Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wow, everything you said there was great.

On my own terms, I don't pray so much as people might think of it. I don't really direct anything towards anyone, just towards the cosmos in general. I might use the word "Lord," but that's because that's the closest word that comes towards a ruling force that I can think of. I believe in the power of people, the power of their beliefs. I pray for strength sometimes, and the ability to see the guidance that I know is there for me already.

A lot of what I believe in cannot be defined by words as I know them, I go by feelings towards feelings, in an attempt to attain feelings of peace and understanding.
And I know that prayer, in the form of people's intentions, works. I know that you can send positive vibes, if you will. How much you believe in yourself, and how much a recipient of your prayers will believe in you and be open and receptive to your good will determines the effect it will have on them.

Under the assumption that god is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, there is no real rational answer. When has what feels good ever been rationalized, beyound the idea that it feels good? So, simply, [maybe] people pray to that god because of a feeling (probably some sort of pleasureable feeling) they get. It could be the same as keeping a journal, the paper in the journal, and the words used to describe whatever one is writting about, will do absolutely nothing for you yet, they sometimes, somehow make that writer feel better.


Well, maybe the verbally recognizing of something they need/want, will help with a placebo effect (in most cases though, this would have to be for themself).


Well, if you really want me to, I could try and make a connection between prayer, people, holism, and psychic activity (I don't really want to, but I can try) for all cases. If you really want to see this, just ask; though, be warned, my argument for this will be rather weak, as I am not excellent with holism, or prayer.

If not, can you settle with this? Let's say that person a has fallen ill, and they practice religion x, let's also suppose that person b also follows religion x, and is a friend or family member of person a. Let us also suppose that religion x expresses a need for one to pray to some sort of god. And lastly let's assume that person b tells person a they are praying for them, and person a is completely comprehended person b's statement about person b praying for person a. Now, I find all of those assumptions rather reasonable, also, with all of those assumptions, we can say that maybe person a needed to know that another person was praying for them, or that the knowledge of another person helped fuel a placebo.

When something happens, you get a feeling, these are one of two feelings, good, or anything that is not considered good. If you find the feeling good, it is pleasurable, otherwise, it would not feel good. Now, think of something you find pleasurable. That is what the good feeling is I am speaking of.

Maybe for some people it does!

Really, I cannot know how you experience that which is pleasurable to you, moreso, I cannot know how how you experience any feeling without myself becoming you, (and then we get into questions of am I still myself, and are you still you? Under these conditions).

Is the praying communication, or just communion?
How is it that you feel you aren't alone when you pray?
What do you feel?

I've heard of studies similar to this, however, can you imagine the nightmare of trying to control for these? I honestly think such tests are impossible to control for, and because of that, the conclusions drawn have a large chance of being improperly drawn.

i communicate in prayer, but not to beg.

perhaps it is good for me just to be in touch; maybe it helps me be sensitive to the intuitions of the spirit. (so omniscience doesn't matter for that)

if you are on the receiving end of a pm, do you want it to be from somebody who trusts you, who wants to talk just to share interesting things. happy and sad? i do.

or do you want it to be from some beggar who says, as people have said to me "you look rich, and i'm poor, so give me something, now!"

what a nasty way to pray that would be.