Could you pray for me, please?

Question

If you're not already aware I'm one of the more firmly entrenched atheists on Y!A R&S. I'm educated to a high level, I have a scientific and historical background, and I've read very widely in both evolution and anti-evolution literature.

However, I figure that even if I don't believe in the power of prayer, which of course I don't, there must be enough of you out there who do that if you can all get together and pray for my salvation, then it should have a little impact. Consider it a sort of experiment, if you like. If I even feel the slightest difference in my views tomorrow as a result of your combined efforts, you have my word that I will report it here. If I become "saved" at any point in the next YEAR, I will give everything I own to the church and dedicate my life to Jesus.

Does this sound reasonable?

Those of you kind enough to say yes, my name is David. No doubt God will know who you have in mind though. He IS God, after all.
_

Just in case my sincerity is in doubt, I have absolutely NO wish to shift from my current set of beliefs about the world and can see no reason why I should do so. The theistic argument for existence is as absurd to me now as it has ever been and nothing has happened to change that. Some of you have suggested that I might be testing this power and that is not far from the mark. However what matters is that YOU believe it works - isn't it? It's YOU your god will listen to - if I had anything to do with it I could do it without anyone else's prayers.

Please don't misunderstand my motives. I'm not "reaching out". I'm confident that in a year's time I'll be as much of an atheist as I have been these past few decades. But your opportunity is here.

Thanks.
_

Oh, and me doing anything in this isn't part of the deal - I'm not going to pray, I'm not going to read passages from the Bible (I've read it all anyway) and I'm not going to look at websites. I'm leaving everything to your prayers. Otherwise where would we be?

Fin.

UPDATE - 24 hours later.

Still the same. I'd have had no idea that anyone had mentioned me anywhere if I didn't trust you completely when you said you would. But nothing has disturbed my usual train of thought and feeling today.

Another update tomorrow. Sleep well.
_

UPDATE - 48 hours later.

Nothing yet.

UPDATE - 72 hours later.

Still nothing, though my cough won't shift. Are you sure you're still praying?
_

PS,

I should probably add that I think some of these answers are really lovely. I appreciate them all. I'm not with you but I do think you're nice people (there are exceptions, but not very important ones).
_

UPDATE - 4 days later.

Still nothing. But to be fair, I think I've probably been too busy at work today to be saved. Things might quieten down toromorrow a bit. Thanks for your continued prayers (assuming you are all still praying - it's David, remember?)
_

UPDATE

Sorry guys, I'm not getting it. I'm guessing you're all praying really hard but I'm sorry to say I didn't feel a thing. If I had I'd have said so, promise. So I'm

So I'm going to call time on this one. By all means keep praying for me if you want, and I mean what I say about if I'm saved over the next year. Perhaps it doesn't help that I'm perfectly content being an atheist, but I wondered if your prayers could get around that. Thanks to all.

Answer 1

I don't think it works that way, BL, I never have. First, I wouldn't pray for your salvation even if you begged me to, because that is something that comes from within your own heart. It can't be hand delivered on a platter, you have to *believe.*

I look upon prayer as I do meditation. It's a way to relax both body and spirit, clear the mind, ease the stress, and provide a way to focus. When all the clutter is pushed aside, solutions to problems seemingly appear right before us --a case of not seeing the forest for the trees.

For others, prayer (or meditation) does all these things, and a little more. Solutions to problems provide the strength to carry on, and that --strength-- is what so many people ask for.

Answer 2

Hi, Bad Liberal

I am very educated myself and I know there is probably not a god, yet I wasn't very happy when I was an atheist. I decided to "pretend" there was a god/goddess and see if that made me feel better. It did. I've been pretending there are gods and goddesses ever since and it makes me quite happy; go figure!

So, what I really want to convey here is that if you are very well educated and have a very analytical mind, then it is pretty much impossible that you are going to EVER TRULY believe there is a god. If you are extremely happy being an atheist, then there is not even a reason to try. However, if you find that you are not all that happy being an atheist, yet you know you could never believe in god, you may consider pretending to believe in god. Yeah, it sounds weird, but it's kind of fun and it doesn't really do any harm, since YOU get to decide which deity you're going to pretend to worship and you can even create your own gods/goddesses and your own religion. This is what I've done, and it's been working for me for the last 11 years.

Anyway, praying that you will believe in my deities would be useless since they only want MY devotion. In other words: GET YOUR OWN GODS!

Blessings,

Vitamin ;)

Answer 3

David you crack me up!!

But I pray that you get revalation of My Lord.
To me :He is as real as the air we breath.

Faith as a Mustard Seed -right?
As you sit here and read this I just ask that God will reveal Himself through all the knowledge and Word that you Know and read throughout so many years,- I hope that scriptures will bubble up and the wisdom and understanding comes to you. I pray that God has already begun the process of cultivating your heart and getting it ready for His Word and He gives it to You as in Great expectation of it coming to harvest through your choice of recieving it or not. I also pray He completes the Work He started.
You will know its like a "gut feeling" kind of pull.
If you gain the Whole World and loose your soul what will it profit?
I know you are a intelligent person and I hope this will be enough since you are putting yourself out there to taste and see if There is such a thing as a Good, Loving, merciful ,Father in Heaven.
I hope its a good revelation and that He will bless you in a good way. Because alot of people have to be at the bottom or something tragic for them to come to God.

Yes, it is very reasonable and you will stay in my thoughts and prayers during this time as you have been. (((huGs)))
******************************************************
I would like to suggest if this works out for you...Please use all that wisdom you have and give unto the Lord not just throw all that He has given to you and you worked hard for-Out. Imean there is an order And He usually requires us being a good steward of what He puts in our hands If He tells you specifically to give away all your stuff then He would have something bigger and better for His call on your life.
======================================
Well I leave it in God's Hands and hope your Life is wonderful.
And you are a nice guy....shhh,I won't tell too many.

Answer 4

The 'church' doesn't need everything you have !
Your Scientific, historical, and scholarly background mean nothing .
Either you believe or you do not . My prayers for you are said.
Of course you have to believe in evolution there is too much evidence to the contrary-who ever said that evolution is not creation-why can there not be Creation -by- evolution.
Would a truly educated person mock such a very large section of humanity.
I will not make a bet with you that you are or, are not "saved" by tomorrow or at any other time in the future.
I will however pray that one day you stop listening to your own voice long enough to hear the small voice whispering "-I Love You " and believe that it is true.
Prayers said !!!

Answer 5

Aw, baby, that won't work. Each person is responsible for their own relationship with God. And giving everything you own to a 'church' won't do much good either (unless you want to buy some priest a new Mercedes). Organized religion is a sure fire way to become an even more avid atheist. In the immortal words of Jesus (c'mon, who would I quote on this subject?) "THIS means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God and the one you have sent forth, Jesus Christ" John 17:3. So Jesus is telling us to Take in Knowledge which you are doing anyway. But you are doing so with a closed heart, already convinced of what is absolute. There are endless possibilities out there. Ok, now where is my free beer you promised?

Answer 6

I hope I am not too late to join this prayer group. I see I got in at 23 hours. David man, I don't know you from Jack, Jim, or Kelly. I love you man, not in the physical way man but I love you just as much as I love my own son. I will pray for you. Having asked for prayer, I feel that God has worked on your heart at least to some degree.

Jesus loves you man and so do I.

Tim

Answer 7

The alien with the funny name above got it right. There is no control group so how do you measure if there is any change? If there is a change, how do you know it was caused by prayer?

FYI, though, the proper experiment was already conducted where some sick people were prayed for. The experiment showed that those who knew that people were praying for them had some positive results while there was no difference for those who didn't know that people were praying for them.

Answer 8

it's not like God is going to force you to believe if you don't want to. He gave you the gift of free will, and He wants you to freely choose to believe in Him and love Him.

btw: prayer doesn't work by strength in numbers. people cannot get together and make God do something just because so many of them are asking Him for it.

and yes, I will pray for you. I pray that you find the truth and accept it. I pray that God will help you turn your heart to Him and believe. and I pray that God will bless you in everything good you do.

have a nice day.

EDITED TO SAY: you know, I don't really believe that you don't believe there is a God. I think you don't want to admit it.

Answer 9

I am not sure you understand the purpose of prayer. We don't pray to see if we can get God to do something in order to try and prove something to you. We pray, primarily, to stay aligned with God's will (although we are told to freely supplicate). I will pray for you since you asked, but I suspect your motive is a little off.

Answer 10

Everyone will pray for your salvation. However, you can certainly dedicate your life to Jesus, but I do not think you need to give him everything you own. He does not need it, he wants you to be happy, and have peace and joy. If you really want to change, start reading the Bible, the new and old Testament for about 5 minutes each day and join a good bible based Church and start going about one time per month and then more frequently. It will grow on you. Or start watching the ministers on TV, Charles Stanley, Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer. Then you are doing something to help you attain your own salvation. Let all of us know the results in one year.