he doesn't give it to us any more than a wise parent would give their 4 yr old the car keys just cause he wants to drive.

Even more specifically to what you asked the Bible tells us in Job 4:8 "Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." and in Proverbs 22:8 "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail." and in Galatians 6:7 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." That is true in prayer as much as anything else. There are people who are or say they are Christians who do not pray in love and blessing but in anger asking God to get back at people they are mad at and do things to hurt them,. So because we reap (harvest, get back) what we sow (plant, send out in our prayers) yes the bad things they wanted to happen to the one they were mad at can come back at them one way or another. I know a woman who prays this way in such anger and she is sick constantly and constantly things go wrong and hurt her but she constantly prays hurt to others. She's harvesting what she planted. This is the reason Jesus told us not to be like that. In Luke 6:28 and Matthew 5:44 He tells us "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" That way we are planting blessings and we are coming to be like Jesus who loved us so much He gave His life for our sin so we could have eternal life and freedom from sin in Him.