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Prayer. Does it Really Work? Why?

Cityboy

Cityboy

Banned
I think at one time or another, everyone has experienced what they call "an answer to prayer." Every religion in the world prays, and claims to have their prayers answered.

Muslims profess their prayers are answered.

Jews profess answers to their prayers.

Buddhists, Hindus, and all other religions claim to have prayers answered.

If all people of all religions have their prayers answered ocaisionally, what is the explanation for this?

What exactly is prayer? I have my own answer to this question, but I want to hear other people's thoughts on this issue before I offer my own opinion. Everyone I have talked to have wittnessed what they believe to be a miracle of some sort or another. ALL religions witness miracles and healings. Since all religions have different beliefs, but all claim and document healings, what is the commonality in these answered paryers, miracles and healings?

If there is only one true god, or one true path to that god, how can all these peoples prayers still be answered?
 
Cityboy said:
Everyone I have talked to have wittnessed what they believe to be a miracle of some sort or another.
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I have never witnessed anything that I believe to be a miracle. Extraordinarily lucky or coincidental, but not a miracle.
 
It seems odd that I'll be talking about religion/prayer since I just posted the mams, but hey.. I am an all around free thinker and doer.
Anyway...
To me prayer is and always has been not so much asking or begging God for something, but knowing He already knows my wants and needs.. so I just meditate on that and trust that I'll get an answer.
We all get answers.. just might not be the ones we want.
I have had many instant answers. Exactly what I wanted, other times I've been totally surprised and didn't get the answer I expected, but after a time.. I realized God knew best and I had to come to find that is was THE BEST answer in the long run.
Case in point.
I wanted a job badly at a particular hospital last year, but I didn't get it.
I was going crazy waiting and waiting, living off savings and my widow's pension for a month.
Then my current job fell right into my lap. :)
 
Well, how is it when you're in conversation with a friend? You talk about what irritates you, be it the boss, a neighbor, whatever. You talk about what makes your day. Might be that new vehicle. Maybe it's how great your spouse is. You talk about what might be happening to mutual friends, be it good or bad. You express hopes that illnesses pass. You and your friend, together, talk about hope that someone's bad experience, whatever it is, will be dealt with and that they can move on.
The GOD that I know is just such a friend. I can ask HIM to look after someone I care about during a rough stretch. I can ask for help for myself in dealing with things that life tosses my way. I can tell HIM all about my day, be it a good or bad one.
My answer to your question
 
There is one true God.
He is Love.
If anyone reaches out and believes in something outside themselves- that Love will never let them down. :)
 
pirate_girl said:
There is one true God.
He is Love.
If anyone reaches out and believes in something outside themselves- that Love will never let them down. :)
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Is it really outside of you PG? Or is it in you, and a part of you from the beginning? Just a thought to ponder. :)
 
Trakternut said:
The GOD that I know is just such a friend. I can ask HIM to look after someone I care about during a rough stretch. I can ask for help for myself in dealing with things that life tosses my way. I can tell HIM all about my day, be it a good or bad one.
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I'd tend to be in agreement with this. While I've not witnessed anything that DaveNay would consider an miracle, I've felt the presence of the Lord in my prayers, I've been comforted by that presence, and I know it is real. We all have our 'crosses to bear' in our lives, each is different and we can pray for help in carrying it, or pray for others to receive help, and we can hopefully gain understanding, peace and strength with these struggles we have, or see in others.
 
Cityboy said:
Is it really outside of you PG? Or is it in you, and a part of you from the beginning? Just a thought to ponder. :)
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God is outside, inside and all around.
I meant reaching outside of your own mind and thought process to something higher, and trusting.... ;)
 
B_Skurka said:
I'd tend to be in agreement with this. While I've not witnessed anything that DaveNay would consider an miracle, I've felt the presence of the Lord in my prayers, I've been comforted by that presence, and I know it is real. We all have our 'crosses to bear' in our lives, each is different and we can pray for help in carrying it, or pray for others to receive help, and we can hopefully gain understanding, peace and strength with these struggles we have, or see in others.
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OK, but why is prayer universally effective? Let's try to make the scope of this thread larger than just our individual experience, although I do want to hear individual thoughts and practices. :respect:

What is the big picture here?
 
Cityboy said:
OK, but why is prayer universally effective? Let's try to make the scope of this thread larger than just our individual experience, although I do want to hear individual thoughts and practices. :respect:

What is the big picture here?
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GOD IS ALL TO ALL.. doesn't matter what religion is involved.
That's just my opinion.
 
The "Big Picture" as you put it, is an Omnipresent God. Our little brains can't fathom a Being that is everywhere all at once, but HE is. We'd all like to have an "in" with some powerful individual. Because of that relationship, we feel like we can be part of something bigger than we are. Ever notice that there're folks at work who try to be a half a step behind the boss? Same deal. In this case, we already have an "in" with God, who is THE Omnipresent Being. Feeling more powerful already? You should.
 
I have a cousin that about 5 years ago started having bad headaches. I had them for about a month before he finally went to a doctor. He had either MRIs or ct scans done and the image showed a mass at the base of his brain that looked like a golf ball. The doctors told him that it looked like cancer. Within a week he went to see a specialist. This time he mentioned that the headaches had gone away. They decided to do another scan. This time there was nothing there. This was after numerous prayers. think whatever you want, that is my miracle experience. Your mileage may vary.
 
Tractors4u said:
I have a cousin that about 5 years ago started having bad headaches. I had them for about a month before he finally went to a doctor. He had either MRIs or ct scans done and the image showed a mass at the base of his brain that looked like a golf ball. The doctors told him that it looked like cancer. Within a week he went to see a specialist. This time he mentioned that the headaches had gone away. They decided to do another scan. This time there was nothing there. This was after numerous prayers. think whatever you want, that is my miracle experience. Your mileage may vary.
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Unfortunately, the man who's CAT scans were mixed up with your cousins was told to take two Excedrin Migraine, and is now dead because of his untreated cancer. His family says it must have been "God's will" that he be taken away from them at such a young age.
 
DaveNay said:
Unfortunately, the man who's CAT scans were mixed up with your cousins was told to take two Excedrin Migraine, and is now dead because of his untreated cancer. His family says it must have been "God's will" that he be taken away from them at such a young age.
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Dave, being the skeptic that I am, I have to ask where your evidence of this is stored away?

FWIW, my mother was given '30 days' to live by the oncologists at the Mayo Clinic and was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. A year later she won a golf tournament at the country club and was cancer free. She did not have the recommended surgery to remove her breast. She did take chemotherapy. I don't chalk that up to a 'miracle' but I do think that faith played a huge role in her survival. She did ultimately die from brain cancer, but it was several years later after being cancer free. Even then the doctors in Chicago and in Indiana had no answers, other than prayer, as to why she lived so long, or how she recovered from the first cancer. As Cityboy asked about prayer and if it works, at least on some occasions it works very very well. Some call that a miracle, I don't consider it a miracle, but I do believe it shows the power of prayer.
 
B_Skurka said:
Dave, being the skeptic that I am, I have to ask where your evidence of this is stored away?
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What evidence? I have no more evidence this is what happened than any other explanation. Can't you take it on faith that what I say happened is the Truth?

If the cousins cancer was cured by prayer to a higher being, then for what purpose? Was God not paying attention to that person for a while, and accidentally let the cancer grow? That's not likely, since the Christian God is all knowing and all powerful. When the prayers showed up in his inbox, did he read them and say "D'oh! Ha ha, silly me!" and then wave his fingers and make the cancer go away? That makes no sense because we supposedly cannot know the mind of God, and therefore would be unable to sway his opinion and plans. Did God think to himself "Drat, I really needed cousin Tom up here, but his family prayed, so I can't have him. Hmmmm, ok how about aunt Muriel out in Phoenix, she never prays, so I'll give her brain cancer tomorrow."

Is it not significantly more likely that the cousin's malady and your mothers cancer are simply not yet fully understood by modern science and medicine and it is not possible to assign a 100% accurate estimate of progression and outcome to every case encountered by the physicians?
 
Sorry Dave, but you stated that the CAT scans were mixed up, that Brents cousin never had the golfball sized tumor in his head and that someone else is dead.

I'm just curious where your evidence of those things reside.
 
No matter what religion you believe in , I believe all people pray to the same GOD . People interpret the bible differently or the Koran differently . They make there own religious assumptions based on that . Some bad ,some good .
I guess i'll find out if I did ok when I get to the gates of Heaven .

And Yes ! Prayer works for me . There is no way in God's green earth that I am start enough to take credit for some of the things that have happened in my life .
 
B_Skurka said:
Dave, being the skeptic that I am, I have to ask where your evidence of this is stored away?

FWIW, my mother was given '30 days' to live by the oncologists at the Mayo Clinic and was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. A year later she won a golf tournament at the country club and was cancer free. She did not have the recommended surgery to remove her breast. She did take chemotherapy. I don't chalk that up to a 'miracle' but I do think that faith played a huge role in her survival. She did ultimately die from brain cancer, but it was several years later after being cancer free. Even then the doctors in Chicago and in Indiana had no answers, other than prayer, as to why she lived so long, or how she recovered from the first cancer. As Cityboy asked about prayer and if it works, at least on some occasions it works very very well. Some call that a miracle, I don't consider it a miracle, but I do believe it shows the power of prayer.
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Prayer is very powerful indeed.
What some of us would call "miracles" do occur when all things medical have been done- and there is nothing- ABSOLUTELY nothing left to hope for but divine intervention.
 
DaveNay said:
Unfortunately, the man who's CAT scans were mixed up with your cousins was told to take two Excedrin Migraine, and is now dead because of his untreated cancer. His family says it must have been "God's will" that he be taken away from them at such a young age.
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I'm with Bob, you state this as fact. It is not that difficult to see that it is the same skull with and without a mass.
 
My mother was diagnosed with emphazema, 6 months later her tests showed no signs of ever having it...............and NO, the xrays were not mixed up, done at a doctors office, not some clinic.

Prayer works.
 
The reports of these types of healings some posters noted are quite common and universal across the globe. Prayer with belief works for the Muslim, as well as the Christian, Jew and Hindu, as well as for Pagans. Do the pagans and Hindu's pray to the same god as the christians? Or could the commonality be something other than a god? Could these healings be mere coincidence? I personally do not think so. Nor do I believe it is a benevolent, unseen god of some sort.

If you believe it is a god, that is not a problem, nor is it a problem if you believe it is something else, because clearly, prayer works for Pagan's as effectively as it does for Christians. This is what this thread is about, the universal effectiveness of prayer. I see prayer as a communication between your concious mind, your subconcious mind, and the Infinite Mind. There is much evidence that our minds are all linked in some manner; I have no idea exactly how, but there are just too many coincidences in life to reject this. Some people have a greater inborn telepathic ability than others, but all humans have it to some degree.

Some examples of this "infinite mind" or universal mind" are when you have thought of a person and out of the blue, you come into contact with them or they call. Could be a coincidence, but then perhaps not.

How many couples who were told they were infertile, then went through the adoption process make the statement: "Wouldn't it be funny if we managed to concieve now that we've adopted?", and then it actually happens? I know people this has happened to, and many of you guys do as well. Coincidence?

I have believed for many years now that you must be careful what you speak because it is entirely possible to speak things into existence. Ever notice how some people speak doom & gloom constantly and it seems a dark cloud hovers over them, and they just can't seem to get a break in life? Coincidence?

The way we communicate with ourselves is responsible for much of our results in our lives, and also responsible for the healings of our once sick friends and loved ones whose brain tumors suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, or whose other illnesses were cured to the amazement of the doctors of conventional medicine. The human body has the total capability of healing itself through the functions of the subconcious mind through concious belief. That's my theory why "prayer" works for Pagans as well as all other religions. It does not matter if you believe it is your god or religion, or mother earth, or the shiney sphere on the pedastal in your back yard, it works just the same. The human mind is capable of incredible achievement, and each one of owns his or her mind and can choose how we use it to our benefit or to our detriment.

That is why prayer works universally for all. The one thing we all have in common is our minds, and therin lies the commonality of effective prayer.
 
The Lord all ready knows what is in our heart and minds.

Prayer is, was, and still is the way in which a body feels the need to communicate our feelings with our saviour and Lord. A way to let out what is either making you happy or letting out your sorrow. . It makes me feel better when I pray. A kind of Stress reliever. When I pray for someone I am hoping that there is more then myself praying, for I feel that the power of prayer in numbers, help that person. Church is good for a person, not only to pray for each other but to learn, just like going to school. I know I do not go to church enough.. So when church is brought up in a conversation, I tell them that, "When I cannot go to town, I sit and pray in the beautiful meadow behind my mountain home. With the view of the Hazelton Peaks beside me. All this beauty created by our Maker."

Prayer Is the offering of the emotions and desires of the soul to God, in the name and through the mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the communion of the heart with God through the aid of the Holy Spirit, and is to the Christian the very life of the soul. Without this filial spirit, no one can be a Christian, Job 21:15 Psalms 10:4
 
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Here's my 2nd Church:
 

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Pigtails said:
Here's my 2nd Church:
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not being one that beleives you have to have a building with fancy glass, that would be my FIRST choice for a time of prayer and getting square with the Lord. Nothing like His hand for making a beautiful place like these.

thanks
 
Pigtails said:
Here's my 2nd Church:
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I would like to make that my first church,,,,, But I will let you talk to my wife about that!!!!!!!! I also know where their is a nice little place in the mtns that has pews, pulpit, and everything!! Maybe I can convince here that will work since part of praying is sitting on something hard and uncomfortable..... So I am told...... Mike
 
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