I hear a lot of people say "pray about it"

Praying is stupid and a waste of time

Might as well throw pennies into a well

how can any one prayer be any more or less valid than the next?

I'm a proud Catholic white male. I pray a lot.

It's a way saying be positive.

What does that even mean?

People get in over their heads with scripture life and think god controls every aspect of their lives and if they pray enough, they'll get what they want

quote:

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At the very least, people who pray are healthier

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And that's a good thing. I'm happy for that.


I just think they can get in way over their heads and before you know it people are trying to heal other peoples bodies through commanding jesus

Sure Jesus prayed. But you think he prayed for good grades, the health of a pet, or any of the inane bullshite I see people praying for on Facebook? Besides, it was probably a little different for him to pray, considering he wasn't a regular joe.

Prayer does not always change things. However, it can change you for things.

Many times prayer is seen as a form of communication by meditation.

There is a lot of symbolism and legend in the Bible. While there are good things in it, a lot is also taken out of context in terms of the meaning of a given story. Those who expect to use prayer as if the Almighty were a "genie in the lamp" are deluding themselves. Personally, I find such an approach to be blasphemous at best. However, there are a many of snake oil salesman out there disguised as ministers who sell a flock on this and make off with their money. For some a-hole dressed in $800 suits, driving $80,000 cars and living in $500,000 homes to tell people who are just barely getting by from check to check that the reason they are poor is that they are not giving enough on Sunday mornings - well those bastards ought to be lined up and summarily shot. There are a lot of churches out there with their own agendas and they don't give a solid shite as to who gets hurt in the process of that agenda. Again, snake oil salesmen with some folks who either need someone to do their thinking for them, or are at the end of their rope and have nowhere else to turn.

I recall when my divorce started. My ex and I had put a lot of sweat equity into that church in our better days. When the divorce was announced, no one reached out to either of us. If anything, they just kept wanting more from us at what was a pretty damned vulnerable time in our respective lives. I remember one person simply said to "trust God". My response to that was "well, that and $5.00 will buy me a large hot latte at McDonalds." Platitudes are very empty.

You pass by someone who is really and truly down on their luck, has nothing, and is hungry. You're saying, "I'll pray for you" doesn't mean one goddamned thing to that person. You give them a meal to eat, and then, even if for a little while, you have touched their lives.