Theologian in Training Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I have been seeing more and more threads mentioning prayer and how pointless it is, how it "does not work," how there are a hundred other things we would like to do than that. The scary thing is, I am not just seeing it in these threads, but hearing it from others all over, devout to those who lost their faith and so my question is then why do we pray? I don't want this to become "controversial" which is why I left it out of the Debate Table and not enough people frequent the Transmundane to make this mean anything. So, I am curious, why do you pray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I do daily prayers because it is the only time that I actually consciously become still and quiet. Our lives are so busy and noisy that it would be impossible to hear God's voice if he did speak to us. Prayers during the day when something comes up that someone asks me to pray about, that makes me stop, reflect, and focus on something besides myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 For multiple reasons. As Catherine said, it is a time when I can quiet my mind and listen. When I can simply speak to God and listen for His voice as well. I pray when I am lifting up petitions, for myself and my family or for others. Something I've been thinking about lately is reflecting Christ more and more. When I'm with others, I subconsciously begin to mimic their accents and mannerisms - if I spend more time with God in prayer, will I not also become more like Him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 (edited) I pray for many reasons ... but the most basic one is, it would be stupid not to. Atheism is based on the principle of irrationality and chaos, so I cannot be an atheist ... and if God exists, then it would be irrational to not pray to Him ... like sitting with an elephant in the room and not acknowledging its presence ... On the other hand, what I consider "prayer" might not really be praying. On my worst days, I've paid very little attention to prayer, and when it occurred to me, it was more like: "oh right, there's You. Well I guess You'll be doing whatever it is You are going to do today." I count that as prayer, but maybe it isn't. There have been times in my life where I wished God did not exist, so that I could stop praying to Him and not feel ridiculous. Alas, reality is reality. Edited March 22, 2009 by Lilllabettt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG45 Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 (edited) Right now it would be so very easy to stop praying: I was liquidated from my slightly above minimum wage position and have yet to find another. I get nearly zero replies for my professional resumes in my field and I'm working on my Masters Degree amongst numerous accolades, continuing education, and speeches at national conferences. So why do I still bother? I still bother because I have hope in the form of Jesus Christ. He takes his own time answering prayers, and it's not always what we ask, but I have faith in him. I once asked him for a sign in my younger days and was crushed when I didn't see that sign right away, but two years to the day afterwards I saw it. I pray because he told us to, his apostles told us to. I pray because like Catherine, it is the only time of the day when I can become still and quiet and listen for him, to try and discern his will in my life. I pray because others ask for prayers, and asking the Lord to help those individuals is a blessing in itself to but add a voice of plea on their behalf. I pray because it is all one can do at times. To pray, to trust God, and to know that his will shall be done in its own time. Yes the conversation may be one way most of the time, but it is worth it to reach out to him, to show fealty to him, to show devotion. It need not be gaudy, it need not be public, it need not say the word "God" fifteen times in a two minute span; to be calm and devoted is enough. I pray to become more like Christ, to try and be a reflection of that love and service. To be a servant to those who need it when possible. Edited March 22, 2009 by BG45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud2BCatholic139 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I pray for a sense of hope and purpose in my life. A simple prayer. "Jesus, I trust in You!" I think the reason why people do not pray is because they are losing trust in the Lord. With all that is going on in the world people are losing hope. Like, "If God will answer my prayers, why do bad things happen to good people." We, as a society, are impatient and expect results fast. Just look at all we have around us...high speed internet, HDTV, fast food resturants. Instead of relying on the Lord, we, as a society, rely on worldly things. What happened to simplicity? "Jesus, Mary, I love you! Save souls!" This simple ejaculatory prayer can do wonders for the whole world. It will help save souls on earth and release souls from purgatory. Trust and have faith. Rely your life on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. God bless you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Because this whole seeming mess of existance cannot be a random bundle of unrelated activity. Underneath the chaos is an orderliness that speaks to a maker, whose idea of beauty is far beyond our understanding, but whose existance can be seen in both a flower and the distant galaxy. Creation reflectd the creator. If the maker were not good, then we would see no good in this world , but it is here. If the maker did not care, then we would lack understanding and concern for others, but that is here as well. And since the existance of God, of Other, is planted in every human heart, someone somewhere MUST be listening. So I pray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Cat Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) [quote][url="http://drbo.org/chapter/49018.htm"][b]Luke 18:1-8[/b][/url] “And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint, Saying: [color="#FF0000"]There was a judge in a certain city, who feared not God, nor regarded man. And there was a certain widow in that city, and she came to him, saying: Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a long time. But afterwards he said within himself: Although I fear not God, nor regard man, Yet because this widow is troublesome to me, I will avenge her, lest continually coming she weary me.[/color] And the Lord said: [color="#FF0000"]Hear what the unjust judge saith. And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in their regard? I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?[/color]”[/quote]Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God, to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need whether for soul or body either through mental or vocal prayer. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved. So the simplest reason we should pray is that God commanded us to pray constantly and perseveringly. There is understanding of course of how to pray well being with attention, humility, conviction, trust, and perseverance. Also, it is understood that God will not grant us anything that is contradictory to His Divine Will for us. For most certainly a loving parent would not grant their children every request they make knowing the better for them even though the child may not be aware of such. Prayers are more for us than they are for God since they allow God to act in our lives and help form ourselves according to His Will or Desires. Some people become discouraged when prayers are not answered in our expected time or in the manner expected. Our God being the loving Creator He is wishes everything that is good for us but sometimes expects us to devote ourselves to in prayer to prepare ourselves for such blessings. Some people make the error of thinking God much like a slave having to do anything that we ask of in prayer rather than we being the servants asking the master of the blessing. At other times forgetting that God does not need our prayers since He being all-knowing is quite aware of our needs and desires but asks us to pray so that we may join in intimate union with Him showing our dependence upon Him. Others then confuse “[i]will[/i]” with “[i]knowledge[/i]” that somehow our prayers are ineffective since God knows all that will come to pass suggesting that prayer is only effective if it could “[i]change God’s will[/i]”. God knows what is to come for He is eternally present in time within the past, within the present, and within the future as a singular and the same God. Therefore, this proposal confusing will and knowledge is something of an error in the understanding of free will. But one of the most heart aching problem that even some of the Saints encountered would be the “[i]dark night of the sou[/i]l” where we do not receive the secondary “[i]feelings[/i]” that accompany prayer. This cross is a heavy cross and most especially when we do not see the fruits of our prayers. Sometimes we do not see how God is assisting us or that our prayers are being answered just not exactly how we desired them. That in the prayers we ask we are actually forming ourselves to see what we really need rather than what we “[i]think we need[/i]”. It reminds me of a story an English Priest (who has a wonderful wit) told in my area. There was a letter to a newspaper editor entitled, “[i]print this if you dare[/i]”. The letter from a farmer paraphrased was: “[i]I prepared one of my fields on Sunday, I then planted this same field on Sunday, I then did all the care for this same field on Sunday, then harvesting the field on Sunday, and finally taking the harvest to market on Sunday.[/i]” Then suggesting that this harvest was good as or better than the rest of his harvest questioning where “[i]God[/i]” was in all of this. The editor posted the message but with a comment beneath it saying “[i]One must remember that God does not settle all His debts in October...[/i]”[quote][url="http://drbo.org/chapter/49014.htm"][b]Luke 14:27[/b][/url] "[color="#FF0000"]And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.[/color]"[/quote][i]This is something I wrote in October of 2007 on this subject...[/i] Edited March 23, 2009 by Mr.CatholicCat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 "Prayers are more for us than they are for God since they allow God to act in our lives and help form ourselves according to His Will or Desires." St. Thomas Aquinas was of the same opinion. Weknow that the Spirit reads hearts, which means there's no need for us to cast our prayers into words so that God can understand them - that part is already taken care of. But casting our words into prayers helps us to remind ourselves of our relationship to God, of what God has promised us, and so forth. I pray to figure out what what I think about a situation, and in the process, that helps me figure out what God probably thinks about it. Although I pray every day now, there was a time I didn't. "Not enough time" is how I justified it, but the reality was probably "Not enough interest." Then I got into a pretty desperate and long-term situation, and that's when I began praying daily - praying to solve problems. I think a lot of people start there. I've heard this called "God as Vending Machine" - put enough Our Father's, Hail Mary's and Glory Be's into the slot and out pops your wish! But as most people in this thread have already mentioned, it doesn't work that way. When I was praying the rosary once - Agony in the Garden - I realized that Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to pray for Him (while He was simultaneously praying on His own). I'd heard that reading every year for all my life, and prayed that mystery any number of times, but it had never dawned on me before that Jesus needed the apostles' prayers. I still don't know how prayer works, but it must do something or Jesus would've just let 'em sleep! Their prayers didn't stop Jesus' arrest, passion, or death, but Jesus still wanted the prayer support. So I, similarly, pray for others; and that's an act of faith because I don't know how it works. I pray for other people and their intentions, NOT by stating what I want God to do for them. I just hold them in my heart. I always need to find the right metaphor to understand something, and the metaphor by which I understand prayer is: My heart is like one of those ceramic bowls that pharmacists & chemists use (mortar or pestle?). I can hold ANYthing in it (my heart) without it getting burned or broken. So I put my problems, fears, dysfunctional relationships, and all the other toxic elements of my mind in there - as well as other people's situations - and then I pray. And any grace that God pours into my heart as a result of my prayer also washes over all of the toxic stuff in my heart, and it washes the other people's intentions, and somehow it does everybody good and nobody harm. I don't have to say separate prayers for This One's intentions and That One's intentions and The Other One's intentions - all intentions go into the unbreakable heart bowl and get evenly covered with prayer-generated grace. I pray not because IT works (see Vending Machine metaphor above), but because I work. Work is important for everybody. Finding the right life work is one of life's big challenges. And prayer is spiritual work. I don't pray TO the saints, I ask them to pray WITH me. I see myself as working (co-operat-ing, co-labor-ating) with the saints, somehow participating in their continual spiritual effort. I do believe that prayer "works" but not in the "I got what I wanted" sense. The lives of the saints are full of examples of very good people who prayed constantly and never got what they wanted, in the worldly sense. (I hear any number of other Christians talk about prayer that way, though, as if God is the gambling machine with the best pay-off.) But their prayer supported them somehow in what they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theologian in Training Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 The answers are as varied as the personality of each posting, some are rational, some are faith-based and some are a bit of both. So, I have a followup question then. Why aren't all our prayers answered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 [quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1814741' date='Mar 23 2009, 02:21 PM']The answers are as varied as the personality of each posting, some are rational, some are faith-based and some are a bit of both. So, I have a followup question then. Why aren't all our prayers answered?[/quote] In my opinion, they are answered. Not necessarily immediately, and not always in the affirmative. Sometimes the answer is simply "wait" or "trust Me". But there is an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 [quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1814741' date='Mar 23 2009, 11:21 AM']The answers are as varied as the personality of each posting, some are rational, some are faith-based and some are a bit of both. So, I have a followup question then. Why aren't all our prayers answered?[/quote] That depends if all we are really doing is just picking our answer and expecting God to confirm it, as if we know better than He. If we knew the answers to the questions we would be God, and if we got everything we ask for I suspect God would be the devil. Nobody needs everything they ask for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theologian in Training Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Cmom, Kinda like this? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AccountDeleted Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 [quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1814806' date='Mar 23 2009, 10:28 AM']Cmom, Kinda like this? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58[/url][/quote] Awesome video - thanks for sharing that! I pray because I am in love, and spending time with Him is as necessary as breathing. Not to pray is to die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 [quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1814806' date='Mar 23 2009, 01:28 PM']Cmom, Kinda like this? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GFayShs58[/url][/quote] Excellent video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now