QUESTION for CHRISTIANS?

Question

Ok well I'm an atheist and I understand why people pray. But I don't understand why people post questions asking strangers to pray for them.

Can God not hear one person pray? Or does God only take multiple prayers seriously? Does the person praying, feel better if strangers feel sorry for him/her? Does praying for strangers make you feel better about yourself? Does praying for strangers give you bonus points for being selfless?

Hahaha.....ok now those are some ridiculous assumptions.

Somone tell me an honest answer so I can understand because I'm really curious. I'm not trying to be mean, although quite honestly I'm irked by this.

For any of you non-believers and/or hard core Y!A regulars, is there a regulation against this?

Awwwwww yall are really nice!!!

Answer 1

We pray for "strangers" as you call them, because other believers are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are family, though we've never met. Will will meet someday in heaven. Of course God can hear individual prayers, but we are to pray for one another, and the Bible says that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst them. Even on Y!A. There is power in one person's prayer, but there is even more power as believers pray together. I honestly don't know why it irks non-believers so much. We don't ask you to participate or read our prayers/requests. We don't do it to irritate non-believers or to get bonus points--we do it out of love and compassion for others. We'd do it--and do--for non-believers as well, if they asked.

Answer 2

I am a Christian and know that I can go to God directly however I still feel inclined to ask for prayer. I think the reason is that, in our hearts, we feel like there's a support system when multiple prayers go up to God. Although the reality is that God hears us on an individual basis and we're never not heard. The fact that we don't always get what we asked for doesn't mean that we weren't heard. It's just that there's a bigger picture and he knows what he's doing. I can honestly say that every time I haven't gotten my way, I eventually have come to realize that it wasn't what I wanted that was necessary.
I want you to know that I do pray for strangers. There's people that I see once and feel the urge to pray for them (I just ask God that they be blessed and get what they need). There's people that I see everyday and have never met (IE: people that I see in the street daily on my way to work) so I pray for them too. I know you're an atheist but I'm sending a prayer for you too!

Answer 3

I am an atheist, but coming from a baptist background, I understand that prayers are an integral part of a theistic mindset.

Because God is no something, or someone, whom even the most pious person (or Christian, in the Christian context) can communicate with, prayers are perhaps the only supposed tool for communicating with their chief spiritual head, kind of like a crystal ball is to a gypsy medium.

Your questions towards the idea of prayers all point towards one question really: Do prayers work? Well, yes and no. From my experience, prayer is a feel-good thing: Tell a person that you are praying for him, he feels that hey, at least someone cares to intercede on his behalf. In that sense, prayer works in a psychological way.

However, if you ask me, if prayers do work literally, such as curing diseases or some other "worldly" matters, then no. Try praying for an amputee to grow back a lost limb, and you might just as well pray for peanuts to drop from the sky.

In my opinion, prayers do not substantiate the existence of god. Rather, it is man's vain attempt to communicate with imagined deities, based on the surmise that man is the central object of creation, the star of the show, if you will.

Answer 4

Praying or asking others to pray for you is not about an outside power like God or a spirit changing their mind when they weren't willing to help you in the first place. Its all about changing your own belief and your own concepts. You may understand how affirmations work or setting goals. Prayers are no different. Your own belief is essential and asking others to pray for you is effective because we as humans affect each other by our thoughts far more than we generally realize. It is nothing more than mob mentality, only in a positive way.

Answer 5

I am sorry we have irked you - it was not our intent to do more than to interact with those who share - what you might call - "our belief system."

The Bible tells us:

Matthew 18:19-20 "And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them." --Jesus

Ephesians 6:18 "Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people." --Paul

1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus." --Paul

I hope this enlightens.
Peace.

Answer 6

Yes God hears only one prayer. But the bible also says the prayers of a righteous man avail much. Not that I am righteous on my own, but I am through having faith in Jesus. There is incredible power in prayer, and people praying together is even more powerful.

And yes, it's also a feeling of support, for the person asking for prayer, and it's a loving thing to do, as a believer, to pray for whomever asks. So it brings us both a blessing.

Answer 7

Were two or more are gathered together in my name there i will be in the midst of them. The prayers of a righteous person will be heard. There is two of the top of my head. I only now it works and often times in hard testing I could feel when people would pray for me. In Danial it talks about him praying to God and spiritual war fare going on which delayed his answer. I like to read about the Holy angels and experiences in the Bible.

Answer 8

Yes, God hears all prayer. It is a common practice for Christians to pray for one another to uplift their soul. It is a caring thing to do (or at least that is how it ought to be done).

No, you don't get bonus points. There are no "points." We are saved by grace and not works.

Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

No, there are no regulations of people posting prayer requests...although...it does somewhat fall into the category of "chatting," if the asker uses it as a way to also ask a question, they're home free.

I hope that answers your questions.

Answer 9

Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin. How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him?


Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy. . . . For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin.
Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned.

Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and loving conformity with the Father's plan of love; the same transforming union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us more and more to Christ Jesus; the same love for all men, the love with which Jesus has loved us. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he [will] give it to you. This I command you, to love one another."


He "prays without ceasing" who unites prayer to works and good works to prayer. Only in this way can we consider as realizable the principle of praying without ceasing

Answer 10

If someone were to ask me for a dime because they were short for lunch I would have no trouble giving it to them....
well, they are basically asking me to say a few words....
Surely I can spare a few words, even though I dont know what I believe

I put up with a lot of irate questions from both the Christians and the Atheists - and I get over it.
Try it, you'll enjoy your time here more ;)