If prayer works

[talib-al-kalim]

If prayers for peace have been answered the answer must be "No" or "Not now/yet"

I don't believe that God is an extra natural actor. What we know as His Will is the instruction to us to act in the sense of harmony and constructiveness with all . Our prayers don't have a direct influence on the course of the world, they form our conscience and consciousness, and encourage us to do good.

 

[EricPH]

I think God answers prayers in a way that help us towards eternal salvation, rather than solve problems in this life. If you prayed to pass your driving test, how will that help you in heaven? If you prayed for an end to war, how would that help you find salvation. Could the following prayer be a clue as to how God answers prayers?

I asked for Strength.
And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom.
And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity.
And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage.
And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love.
And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favours.
And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted; I received everything I needed.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Sorry, EricPH. I do not believe in God, prayers or eternal salvation.

What we know as His Will is the instruction to us to act in the sense of harmony and constructiveness with all.

Have we not seen the God-willed sense of harmony and constructiveness all the time since centuries?

 

[RabbiO]

I think God answers prayers in a way that help us towards eternal salvation, rather than solve problems in this life. If you prayed to pass your driving test, how will that help you in heaven? If you prayed for an end to war, how would that help you find salvation. Could the following prayer be a clue as to how God answers prayers?

As a general rule, no.

 

[talib-al-kalim]

Have we not seen the God-willed sense of harmony and constructiveness all the time since centuries?

Indeed, we have (as humanity). But everyone, even if aged over 80, is quite new here.

 

[QuietusMaximus]

I think one can only pray for clarity, and without expectations. Whether it's encouragement to act or to find peace in accepting disappointment, it's part of an unfolding that we can't hope to understand to say nothing of seeing its fruition. It has often occurred to me that humanity might be minor supporting characters in a story that isn't about us. Not everybody gets a T-shirt.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It has often occurred to me that humanity might be minor supporting characters in a story that isn't about us. Not everybody gets a T-shirt.

Yeah, we have been here for just 200,000 years out of the total of 4.543 billion years of Earth and we think that the universe goes around us.
(That is 4543,000,000). What egotism!

 

[muhammad_isa]

Yeah, we have been here for just 200,000 years out of the total of 4.543 billion years of Earth and we think that the universe goes around us.
(That is 4543,000,000). What egotism!

How long is a piece of string? Makes no difference.
It is clear that mankind carries more responsibility for planet earth than any other.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is clear that mankind carries more responsibility for planet earth than any other.

A tree fulfills more responsibility than any human on Earth. A vulture does more than what humans do in service of nature.
No animal can compare with destruction that humans bring about on Earth. As I said, 'human ego'.

 

[muhammad_isa]

No animal can compare with destruction that humans bring about on Earth. As I said, 'human ego'.

I agree. We often fail in our duty .. our leaders often fail in their duty.
The greatest obstacle is ourselves, and the love of power and wealth.

..but prayer does work .. if we are sincere, it makes us more humble.
Naturally, our roots and environment also have a bearing on "who we are".

 

[talib-al-kalim]

I agree. We often fail in our duty .. our leaders often fail in their duty.
The greatest obstacle is ourselves, and the love of power and wealth.

the religious answer in many religions, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic practice (who influenced each other) is the independence from the "world"

..but prayer does work .. if we are sincere, it makes us more humble.

If we pray to God in free prayer, before we bring our thoughts before Him, we check them, whether they are really worth bringing them to Him. In this way, our prayers work even before we pray.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I am not for independence/abandonement of the world. We must fulfill our social and familial duties - 'dharma'.
Yeah, before prayer it is like meditation. It can be meditation (just giving your brain some rest) without any prayer.

 

[talib-al-kalim]

I am not for independence/abandonement of the world. We must fulfill our social and familial duties - 'dharma'.
Yeah, before prayer it is like meditation. It can be meditation (just giving your brain some rest) without any prayer.

Abandonment of the world (practiced by ascetics who try to lead a life outside society) is not the independence recommended by the great religious teachers. Jesus, for example, actively went to the people. His independence was mental; he didn't submit to the rules of the rulers.

 

[Faithfulservant]

Abandonment of the world (practiced by ascetics who try to lead a life outside society) is not the independence recommended by the great religious teachers. Jesus, for example, actively went to the people. His independence was mental; he didn't submit to the rules of the rulers.

So you think He was a lawbreaker?? He said render unto Caesar what is Caesars and God what is Gods

 

[wil]

Yeah, before prayer it is like meditation. It can be meditation (just giving your brain some rest) without any prayer.

I see meditation as a form of prayer...my preferred form.

If I were a believer I would not believe in a beseeching prayer...

Much more aligned to gratitude and giving thanx under the worst of conditions, I appreciate life and breath and the angina pain that knocked me out of my chair as I wake up on the floor. One time the last.thing.i recalled.was.getting milk out of the fridge and when I woke up I marveled at how the dogs tongue lapped it up off the linoleum, and gave thanx I did not have to cry over or cleanup spilt milk!

I am appreciative of the challenges to my thinking and understandings that I receive on this site and others...

Someone told me prayer was talking.to G!d.and meditation is listening...the Bible tells us he knows our thoughts before we think them....and if I were a believer that would make me less likely to pray than I am now.

To me prayer is me and my higher self trying to use calm and calm on sense to weigh options and find a solution thru a process similar to meditation...quieting my mind to allow the divine within access and listen to the divine in our midst...our collective consciousness knows...if I have ears and will listen.

 

[talib-al-kalim]

So you think He was a lawbreaker?? He said render unto Caesar what is Caesars and God what is Gods

It's been a trick of his adversaries who wanted him to say something against the Romans. Nevertheless, he found an answer that fit into the message: He confirmed that the official Roman occupants have no share of God's Kingdom. He didn't break the law of the rulers but he disqualified it.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Abandonment of the world (practiced by ascetics who try to lead a life outside society) is not the independence recommended by the great religious teachers. Jesus, for example, actively went to the people. His independence was mental; he didn't submit to the rules of the rulers.

He said something like 'give to rulers what is theirs'.
(@Faithfulservant said it first and more correctly)

 

[Aupmanyav]

I see meditation .. if I have ears and will listen.

Nice post except for the word 'divine'.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Nevertheless, he found an answer that fit into the message: He confirmed that the official Roman occupants have no share of God's Kingdom. He didn't break the law of the rulers but he disqualified it.

God's son or Nabi, who was afraid of Romans?

 

[wil]

Nice post except for the word 'divine'.

We simply have differing understandings...

Divine Mind--God-Mind; ever-present, all-knowing Mind; the Absolute, the unlimited. Omnipresent, all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful Spirit.

There is but one Mind, and that Mind cannot be separated or divided, because, like the principle of mathematics, it is indivisible. All that we can say of the one Mind is that it is absolute and that all its manifestations are in essence like itself.

Divine Mind, creative power of--The functioning of the principles of Being; Spirit in action. Mind is not a thing; Mind is. It is that which, through orderly processes, produces things. Divine Mind first conceives the idea, then images its fulfillment. Man, acting in co-operation with Divine Mind, places himself under this same creative law and thus brings his ideas into manifestation.

divine motherhood--The brooding, nourishing element of Divine Mind, in which spiritual ideas are brought to fruition.

divine order--Order is the first law of the universe. Indeed, there could be no universe unless its various parts were kept in perfect order. The facts of Spirit are of spiritual character and, when understood in their right relation, they are orderly. Orderliness is law and is the test of true science.

~ from the revealing word dictionary by Unity school of Christianity