How on Earth can some people possibly believe that formal prayer is wrong?

Question

How on Earth can a mere mortal with a finite mind possibly know what God thinks of the private prayers of another? Sure, prayer is supposed to be most sincere, and we're discouraged from mindlessly repeating words without giving any thought, merely going through the motions. However, the key word is "mindlessly." It's a beautiful thing when a person recites a prayer with all their heart and soul and being.

Is God looking for perfect eloquence? Is He looking for imperfect eloquence? Does that matter so much, or do our intentions matter more? Does God not already know what is in the mind and heart, regardless of the words spoken, even before asking? Of course. Of course.

To judge another's prayers is .

God gave me the gift of eloquence in both spoken and written word, but I could never in a million years write as eloquently as Baha'i prayers. There is no way I could ever be that eloquent on my own. The words REACH ME, so I use them

Formal prayer is A GIFT FROM GOD!!

Okay guys, this question is for believers in God, not for atheists and agnostics. I realize that atheists don't believe at all, and agnostics aren't sure one way or the other. This question is addressed to those who have actually said that prayer is wrong. I'm not talking about prayer, I'm talking about prayer.

Doc, I'm quite eloquent. Very.

Answer 1

I don't think prayer is wrong. I do know that it is a statistically proven fact that one can get the same results from wishing, hoping or doing nothing. So why do it?

Answer 2

Prayer is not typically meant to change events. It is essentially meant to change the one praying, not God. it is fine to pray formal prayers. I don't see anything wrong with it, provided that what you pray is true. Given my second sentence, if you pray that which is false, you risk harming yourself. It would not be helpful to pray a prayer that talks about the leprechaun of the washing machine bringing back all the lost socks no matter how eloquent. What does that do to your mind.

However, praying that your enemies be blessed, that can change your mind in a powerfully positive way, even without the eloquence.

Have a good one.

Answer 3

To those who believe in a God who listens to and responds to prayer, sincere, non-frivolous praying is an activity which fits within their belief system's framework and is a means of clarifying their thoughts to the point where they can perhaps take some action themselves in an effort to obtain what they are praying for. In other words, they would be going along with the concept of "God helps those who help themselves."

To those who do not believe in God, praying would by definition be a waste of time, both for them and for God.

To those who are not sure if God exists, sincere, non-frivolous praying, although it may seem hypocritical, is a way of "hedging their bets" - if it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't, and neither outcome will be seen by them as proof of God's existence or non-existence.

Of course, there are two different kinds of prayers - those which ask for something, and those which are just a form of worship. Many people who believe in God do not believe in worship, or, for that matter, organized religion.

Good luck to all of us, whether we are religious or non-religious, spiritual or non-spiritual, prayerful or non-prayerful, worshipful or non-worshipful. I guess we shall have to wait until the end to find out who is right after all.

Answer 4

I'm an agnostic but praying does have benefits. It allows you to identify the problem and I guess you "could" say God gives you answers. Course I believe you give yourself the answer through rationalization and deduction when you're praying.

Prayer is also a form of meditation which as we know is beneficial for various reasons. It's only meditation if you pray for a long time though, upwards from 10 minutes more or less.

Answer 5

I would love to answer this question!!!

First off, of course you are right God knows what we are going to pray before we pray it, but that is not the point. The point is, we have been given the gift of prayer through Jesus Christ. Why do you think you end a prayer with "In Jesus name"? We are given the ablity to speak to God! You are right, what a WONDERFUL GIFT!!! God is not looking for perfect! Ha, we are not perfect, if we were, we would not have need Jesus in our lives, nor would we need to pray within his name sake. God is a wonderful wonderful Father. No one knows what God thinks really of anything that we as humans know or think or do. God is the one and only Judge of us. That is why we are taught so many times, not to judge one another for we have no clue how God feels about about that person. We are not to judge what one another do, be it prayer, worship, or even the way we live our lives, what we may think is "wrong" and maybe even have scriptures, we don't know what someones heart is, and we dont know how God feels about them. Who are we to judge? Do we all remember in Matthew about judging? That is why we have Judgment Day, and of course, the Book of Life, God knows what he is doing, that is why we are to put our lives in his hand. We are only told to to praise and worship and spend time with God in prayer. That we are not to go out and pray in public, and show all, but to walk into a closet and close the door. To pray to God in secret. But we are told to pray to God. Where does it say we must use our own words? No where. how often do we use the Lord's Prayer? Psalms 21. Those are David's words, but what beautiful words. If it touches your heart and moves you, and you feel the same way and want to express that to God, what better way then in prayer. But remember, not because it is a beautiful prayer, but because those words are truth from your heart. God knows what is truth. :) As for sacrifices, on saw that above, that was the old law, and was different, however, you will see that there are times that people are told to take from someone else's livestock. Read the book of Job. In the end Job's friends bring him livestock, for Job to sacrifice to God. :)

Answer 6

Okay, lets put it this way; if someone came up to you and said that you must pray a Christian or Jewish prayer and no others, how would you feel? This is what the people are talking about. By the way, formal prayer is not a gift from G-d and you are not that eloquent.

Answer 7

Formal prayer is a gift from intelligent man not God, because God is man and man is God, unfortunately man hasn't recognized that fact yet, and he continues to pray into thin air instead of within his own mind where the real power is.

Answer 8

Some Israelites had more to sacrifice to God than others. Others had less, but still gave the best they could in sacrifice. How would you feel of some one who gave a sacrifice from the livestock of another, instead of giving from their own best livestock?

Do you feel that instead of giving the best from your own, you should take the best of others to sacrifice to God?

I am not going to judge your prayer, but being sincere and memorizing the sincerity of another are two very different things.

Read the bible, and formulate your own opinion based on its verses.

Answer 9

Prayer makes people feel better. But I don't believe in god and I don't believe that prayer does anything in the world. It brings people together and allows them to pretend that there is a meaning and purpose in life.

Answer 10

Well that's assuming that this alleged deity known as "god" exists. That's also assuming that he's exactly how a book written thousands of years ago by people who are very, very dead. This seems far fetched to me.