»To whom are people REALLY praying when they are praying?«
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 Register first to vote here. posted by knn |
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| in-my-opinion.orgReligion and Mysteries, from worship to werewolvesReligious & Philosophical TopicsTo whom are people REALLY praying when they are praying? |
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 Strangely enough, a friend IM'd me just as I voted and asked me to pray for her. Creepy.  posted by Tiefling |
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 Whether God or divine powers exist or not would not change my answer. If someone claims they are praying to a divine force then, to all intents and purposes, they ARE. If someone said, "I just spoke to God" - would YOU call them a liar? Even if you KNEW they didn't believe in God? God or 'Divine power' can be more of a technical term, but it doesn't simply mean 'talking to oneself'. There's something more to the conversation if it is directed 'heavenwards'. posted by fatpie42 |
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 I think that when people are praying, whoever they themselves think they are praying to, the thing that works is their wish. When people are praying and asking for something, they are concentrating hard on what they want. They formulate their wish and _really_ wish it happened. Maybe this can be qualified as praying to themselves. When you know what exactly you need and you wish for it, it often happens. Prayers are just another way of formulating the wish and making it work. If they think they prayed to God and He made it happen - fine. Aliens will do too. But I think it's really the man himself who makes things happen. posted by mymla |
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 Quote: But I think it's really the man himself who makes things happen. There are things in life that man cannot control. For example...life itself. 
posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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Quote: There are things in life that man cannot control. For example...life itself. What exactly do you mean by "life" that man cannot control? Now at this stage of developement man can control life too (or at least some of its forms), if you consider as "control" the ability to start, maintain and stop things/actions. Man can stop the life on this entire planet right now. Man can control birth rate = stop life. By "can" I mean has means to do it, not that he necessarily does. Man can start life - by giving birth, by growing things in laboratories, by developing new species. Man can maintain life - in hospitals, or by breeding animals in captivity. By saying that it's the man himself who makes things happen (to return on-topic  ), I meant that it's some power that every man possesses, to different extent probably, to make his wishes come true. I know a few people who, having wished something, get it - not immediately, but soon enough. And as prayers are more or less wishes, it works with them too.
posted by mymla |
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What I mean that man cannot control life is that...well, for example, someone probably cannot control whether or not they are going to be raped, robbed, murdered, in a car accident, paralyzed, DIE (how do you control your own life and death? you can end your own life if you wish, but you cannot extend it.) Just because they WISH not to be robbed or murdered, does not mean that they will not be (I'm pretty sure most people don't want to be victims of the crimes listed above...those things don't happen because the victim wished it to happen). Man cannot just wish and get what they wish for. I wished and wished that my doubles partner could beat the players in tennis today in a total blowout: 6-0, but we ended up with 7-6. If man could control all, no one would be having any difficulties in life. posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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Quote: Man cannot just wish and get what they wish for How do you know? You never ever in your life got anything you wanted? Quote: wished and wished that my doubles partner could beat the players in tennis today in a total blowout I'd say you have to make a wish and work on it. At least by wishing it constantly, or even better - by doing something. By suddenly wanting something you seldom get it immediately. Quote: If man could control all, no one would be having any difficulties in life Sure one would have difficulties in life. First, without the difficulties life would be boring. Second, there would be wishes of other people that could act as counterwishes for yours. Oh ok I don't really know
posted by mymla |
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Quote: How do you know? You never ever in your life got anything you wanted? Ha, like 1 out of 100 times.  Just because you wish for something does not mean it's going to happen.  Quote: I'd say you have to make a wish and work on it. At least by wishing it constantly, or even better - by doing something. By suddenly wanting something you seldom get it immediately. How would you "work on" gaining eternal life on earth? Or not getting raped or robbed?Quote: Sure one would have difficulties in life. First, without the difficulties life would be boring. What kind of a reply is this? It has nothing to do whatsoever to my original statement. Quote: Oh ok I don't really know Oh, now I see the reason for all this...
posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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 Quote: What kind of a reply is this? It has nothing to do whatsoever to my original statement. But it has to do with the topic. posted by knn |
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Not the part that I quoted: Quote: Sure one would have difficulties in life. First, without the difficulties life would be boring. 
posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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Quote: Sure one would have difficulties in life. First, without the difficulties life would be boring. It's about life + difficulties. Thus it's ontopic. People usually pray when they have difficulties. If all difficulties and all rewards are stemming from one's own wishes, then it means that all prayers that get fullfilled are because you prayed to yourself. posted by knn |
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Quote: Quote: Sure one would have difficulties in life. First, without the difficulties life would be boring. What kind of a reply is this? It has nothing to do whatsoever to my original statement. Sorry? It has nothing whatsoever to do with your statement that Quote: If man could control all, no one would be having any difficulties in life. ? How come? I thought your statement and my reply are about the same thing, difficulties in life. You said man wouldn't have had any if he could control everything, and I said that sure man would have had difficulites still. Quote: How would you "work on" gaining eternal life on earth? Or not getting raped or robbed? Not getting raped or robbed: the ways to "work on it" are: avoid walks alone in dark streets, make good locks on the door, watch your stuff. I understand this all pure "earthly" things, but these are ways to control your life. And your dreams. This has less to do with prayers than one could wish, but on the other hand this is more reliable than some prayers. You can pray not to get robbed or raped, and you can do something to avoid that. Works much better. Quote: Ha, like 1 out of 100 times. Just because you wish for something does not mean it's going to happen Nah sorry I don't believe it. I mean, if you take into account just BIG meaningful life-changing things, than might be. But I cannot believe you never got a present you wished for, or never finally could allow a book or whatever you wished for. Count the small wishes that come true, and you will see that you are actually capable of making a lot of things come true. posted by mymla |
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Quote: you are actually capable of making a lot of things come true. How do you know that it is YOU that is making these things come true? Quote: But I cannot believe you never got a present you wished for, or never finally could allow a book or whatever you wished for. I didn't say that I never did. Where did I say that? Quote: Sorry? It has nothing whatsoever to do with your statement that...? Well, your reply answers the question of "Why do we have difficulties in life?" instead of "If man could control all, then why do we have difficulties in life?". Your answer "because it would be boring" ... Quote: I said that sure man would have had difficulites still. You said this in the second sentence, not the one that I quoted. OK, so now on to the non-nitpicky stuff :Quote: walks alone in dark streets, make good locks on the door, watch your stuff So? Just because you do all these things doesn't mean you won't get robbed/raped. It might reduce the chances of it happening, but you can't really control it from happening or not. Quote: How would you "work on" gaining eternal life on earth? And you still didn't answer this. posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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Quote: How do you know that it is YOU that is making these things come true? Because by agreeing that it's somebody else who makes them come true, you take the responsibility for your own life off yourself. This is a nice and easy way of living, because then you are not responsible for whatever happens to you, it's the "somebody else's" will, but a lame way of living. Quote: It might reduce the chances of it happening, but you can't really control it from happening or not. How do YOU know you cannot control it? Oh, well, if you agree beforehand that you cannot control anything in this life, than yes, your life will be controlled by somebody else. Quote: How would you "work on" gaining eternal life on earth?
And you still didn't answer this. Yup, I didn't. 'Cause I don't really understand what you mean by eternal life on earth. You are a Christian, as far as I remember, and a firmly beleiving one. What do you mean by eternal life? If this is physical immortality (hardly), than you should make a wish and become a scientist and work on it. If it is spiritual immortality, than it depends on what you belive spiritual immortality looks like. posted by mymla |
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The time now is 22 May 2012, 07:09 php B.B. |