I don't know why people are treating this as an anti-religion/atheist statement. I think both Christians and atheists, as well as Muslims, Jews, and all other religious factions, would agree that one needs to couple prayer with hard work. God isn't going to answer your prayer if you don't put in some effort yourself.
Praying gives people piece of mind. Not everyone who prays sits around and hopes that God will just place what they want right in front of them. People can pray and be hard workers.
Just thought I'd correct in case you actually didn't know which to use, I'm not saying you're stupid or anything it's just that I know people who don't know the difference between "waist" and "waste".
What I see: A post saying that praying is great and all, but if everyone just sat around and prayed, nothing would get done. A mere fact, and not even a very offensive one.
What all the over-defensive Christians see: A post bashing Christianity.
To be fair, the wording is ambiguous and could easily be interpreted that way. It should at least begin with "sometimes" if it didn't want to be controversial...
Ah, well I suppose. To be honest I didn't even think about it offensively until I read the comments.
To me it seems like everyone's just trying to find reasons to fight.
No, it's saying that if all you do is pray, then that's not as good as physically helping. Either do both, or just help. Just praying isn't helpful if you're capable of more (so those who aren't, praying is appreciated).
Why don't people like this POTD? The point of this website is to share your thoughts so it's a good thing that there's a controversial post like this so people can say their own opinions on it.
It's possible that I will get a lot of negatives for this but, as a believer in God, I will say it anyway: I agree that each person DOES have to put in effort and do the most that they can - no one should be 'sitting on their butt.' That said, I still think that no matter what, God is in charge, and prayer can change the outcome of everything. Sometimes you have to have faith.
Not that anyone will read this all the way down here, but there was a study referenced in my statistics textbook that showed prayer helped in vitro fertilization. It didn't directly cause it every time or anything, but it made it more effective. So I wouldn' just disregard the power of prayer. And as repeated however many times above, praying doesn't mean you're not also working to help. Prayer is asking for spiritual assistance, the strength to succeed, not magic wishes.
A study was done on heart disease patients in a hospital and it found that praying did not improve a patient's chance of making a recovery. In fact, the patients who knew they were being prayed for actually had a higher mortality rate than the patients who didn't get prayed for.
What nobody has said yet, which surprises me is that because God can only make a way/make things easier, not do it for you, like you said, so you can pray while you're working. They're not mutually exclusive.
The bible even says that faith without deeds is dead. We weren't meant to use prayer as an alternative to actually helping people, it's communication with God. You wouldn't talk to your best friend only whenever you wanted something from them, but people have no problem doing that with God.
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I also find it completely ironic that my captcha was "Bless you".
I am an atheist, and I have nothing against praying. Although It doesn't help or change the situation, it is more for your own sake then whatever or whomever you are praying for. It can be nice and healing to recognize your hopes for yourself and the world. It is just people shouldn't replace work with praying.
A person gets stranded on a raft in the middle of an ocean and prays to god for help. A fisherman on a small boat comes by and offers to help and the man answers "god will help me". Still the man prayed and a while later a worker on an industrial fishing ship notices the man and offers him help, but the man refused him with the same answer he gave to the fisherman. The man prayed and prayed and a while later a cruise ship captain noticed the man bobbing on the raft and offered the comfort of the ship and yet the man refused with the same answer "god will save me". Finally the man's time came and passed away he asked "god why didn't you help?" God answered him "I sent you three chances, the rest was up to you."
How to have your prayer come true: 1. Be as obscure as possible, that way if it doesn't EXACTLY happen, you can still say that your prayer made it happen! 2: make as many of them as possible! If you had 700 guesses a day for 8 days to guess the scrore of a baseball game, you could get it right! 3: discredit everybody who actually caused the event. It was the power of god! IT WAS THEE POWAH OF THE LAWD ALMIGHTY (remember to tell them that they are going to hell)
I just really hate it when something wonderful, such as a disease being cured or a person's life being saved, happens, and people call it a miracle, an act of God or owe to prayer. Well, ok, but there's also the really intelligent, hard working people who actually did it? Sure, thank God if you will, but also give some credit?
I know it may be too late for this.. but the Bible says that Faith without works is dead.
Let me say that again. Faith WITHOUT works is dead.
So technically speaking.. this post is correct.
Now, heres the part that people have assumed. Prayer is useless.
No, prayer is not useless at all.... unless thats all you do. God can't be expected to hand out favors if you dont work for it.
Like the story of the little boy with his two fish and 5 loaves. He GAVE ALL HIS FOOD. and then GOD MULTIPLIED IT to feed over 5,000 people.
... Bam. therefore good works and prayer would work together. It's not one or the other.
I think prayer is good for before the moment and in the moment, saying while a building is burning you pray to God to live, they next day someone hears about about and pray to God that they are okay, that really does nothing, that moment in time has already happened and nothing can really stop that. At that point you are hoping not praying, say that same person finds out they are okay and praying to God again, thanking him. I think that praying, hoping and thanking are different things. While the earthquake/ tsunami was happening it was a good idea to pray because you cant do anything to stop those things. Now however you can only help, or at least hope for the best. After things are better you can then proceed to thank that things weren't worse. I think praying does work but beforehand or whilst it is happening.
"I don't know why people are treating this as an anti-religion/atheist statement. I think both Christians and atheists, as well as Muslims, Jews, and all other religious factions, would agree that one needs to couple prayer with hard work. God isn't going to answer your prayer if you don't put in some effort yourself." - DanielJames, several comments earlier
I think he put it very nicely.
Also, I do believe that modern medicine is an appropriate alternative to praying to heal an illness.
Yeah, medicine is pretty important. I think you're missing the gist of this post, which is "prayer is useless (and god doesn't exist but im not explicitly saying that, cuz im sneaky)"
Oh, well I guess that could be what the OP meant. I believe in God, but I also believe in free will, so I believe that God doesn't answer to prayers. But that's just me. That doesn't make prayer useless, because a personal connection to God is important in being a good human being (all my opinions, feel free to disagree)
That may be so, but i don't care for my grammar really, at least i'm not gullible enough to think some man lives aboves us and decides what is best for us. Total bullshit in my opinion, all religion is total and utter bullshit
That being said. There's a difference between disagreeing and being disrespectful.
Just because you disagree with something, doesn't mean you've gotta be an ass about it. Religion, whether or not you agree with it, is something that's special to a lot of people. Trying to take that from them is not classy.
@1102372 (Wolfy): And in recent news, atheists have just surpassed evangelists about being the most in your face about their beliefs.
Just so you know, I am a liberal Christian and don't think you'll go to hell just because you don't believe, but you really should respect something that is very sacred to a lot of people
wow did you really just call him stupid because he doesn't share your beliefs? Way to go! earlier people were fighting about the fact that aetheists were pushing their religion and now your calling people gullible and stupid for not thinking that someone is controling our lives like a vantriliquist?
Ok im not going to really say that prayer doesn't work...but there is no proof that god is up there, even exists, or is listening. And don't say the bible says he is because the bible was suppossedly written by humans and humans have proved again and again that they lie....also Getting up and doing something will help much more than just sitting and praying in church. I am not Aethiest I am not Christian. I am an eclectic and so I can say that praying can help but on its own it isnt going to do a thing.
"Faith without work is dead." from the Bible. So we know that there's no point in sitting on our butt doing nothing. We have to help. But praying gives us the strength, resources, and compassion to do so.
Prrrooobably not the best place to make the correlation, but as an atheist, praying actually reminds me a lot of the Placebo Button effect - you do this one little thing and hope it does something, so when that thing happens, hey, it worked!
I hate to add to this long chain of debates, but I just have to say I think a lot of people are missing the point of prayer. Its not to get God to notice that there's an issue, or convince God to give you what you want, it's to form a connection with God and stregnthen your relationship with Him. God already has a plan and a will for everyone's life, so praying is not going to change what he has already planned. Praying is just showing God that you love Him enough to submit your will to His plan and sacrifice time to spend in communion with Him and give Him a chance to renew your spirit with His peace. That's all :)
I'm not opposed to asking God to intercede on my behalf or the behalf of others in prayer. But I do agree that that's no what it's all about. Prayer is much more than just making requests. What kind of relationship would that be? I ask questions, give praise and just generally communicate with God when I pray. An above poster had it right when they said that prayer above all else is about having communion with God. Taking time out of the day to actually speak to him. And you're right. If it's not in his plan it's not going to happen. Doesn't hurt to ask for strength or help though.
Prayers do work, but not all the time. What the post is talking about is that you can pray all you want, if, let's say that there is a homeless person you see a lot in town who has no food or blankets. You can pray as much as you want, but if you buy some food and give some old blankets to them, you'll do a lot more help.
I say help out if you can, and pray if you can't.
Let's use Japan for an example. People that have the ability to go over there and help, go for it. But if someone doesn't have the physical or financial ability to go to Japan, then they can pray.It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Faith is active and NOT passive. So you shouldn't just sit around waiting for something to happen after praying. You should actually go out and do something about it.
I'm not technically an athiest. I'm not wuite sure He is real. I'm kinda that 'I need proof' person. But since talk of God has been in history and they have churches and all, it sounds like it must be true. But it sounds strange and improbable to have a man who knows everyone's feelings and can solve anyones problems. So basically I'm iffy.
God uses people to do his work. Most of the time, God will answer prayers through the people around us who have a heart to serve Him. God is not a vending machine. So as Christians, we can pray for situations which we have little control, and serve in the spirit of love when we can.
Praying is all well and good for some, but I do believe that paying/helping/volunteering etc. will do more, really.
Doesn't mean you can's pray, but if you can do more, then do more.
No one is bashing prayer. They're saying that if praying makes you feel better, that's fantastic... go for it. Who knows? Maybe it will make a difference. But getting off your ass and helping will definitely make a difference. There's no maybe in that.
Prayer = putting actions, hopes and thoughts into words.
Both are essential, but when a loved one is sick, etc. there isn't a way to "get off your ass" and I find it extremely hurtful to say that those who pray are just lazy. I have a friend who just lost her mother to cancer, she's 13 and her sister is 10. There was nothing anyone could do but pray and to think that anyone would bash that in any way is terrible.
Even though I'm religions, I agree. I don't think we should automatically turn to prayer. If God gave us everything we wanted, life would be meaningless.
Right, here's an idea for you all: How about we work first, do something with our hands, our money, resources, get things done by working, then pray later?
That's completely ambiguous, I'm not taking sides. But to interject my own opinion, what I said above for sure better than praying, and saying, "Look it worked!" when more resourceful, more helpful people are doing what you should be.
has everyone forgotten that the poast said CAN not will. also, Mods, Anthony, I love the controversional potds. Not that it's up to me, but if it were, more posts would evoke such rich argument out of people. It doesn't aways have to be religion, but...yeah...I love this. Regardless of wehre I stand.
it makes things interesting, no? i actually think when it gets down to it amirite is very much about controversy, as essentially we're arguing which side is better: Yes, No? Me, You? i like hearing everybody's opinions and takes on things, even if i may not completely agree with them :) when it's heated it's fun and stupid and personal and riveting :P don't let the animosity depress you!
Well, we just had a track meet against a religious school who sat around and prayed, and they got OWNED.
...Sorry. I couldn't help but get that in there. In all seriousness, though, I am an atheist and I have nothing against Christians or whoever. Sometimes I envy those who can hold onto something through sheer faith but my mind just doesn't work that way. I believe that prayer does more for yourself and peace of mind, which is productive in its own way I supppose. And obviously, working and prayer /can/ go hand in hand.
I'm not going to say that prayer's completely useless. For example, if a religious man in bad condition in the hospital is told by a loved one, "I'll pray for you," I believe he will have higher morale and be more likely to get better. Did God help him get better? No. Did knowing his loved ones care for him and thinking God was helping him get better help him get better? Probably. So praying would help in that instance.
Anyway, about the topic, if you're actually trying to do good for someone, you can pray all you want, but don't just pray, give a hungry man some food, help build a house for a family without shelter, and take your sick children to the hospital (faith healing really bugs me because it's torture of the helpless.)
Religion does bring about mission trips and community service and the like. I don't care how, why, or whether or not I agree with you, but as long as you're (ACTUALLY) helping your fellow man, I don't care if you're religious and want to do it in a deity's name, or are atheist and want to do it out of the goodness of your own heart (Not at all saying religious people don't do things out of the goodness of their heart.)
That is a very good point. Personally I am not very religious so that's why I created the post, however I do believe that religion and praying can bring someone's inner self to be at peace and help them that way. What i intended to portray was that praying often doesn't directly help out other people. However, knowing someone is praying for you and showing you that they care about you through this method, may be helpful as it makes the person feel better, which in turn causes them to be physically better. Similar to the concept that if you stand up straight and take the frown off your face, you instantly feel better, although you may still be bitter.
And the post was just trying to say that actually doing something physically about a situation is better than only praying about it. However, if you do both, I have nothing against praying.
a thousand hands clasped in prayer can eventually lead to actions a million times more thought out and conscious than two hands acting without regard to the world around them and within them
for me prayer means meditation, means drawing oneself inward for some time to find clarity. the original post for me means that Just Doing is forever better than marinating ideas and feelings out from within. but i like to think that prayer, meditation, w/e brings a certain energy and empathy to the world that mere action cannot.
(32)Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.(33)But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33
When God commands Jesus to go and get his children, will you be walking back home with him?
I just have to say that two hands clasped in prayer have instantly healed someone of a spleen infection and someone else of a sprained ankle twice (I witnessed these things). On top of those things, prayer does unseen things that no two hands can do like move hearts and change minds, weaken demons and their strongholds, move God's heart and lay claim of victory over sin and death. I know I don't pray as much as I should, but I know that my prayer is more effective than anything I can do with my own two hands.
No offense taken, but dude, miracles are For Real and they're all over the place. I've been favored enough to see a few, but I know that it was God's hand which accomplished those things and not my own.
Joke? These aren't jokes bro. I'm telling you what I've seen and heard; in other words, in a legal proceeding, the things I'm telling you would be recognized because I was there when it happened. Would I lie?... If I was lying, why am I pointing to God as the one with the power and myself as a fortunate witness? Dude, I am nothing awesome or powerful, but I have seen how Good God is, so I'm just trying to proclaim His Glory.
His glory doesn't exist. God was created to explain shit people can't understand, but eventually, we will know all and the need for God to exist anymore. Praying has never done shit for anyone. If you claim to have "witnessed" these "miracles" you're lying through your teeth or you have some damn good weed.
ya'll are retarded.
i bet most who voted up haven't ever prayed before, and if they have obviously not enough to see how much it can do.
but i'll pray for you! :D
You dolt! Praying has done nothing for anybody, I'll pray my keyboard works properly hmm... NOTHING HAPPENED! You're just a fool blinded by religion to stupid to realize you're praying to a god that can't here your pleas for help.
Lol lol lol lol.
Praying is not telling God your wishes and getting them granted.
Did you even read my previous comments? Religion is nothing. I have a relationship with a living God.
You are so blind and oblivious to everything! I wish there was a way to beat the shit out of you via Internet, but alas, I'll have to settle with arguing. The fact that you honestly believe in what you're saying proves your diet consists of bleach and paint chips. I love how with each comment you think "Yeah, I got this guy good, he'll never get a legitimate argument for this." Praying is exactly what you said it isn't. When I hear someone pray I hear "God, please grant world peace/Watch after ___/Let me win the lottery etc." That sounds like wishes to me. Your argument is the worst I've ever heard, "The Bible is real because I've read it, LOLZ!!!!!!111!!1!!". Well, I've read The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, huh, no wizards or lions here. There is so much stuff that disproves God every single day. You just deny all contradicting evidence and accepting the evidence that helps your beliefs, you know who else does that? Facists. Finally, why are you not following your gods wi...
First off... I'm kind of repulsed by the fact that you just said you want to beat the shit out of me. Simply for what I believe in. What have I done to you with my faith? I believe in peace and love and also God. You may disagree, but wanting to beat me up... You are simply pathetic. And what gives atheists a bad name. I am at least smart enough to know they are not all like you. I hope God blesses you.
Have you heard me pray? Yes I may ask for things, but they are not a wish list for God. When I pray I repent for my sins and also thank God for everything I have.
No, not for your beliefs, for your incredibly condescending attitude towards me and all of the others that don't believe. "I'll pray for you." TRANSLATION: "You're all going to hell but I'll still pray for you so I look like a good person" If I wanted to beat the shit out of you simply for your beliefs, then I'd have killed every single person at my (Catholic) school. Besides, I don't have to even put together an intelligent argument anymore, God put one together for me. So, be in silence woman, for I am automatically correct because I am a man, and you are a woman. Troll out.
MY attitude? Okayyyyy. You need some serious help dude. I'll just pray for you more :)
And no, I'm not the one who judges who goes to hell or not.
You being a man has nothing to do with anything. I love how you think you're 'winning' this argument, when you are the one that's pissed off and going off topic.
Bitch I've won! 1 Timothy 2:11-14 "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." So, why are you teaching me? Do you think you are greater then the Bible? So how does it feel, tell me, to worship a god that thinks you're inferior to me simply because you're a woman. You know what that's called? SEXISM. If you met a sexist on the street, you'd think he's an asshole, right? Well, that's because your god's an asshole.
You know what else the "good book" tells us to do? Kill: Homosexuals, (Lev 20:13) Adulterers, (Lev 20:10) Women who are not virgins on there wedding night, (Deut 22:13-21) Disobedient children, (Deut 21:20-21) All non-Christians, (Luke 19:27) Those accused of wickedness by to people, (Deut 17:2-7) Anyone who works on the Sabbath. (Exod 35:2-3) Slavery: God supports slavery, (Lev 25:44-6) How to sell your daughter has a slave, (Exod 21:7-8) How to beat your slaves, (Luke 12:42-8) To mark your slave you must drive an awl through his ear. (Deut 15:17) Justice: If a guy suspects his wife of cheating, he should serve her a poisoned drink and if she becomes malformed then she is cheating (Num 5:12-31) forty two children mauled and killed by bears for calling a prophet "baldy" (2King 2:23-4) You should beat your children with a rod. (Prov 23:13-4) Quotes from Christ: You should hate your family, (Luke 14:26) Those who abandon there families will be rewarded. (Matt 19:29)
You may be wondering, do these laws still apply? Well according to Christ: "Every 'jot' and 'tittle'." So I guess I'll go around lynching queers, runaway from my family, Buy and beat some slaves, beat children with a rod, and so much more! Thanks Christ.
I suggest reading the whole chapter before taking little parts out of context.
Jesus was the one who said 'he who is with out sin cast the first stone' and no one stoned the prostitute.
You should read the whole thing before you throw bible qoutes at me.
The devil did the same thing to Jesus in the desert. He qouted the scripture to Jesus! Wanting him to fall into temptation. But Jesus was wise and gave qoutes from the scripture right back.
Again, the name calling and rudeness is very unnecessary.
There's a ton of places in the bible where women do something great for God. Ruth Esther Mary all those women who did great things in the war, there's a lot of women in the bible. And Jesus definitely cared for women if you read the gospels. So many of His miracles were healing women. And he forgave a lot of prostitutes and changed their lives. There was Martha and Mary of magdalene. Both God and Jesus shows their love toward woman.
Men were more respected back in the day, not only in the bible but EVERYWHERE. In America too, we were not even aloud to vote. SEXISM. so don't push it all on the bible. God loves both men and woman. So your 'point' is invalid.
So you think your word is better than your God's, huh, interesting. I also know that men were more respected then women a hundred years ago, but the world got over it. You know who didn't? Religion. I also like you telling me I'm "name calling" when you just compared me to Satan and yourself to Jesus. Now be in silence woman, for I am a man, meaning, you are wrong and I am right!
I grew up in a Christian household. Religion never did a thing for me at all, and now I'm proud to be an atheist. I don't really want your prayers, either, considering mumbling to yourself doesn't really solve anything...
i agree with miss_tucsoinnn. I grew and am still growing in a house with a mother who prays and such and i did until a year or so ago.Religion is not worth NOTHING. The fact that you said that makes you sound stupid. Your saying that prayer is what you need to do, but that is part of religion! so Pug you have just created an oxymoron! I am not aethiest so don't say it. And "God" is not going to be able to do much if acording to ur logic he is the one who made it happen in the first place! Don't pray for me because i can handle my own thoughts and actions.
Either way, I don't believe in your fictional being in the sky. When I was young and impressionable I did everything I was supposed to to be near "god" and nothing really happened. Besides, I'd feel safer being in a relationship with something I could recognize as being there. I'd rather be tight with the wind. At least you can feel that.
I know you never said you were. sigh you obviously don't get my point.
I know there is a heaven because that's what I beileve and the bible says so too.
if that is what you believe then thats what you believe but the bible was written by humans...who tend to lie. I am not saying the bible is a lie but that some COULD be exagerations. Also then your comment was totally randomly placed
I have not read the whole thing. I have only read parts but that still doesn't give much of explaination. all i am saying is that you have no PROOF and also it WAS suppossedly written by his disciples and therefore written by humans. and that ,pug, leaves room for mistakes and exageration of the facts.
ALSO if you think writing a check [or texting to give 10 bucks to japan] is DOING something, you're an idiot. How about you go there and hand out food or something? yeah thats what i thought.
Those of us who can't just drop everything we're doing and go off to Japan donate money. It's our way of doing something. And yes, it helps, every little bit helps.
If that's what you think that's fine. However, take the tsunami in Japan as an example. So you would rather pray, and wait for a response from god, rather than help them immediately, and save as many lives as possible. You would rather hope that god will make everything better, with some time between your prayer and his actual help, than help now.
And I hope everything turns out well in Japan. I hope everyone could help out in any way they could (even praying, if that's what you think will help), just to show that you are human and that you do care. They are in a difficult situation, and any help is good help.
I wasn't saying that I favor one, just that they both count. No, I would rather try to help them myself and with others than pray first. People can only work so hard, try so hard, then comes god
God knows everything. He knows if you care and to what extent. You shouldn't be doing things in His name just to prove to Him or other people that you believe. The idea is that you should do these things out of LOVE for God because GOD IS LOVE and he wants you to care for others.
Seriously, it doesn't have to be one or the other. You shouldn't just do nothing, you must physically do all you can. But praying never hurt anyone, either. At the end of the day, God is in charge.
guess you don't know that the only two hands that can do more than 1,000 hands in prayer are God's. My actions AND praying hands accomplish more than you ever could.
How was that sadistic? And of course mission trips help people. It's just that praying alone doesn't do much, other than make the person who's praying feel better.
How am I wrong?
A mission trip coincides with what I had said (actually helping someone) and you don't need to be religious or even have to pray to go do that.
In A WAY, frozen carrots is correct. The bible talks about faith and deeds. It says what worth is your faith if it is not followed with deeds. This basically means that you can't just say please god let me be rich and famous and then not do anything to make yourself rich and famous and expect god to do all the work.
Some things though can only happen through prayer. Such as a family member being sick . I have witnessed miracles happen before my eyes that could have only happened with prayer and faith
Lolwut. You told me that I needed to get off my ass, I'm saying I DO get off my ass. Just because you pray doesn't mean you don't do anything to physically help....
I don't think people ever mean 'just sit on your ass and pray'. No, when people say pray usually it's "in addition" or "because their is nothing else you can do".
Initially, you didn't say anything about doing mission trips in addition to praying. As Coday said, we're talking about people who only pray. That's what the OP said.
Either way, our point is, praying in and of itself is futile. And when people say, "Pray for those in Japan," that means ask god to help them out. That doesn't have the slightest implication that you're ALSO donating or going on mission trips or whatever. Mmkay?
Hmm. You're silly. Not everyone can afford to help therefore they pray. Those that can help, should help. Those that can pray, should pray. You're creating a conflict where it doesn't exist.
So cute! You're one to talk, starting the conversation with a condescending comment in the first place. But whatever, I think I've made my point pretty clear.
Did you watch the video that Coday posted? You might learn something :)
She won't watch it.
She'll go on about how prayer works, and that devastations like Haiti and AIDS in Africa was "proven" to be helped by prayer, but not much through donations and volunteers.
Funny world isn't it?
I watched that video. and, i completely understand the concept. There's no evidence of praying actually working! But that doesn't mean praying is useless. One could say that God knew that those things that the people in the study were "praying" for were for a survey, and said "let's make the results even, as a test of faith for those who believe in me". If God is all powerful, then i think it would be pretty tricky to slip one by Him like that. Besides, praying might be useless, but it's the thought that counts, pun intended
Also, not all prayers necessarily get answered. So it's not exactly an either it works or it doesn't situation. In the Christian faith (or at least what I believe) if it doesn't coincide with God's will it's not going to happen.
because Prayer isn't just about putting requests. What kind of relationship would that be? It's about taking the time to speak/communicate with God. You can praise, thank and express your feelings to God and it's still a prayer.
Also, if you are living according to God's word, you'd want God's will to be done. I believe that your prayers will start to fall in line with that.
I can honestly say that praying has made a big difference in my life, and you have no right whatsoever to tell someone that their prayers aren't effective.
Your argument and reasoning is faulty. You're acting as if the theory if prayer has to be disproven first, before being proved. Which even you must see how illogical that is.
Now seeing that this is how you think, I understand why many would get a "facepalm" from reading your comments.
>> If you can say prayer works without having to provide any proof but unbacked stories, then why can't we do the same to disprove it? We do we need concrete proof but you don't? Pathetic.
Well, what I REALLY wanted to do was post one of my other comments, but, I already posted on this post so I'm like "Fuck, I guess I'll just have to show this person my disagreement with her beliefs with a stupid ass, badly worded post." Not necessary? Yes, but I'm a guy who likes to troll people with his honest beliefs.
Well if you honestly think I'm a religious fag, I apologize-but I had someone comment something along the lines of "take your bitch aunt off of life support" or something, so yeah, I took some stuff a little more personal than I should've. But, I get what you're saying.
Well I usually don't mind religious people, but when I saw "You've obviously never seen the power of prayer" I could not stop laughing, so I thought that I just had to get in on that.
I can't believe yoour comment got voted down so much and I also can't believe what these people are saying. You're right, praying does work wonders I've experienced it too, many times.
For all you bitchin out there,ITS JUST A POST! Dont spend the whole day arguing about it. Its not worth it because there will always be different opinons. God doesn't want you to argue on the computer when you could be up doing somthing to HELP.Prayin is not stupid. Or dumb. Or whatever crap you want to call it. In my opinion, when you can actually help, go help. But for things you don't belive you could do yourself, ask help from God. No "proof" should b needed for all you non-belivers because we have proof. In our hearts. And NOTHING you can say will change our minds. SO EAT THAT.
This REALLY pisses me off. There is such a double standard here it's just ridiculous. Everyone complains about forcing ideas and trying to convert people from their beliefs, but only when it's not the same belief as their own.
This guy posts a link to an atheist video to tell all Christians how they're wrong, and he gets a +3 rating on his comment, but what would people say if I gave a link to a video showing how all atheists are wrong? Oh, then I'm forcing my beliefs on you, and everyone votes it down.
You can't prove something "doesn't work"
It either is proven to work, or it doesn't.
Similar to the saying; What can be asserted without proof, can be dismissed without proof.
Your'e right, that wasn't a great argument you just had. Because your reply was one of the most half-assed thing I've seen on Amirite.
no that's not what I'm saying. Read my words carefully next time. What I'm saying is, if you haven't proved it, you can't ask others to disprove it.
You statement about the tree makes no sense. If a tree falls in forest and no one is there to hear, then how do you know it fell in the first place? That's the thing about not knowing; NOBODY knows. And what is asserted without proof about the unknown, can be dismissed without proof.
It stupid how you can say prayer works/ God exists without giving any proof, but you expect proof when it comes to disproving it. You speak out against double standards, but you have no problem giving them put yourself.
Thank you. Exactly. And I don't believe prayer is just black or white. It also depends on God's will as well and your faith in it. Praying for something doesn't automatically mean you're going to get it. Not praying for something doesn't mean it isn't going to come to you.
My aunt with cancer was given two weeks to live two months ago. She wants to make it to see her daughter graduate, we've all been praying like crazy, so far doctors are astounded.
Ever hear of odds? Odds are if i flip a coin 2 times, one will be heads, one will be tails. That doesn't mean i can't flip a coin 500 times and have it land on heads every time. It just means it's unlikely. Odds are, some people are going to die from illnesses. Doesn't mean they always will just because they have it. Everyone is different.
I wouldn't call that odds, fact is she was given two weeks to live. Listen, I'm not trying to prove prayer works and it seems you are set in disproving it, an argument is not my goal at all. I'm just saying prayer can't hurt and people who say "pray" are not talking about not doing anything alongside.
Actually, most prominent philosophers and theologians agree that if an infinitesimally improbable event such as the coin landing on heads all 500 times occurs then that is evidence for a deity. If a deity exists then it would only logically follow that prayers are beneficial.
So... How about you keep praying for her while I turn the life support off, stop her chemotherapy, or not let the doctors help her and we will see how your bitch of an aunt survives.
That is just as easy to say as, "My friend with depression jumped off a cliff, halfway through he regretted it and prayed for a parachute. God has gifted him with a parachute and another chance to live." Honestly, you can say anything has happened and without proof, theres not a very high chance it has.
That a video about atheist beliefs would be welcomed, yet a video about Christian ones wouldn't.
And I don't reckon it would be forcing Christian beliefs on someone on an appropriate post - this post is clearly going to be full of comments about religion.
If you post a post that Atheists are wrong, then you'll get Atheists that speak against it, and some Christians who speak for it. There is no obvious double standard which you claim. Unless you truly believe that if someone posted something against Atheists absolutely everyone would be against it.
Stop assuming one side has all the double standards while the other doesn't. This world isn't black and white; it's unfair for BOTH sides.
That milk jug video is stupid. I agree wholeheartedly with this post, but most people (including myself) don't pray because it's logical, or even because they think it will work. It's because something deep inside them has faith that there's something more, and we feel they can connect with that something more. It's ridiculous to choose prayer OVER getting off your ass and actually helping someone out, and I don't think prayer is at all necessary in making a difference in the world. But if someone is going to pray, that's not hurting anyone. Who are you to tell them not to?
That really can't necessarily DISPROVE prayer. Nor can it disprove God. That's just the Christian God. What if God is not really a being who would want to answer prayers?
He's calling our prayers coincidence. But so is a lot of that.
I don't know why people are treating this as an anti-religion/atheist statement. I think both Christians and atheists, as well as Muslims, Jews, and all other religious factions, would agree that one needs to couple prayer with hard work. God isn't going to answer your prayer if you don't put in some effort yourself.
If praying doesnt work, then how does the praying mantis catch its meals?
lol
lighting speed and quick wit...
instead of arguing over an ontological question, why don't we actually do something that helps people?
Praying gives people piece of mind. Not everyone who prays sits around and hopes that God will just place what they want right in front of them. People can pray and be hard workers.
*peace
Yeah yeah yeah... it's a little too late to change it now.
Just thought I'd correct in case you actually didn't know which to use, I'm not saying you're stupid or anything it's just that I know people who don't know the difference between "waist" and "waste".
It only takes one hand to masturbate
Two is more fun.
Too awkward with two hands, they get in the way
wow...whole lot of tension in here.
tension? in here? hmm... know wha'cha mean
There's going to be a huge sitcom make-out during an argument moment by the end of the day up there.
inb4 massive comment war
OMG IM LIEK SO RELIGIOUS AND OFFENDED
too late.
damn.
Agreed, I'm not even getting into that mess up there ^^
I pray that people will find the true meaning of this...... wait
What I see: A post saying that praying is great and all, but if everyone just sat around and prayed, nothing would get done. A mere fact, and not even a very offensive one.
What all the over-defensive Christians see: A post bashing Christianity.
To be fair, the wording is ambiguous and could easily be interpreted that way. It should at least begin with "sometimes" if it didn't want to be controversial...
Ah, well I suppose. To be honest I didn't even think about it offensively until I read the comments.
To me it seems like everyone's just trying to find reasons to fight.
Yeah, if there's one thing I can agree on, two hands taking action can do more than a thousand people shouting about who's right...
a hand holding another hand does more than a thousand angry hand gestures demonstrating right and wrong and black and white.
No, it's saying that if all you do is pray, then that's not as good as physically helping. Either do both, or just help. Just praying isn't helpful if you're capable of more (so those who aren't, praying is appreciated).
Why don't people like this POTD? The point of this website is to share your thoughts so it's a good thing that there's a controversial post like this so people can say their own opinions on it.
It's possible that I will get a lot of negatives for this but, as a believer in God, I will say it anyway: I agree that each person DOES have to put in effort and do the most that they can - no one should be 'sitting on their butt.' That said, I still think that no matter what, God is in charge, and prayer can change the outcome of everything. Sometimes you have to have faith.
Praying doesn't hurt and hard work helps. If people just used these two things hand in hand, things could get done.
hand in hand.... two hands... hahahaha!
I was hoping someone would get that. :]
I feel like you can't exactly say this is fact considering we don't know the hearts of those praying (from a Christian perspective that's all)
Not that anyone will read this all the way down here, but there was a study referenced in my statistics textbook that showed prayer helped in vitro fertilization. It didn't directly cause it every time or anything, but it made it more effective. So I wouldn' just disregard the power of prayer. And as repeated however many times above, praying doesn't mean you're not also working to help. Prayer is asking for spiritual assistance, the strength to succeed, not magic wishes.
A study was done on heart disease patients in a hospital and it found that praying did not improve a patient's chance of making a recovery. In fact, the patients who knew they were being prayed for actually had a higher mortality rate than the patients who didn't get prayed for.
This comment is funny because of our usernames
What nobody has said yet, which surprises me is that because God can only make a way/make things easier, not do it for you, like you said, so you can pray while you're working. They're not mutually exclusive.
I must say... you have been the voice of reason in this sea of lunatics.
Thank you for that insight, Dr. House.
Believe in God? Cool. Strive for what you want and pray and stuff and you'll get it done. But rarely will you do anything on your knees.
Um... That's it. End of story. Good one-sided debate guys, keep it going. -_-
The bible even says that faith without deeds is dead. We weren't meant to use prayer as an alternative to actually helping people, it's communication with God. You wouldn't talk to your best friend only whenever you wanted something from them, but people have no problem doing that with God.
<br/>
I also find it completely ironic that my captcha was "Bless you".
totally! alot of these people that voted against it are saying what we are but they are confusing it themselves.
The OP made it sound like praying was completely useless and we should never do it.
Not really, they said that doing something is better than doing nothing but praying.
I think you should pray all the time, so I'm not really sure how to vote anymore.
Ok, but do you think you should ONLY pray?
To be fair, the post doesn't say "a thousand hands ONLY clasped in prayer."
True, but my point still remains...
I am an atheist, and I have nothing against praying. Although It doesn't help or change the situation, it is more for your own sake then whatever or whomever you are praying for. It can be nice and healing to recognize your hopes for yourself and the world. It is just people shouldn't replace work with praying.
The second I read this POTD, I knew there'd be some good debates brewing..
A person gets stranded on a raft in the middle of an ocean and prays to god for help. A fisherman on a small boat comes by and offers to help and the man answers "god will help me". Still the man prayed and a while later a worker on an industrial fishing ship notices the man and offers him help, but the man refused him with the same answer he gave to the fisherman. The man prayed and prayed and a while later a cruise ship captain noticed the man bobbing on the raft and offered the comfort of the ship and yet the man refused with the same answer "god will save me". Finally the man's time came and passed away he asked "god why didn't you help?" God answered him "I sent you three chances, the rest was up to you."
Is this from someone's Formspring? I swear to God I read it earlier today.
I saw it on BreakfastFan's
God helps those who help themselves, how's that for an answer?
I can't remember if that's an actual verse from the Bible or not. I know I've heard it before. Care to help me out?
I don't think that's in the bible, but it's definitely true.
No it's not in the bible, Benjamin Franklin said it.
How to have your prayer come true: 1. Be as obscure as possible, that way if it doesn't EXACTLY happen, you can still say that your prayer made it happen! 2: make as many of them as possible! If you had 700 guesses a day for 8 days to guess the scrore of a baseball game, you could get it right! 3: discredit everybody who actually caused the event. It was the power of god! IT WAS THEE POWAH OF THE LAWD ALMIGHTY (remember to tell them that they are going to hell)
I lol'd at the last bit.
I just really hate it when something wonderful, such as a disease being cured or a person's life being saved, happens, and people call it a miracle, an act of God or owe to prayer. Well, ok, but there's also the really intelligent, hard working people who actually did it? Sure, thank God if you will, but also give some credit?
I know it may be too late for this.. but the Bible says that Faith without works is dead.
Let me say that again. Faith WITHOUT works is dead.
So technically speaking.. this post is correct.
Now, heres the part that people have assumed. Prayer is useless.
No, prayer is not useless at all.... unless thats all you do. God can't be expected to hand out favors if you dont work for it.
Like the story of the little boy with his two fish and 5 loaves. He GAVE ALL HIS FOOD. and then GOD MULTIPLIED IT to feed over 5,000 people.
... Bam. therefore good works and prayer would work together. It's not one or the other.
I think prayer is good for before the moment and in the moment, saying while a building is burning you pray to God to live, they next day someone hears about about and pray to God that they are okay, that really does nothing, that moment in time has already happened and nothing can really stop that. At that point you are hoping not praying, say that same person finds out they are okay and praying to God again, thanking him. I think that praying, hoping and thanking are different things. While the earthquake/ tsunami was happening it was a good idea to pray because you cant do anything to stop those things. Now however you can only help, or at least hope for the best. After things are better you can then proceed to thank that things weren't worse. I think praying does work but beforehand or whilst it is happening.
I'm sorry but that is way too long for me to read right now...
Wow, what a retarded post to make POTD. You can have your atheism, I don't give a shit. Don't tell me praying is useless, because its not.
I wouldn't call this atheist. Don't be so sensitive.
Lawls dumbass
"I don't know why people are treating this as an anti-religion/atheist statement. I think both Christians and atheists, as well as Muslims, Jews, and all other religious factions, would agree that one needs to couple prayer with hard work. God isn't going to answer your prayer if you don't put in some effort yourself." - DanielJames, several comments earlier
I think he put it very nicely.
Also, I do believe that modern medicine is an appropriate alternative to praying to heal an illness.
Yeah, medicine is pretty important. I think you're missing the gist of this post, which is "prayer is useless (and god doesn't exist but im not explicitly saying that, cuz im sneaky)"
Oh, well I guess that could be what the OP meant. I believe in God, but I also believe in free will, so I believe that God doesn't answer to prayers. But that's just me. That doesn't make prayer useless, because a personal connection to God is important in being a good human being (all my opinions, feel free to disagree)
Prove that praying works: go....
i agree with this post.
but if, for some reason, someone cannot help, prayers can't hurt.
I feel kind of bad for taking this sexually the first time I read it.
I'm sorry but if praying worked how come churchs collect money to fix old churchs?Couldn't they just pray for it?
This is stupid. We pray but we are not idiots. We aren't asking God to do all the work! That would be idiotic and lazy.
(SlimShady):Yet when you need something he is the first person you turn to. Arn't you a bit too old to have imaginary friends anyway?
Your grammar is whack.
That may be so, but i don't care for my grammar really, at least i'm not gullible enough to think some man lives aboves us and decides what is best for us. Total bullshit in my opinion, all religion is total and utter bullshit
Hey man, not here to argue, just so you know.
That being said. There's a difference between disagreeing and being disrespectful.
Just because you disagree with something, doesn't mean you've gotta be an ass about it. Religion, whether or not you agree with it, is something that's special to a lot of people. Trying to take that from them is not classy.
I was high, i am not usually like that, i might of been harsh and i'm sorry for being rude
Even Einstein believed in
God. Religious? No he wasn't, but to say believing in a god makes you stupid, well, that's idiotic.
@1102372 (Wolfy): And in recent news, atheists have just surpassed evangelists about being the most in your face about their beliefs.
Just so you know, I am a liberal Christian and don't think you'll go to hell just because you don't believe, but you really should respect something that is very sacred to a lot of people
Well, I think that is what you are. So just shut up because you obviously are completely clueless and just plain stupid.
wow that was a mature comment
WTF? 16 days later? I don't care what you think to be honest, i have my beliefs and you have yours, so shut up and calm the fuck down.
wow did you really just call him stupid because he doesn't share your beliefs? Way to go! earlier people were fighting about the fact that aetheists were pushing their religion and now your calling people gullible and stupid for not thinking that someone is controling our lives like a vantriliquist?
Ha. Now, did you make that up?
(SlimShady):Yet when you need something he is the first person you turn to. Arn't you a bit too old to have imaginary friends anyway?
... Because they know it's bullshit. You get a lot of government benefits for having a church.
(Eata_Brain) That's the goddamn point of this post. You have to work too.
Ok im not going to really say that prayer doesn't work...but there is no proof that god is up there, even exists, or is listening. And don't say the bible says he is because the bible was suppossedly written by humans and humans have proved again and again that they lie....also Getting up and doing something will help much more than just sitting and praying in church. I am not Aethiest I am not Christian. I am an eclectic and so I can say that praying can help but on its own it isnt going to do a thing.
"Faith without work is dead." from the Bible. So we know that there's no point in sitting on our butt doing nothing. We have to help. But praying gives us the strength, resources, and compassion to do so.
So you voted no because...?
i bet when you made this post you didnt think it would raise so much controversy hahahahaha
Boy, I sure hope this doesn't start a religious discussion....
Prrrooobably not the best place to make the correlation, but as an atheist, praying actually reminds me a lot of the Placebo Button effect - you do this one little thing and hope it does something, so when that thing happens, hey, it worked!
I hate to add to this long chain of debates, but I just have to say I think a lot of people are missing the point of prayer. Its not to get God to notice that there's an issue, or convince God to give you what you want, it's to form a connection with God and stregnthen your relationship with Him. God already has a plan and a will for everyone's life, so praying is not going to change what he has already planned. Praying is just showing God that you love Him enough to submit your will to His plan and sacrifice time to spend in communion with Him and give Him a chance to renew your spirit with His peace. That's all :)
amen to that!(:
I'm not opposed to asking God to intercede on my behalf or the behalf of others in prayer. But I do agree that that's no what it's all about. Prayer is much more than just making requests. What kind of relationship would that be? I ask questions, give praise and just generally communicate with God when I pray. An above poster had it right when they said that prayer above all else is about having communion with God. Taking time out of the day to actually speak to him. And you're right. If it's not in his plan it's not going to happen. Doesn't hurt to ask for strength or help though.
hah i think you meant to reply to the other person, but i like your point of view. very insightful.
(yasminl) Ooops :) yeah I clicked the wrong reply button. but thanks.
The religious debates here are incredible...
He never said praying is useless, he just said actually achieving your goals instead of bugging God with the billions of prayers he already receives.
Prayers do work, but not all the time. What the post is talking about is that you can pray all you want, if, let's say that there is a homeless person you see a lot in town who has no food or blankets. You can pray as much as you want, but if you buy some food and give some old blankets to them, you'll do a lot more help.
That's just because sometimes shit works if you hope for it because obviously it's a coincidence.
I say help out if you can, and pray if you can't.
Let's use Japan for an example. People that have the ability to go over there and help, go for it. But if someone doesn't have the physical or financial ability to go to Japan, then they can pray.It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Faith is active and NOT passive. So you shouldn't just sit around waiting for something to happen after praying. You should actually go out and do something about it.
Yeah, what Chromana said, why did you NW this then?
accidents happen! hahahaha. Besides, I believe that prayer can cause things to happen sometimes.
Sure, but actually doing something along with prayer will do more... (Personally, I wouldn't do the praying part, but I'm not religious).
basically, faith without deeds is useless.
pudding.
(ArnoldVan Der Walt): TAPIOCA!
(ArnoldVan Der Walt): Chocolate Pudding > Yorkshire Pudding.
This post in other words: Praying/religion is 100% useless!
Wow epic an atheist comment as PotD. That's frikkin ownage.
I'm not technically an athiest. I'm not wuite sure He is real. I'm kinda that 'I need proof' person. But since talk of God has been in history and they have churches and all, it sounds like it must be true. But it sounds strange and improbable to have a man who knows everyone's feelings and can solve anyones problems. So basically I'm iffy.
Hands that help are better than lips that pray.
God uses people to do his work. Most of the time, God will answer prayers through the people around us who have a heart to serve Him. God is not a vending machine. So as Christians, we can pray for situations which we have little control, and serve in the spirit of love when we can.
Amen. Good point.
This is the best thing I have heard today. Good job. :)
...
And you came to that conclusion because...?
Praying is all well and good for some, but I do believe that paying/helping/volunteering etc. will do more, really.
Doesn't mean you can's pray, but if you can do more, then do more.
No one is bashing prayer. They're saying that if praying makes you feel better, that's fantastic... go for it. Who knows? Maybe it will make a difference. But getting off your ass and helping will definitely make a difference. There's no maybe in that.
Nowhere in the post did it say that prayer is good. Stop defending the op, everyone.
Please show me where they said that it was bad, then?
Prayer = putting actions, hopes and thoughts into words.
Both are essential, but when a loved one is sick, etc. there isn't a way to "get off your ass" and I find it extremely hurtful to say that those who pray are just lazy. I have a friend who just lost her mother to cancer, she's 13 and her sister is 10. There was nothing anyone could do but pray and to think that anyone would bash that in any way is terrible.
My dad died of cancer. We didn't pray. He would have died if we had, either way.
He would have died, yes I do know this.
Even though I'm religions, I agree. I don't think we should automatically turn to prayer. If God gave us everything we wanted, life would be meaningless.
Right, here's an idea for you all: How about we work first, do something with our hands, our money, resources, get things done by working, then pray later?
That's completely ambiguous, I'm not taking sides. But to interject my own opinion, what I said above for sure better than praying, and saying, "Look it worked!" when more resourceful, more helpful people are doing what you should be.
@(#1155976): Oh and abcd1234 thanks for your comment, I think that's exactly what I'm trying to point out :)
i love gardening
has everyone forgotten that the poast said CAN not will. also, Mods, Anthony, I love the controversional potds. Not that it's up to me, but if it were, more posts would evoke such rich argument out of people. It doesn't aways have to be religion, but...yeah...I love this. Regardless of wehre I stand.
You forgot "poast". haha.
ah! con-tro-ver-si-al. A lot easier when you sound it out.
FLAME WAR! FOR NARNIA!
on topic: i like penis
...well JESUS LOVES YOU anyway,
and there's NOTHING you can do about it, so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
This is highly offensive to my religion. You, sir, are an ignoramus.
"A load of codswallop;" is it just me, or are the CAPTCHAs becoming much more relevant?
:(
Your pic is my ipod's background
Personally, I see them as the same thing.
but God can do more than either goups
Solution: "God helps those who help themselves."
too lazy to log in right now. but omfg!! so much to fkin read! but i finally finished :D ahh good stuff right here.
i love controversial posts like this.
This is one of my favorite posts of all time :)
Unless you're trying to get the most people praying simultaneously planned only by talking, no hands used record. ;)
Why is this the potd? I don't think it was smart of them to put such a controversial post up here. The arguments are actually depressing me.
it makes things interesting, no? i actually think when it gets down to it amirite is very much about controversy, as essentially we're arguing which side is better: Yes, No? Me, You? i like hearing everybody's opinions and takes on things, even if i may not completely agree with them :) when it's heated it's fun and stupid and personal and riveting :P don't let the animosity depress you!
Well, we just had a track meet against a religious school who sat around and prayed, and they got OWNED.
...Sorry. I couldn't help but get that in there. In all seriousness, though, I am an atheist and I have nothing against Christians or whoever. Sometimes I envy those who can hold onto something through sheer faith but my mind just doesn't work that way. I believe that prayer does more for yourself and peace of mind, which is productive in its own way I supppose. And obviously, working and prayer /can/ go hand in hand.
Can we just agree to disagree?
@1156692 (SlimShady): kay I will be relevant. praying is for fools, god doesn't exist . yada yada yada
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.
I'm not going to say that prayer's completely useless. For example, if a religious man in bad condition in the hospital is told by a loved one, "I'll pray for you," I believe he will have higher morale and be more likely to get better. Did God help him get better? No. Did knowing his loved ones care for him and thinking God was helping him get better help him get better? Probably. So praying would help in that instance.
Anyway, about the topic, if you're actually trying to do good for someone, you can pray all you want, but don't just pray, give a hungry man some food, help build a house for a family without shelter, and take your sick children to the hospital (faith healing really bugs me because it's torture of the helpless.)
Religion does bring about mission trips and community service and the like. I don't care how, why, or whether or not I agree with you, but as long as you're (ACTUALLY) helping your fellow man, I don't care if you're religious and want to do it in a deity's name, or are atheist and want to do it out of the goodness of your own heart (Not at all saying religious people don't do things out of the goodness of their heart.)
That is a very good point. Personally I am not very religious so that's why I created the post, however I do believe that religion and praying can bring someone's inner self to be at peace and help them that way. What i intended to portray was that praying often doesn't directly help out other people. However, knowing someone is praying for you and showing you that they care about you through this method, may be helpful as it makes the person feel better, which in turn causes them to be physically better. Similar to the concept that if you stand up straight and take the frown off your face, you instantly feel better, although you may still be bitter.
And the post was just trying to say that actually doing something physically about a situation is better than only praying about it. However, if you do both, I have nothing against praying.
prayer is to hands working...Gods hands
But, just because you pray doesn't mean God is going to answer or do anything...
a thousand hands clasped in prayer can eventually lead to actions a million times more thought out and conscious than two hands acting without regard to the world around them and within them
for me prayer means meditation, means drawing oneself inward for some time to find clarity. the original post for me means that Just Doing is forever better than marinating ideas and feelings out from within. but i like to think that prayer, meditation, w/e brings a certain energy and empathy to the world that mere action cannot.
God. Pics or it didn't happen.
That's Zeus.
Wrong. This is most definitely God.
http://tinyurl.com/43hsoj3
Me stfu? Alright dude. I'm not the one getting Zeus and god confused. Learn your shit.
Jesus Christ FTW!
I can use google too.
Damn... How many gods did they need???
(Anonymous): Enough to explain nature.
(I don't mean to be offense when I say this, but it kinda sounds offense doesn't it?)
Here are the Pix:

Will everyone up there just get a freaking room already?
Religiously and truthfully, praying gets more things done.
(32)Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.(33)But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33
When God commands Jesus to go and get his children, will you be walking back home with him?
Please stop spreading myths.
I just have to say that two hands clasped in prayer have instantly healed someone of a spleen infection and someone else of a sprained ankle twice (I witnessed these things). On top of those things, prayer does unseen things that no two hands can do like move hearts and change minds, weaken demons and their strongholds, move God's heart and lay claim of victory over sin and death. I know I don't pray as much as I should, but I know that my prayer is more effective than anything I can do with my own two hands.
I don't mean to sound rude...but I call bullshit.
Was that really necessary?
No offense taken, but dude, miracles are For Real and they're all over the place. I've been favored enough to see a few, but I know that it was God's hand which accomplished those things and not my own.
HA ROFL! Oh, that was good, tell another joke.
Joke? These aren't jokes bro. I'm telling you what I've seen and heard; in other words, in a legal proceeding, the things I'm telling you would be recognized because I was there when it happened. Would I lie?... If I was lying, why am I pointing to God as the one with the power and myself as a fortunate witness? Dude, I am nothing awesome or powerful, but I have seen how Good God is, so I'm just trying to proclaim His Glory.
His glory doesn't exist. God was created to explain shit people can't understand, but eventually, we will know all and the need for God to exist anymore. Praying has never done shit for anyone. If you claim to have "witnessed" these "miracles" you're lying through your teeth or you have some damn good weed.
Uhm, isn't that a little bit of an oxymoron? (If you accept the stereotype of religious people against homosexuality, anyway.)
"Dear god please build this house"
............7 days later
ya'll are retarded.
i bet most who voted up haven't ever prayed before, and if they have obviously not enough to see how much it can do.
but i'll pray for you! :D
You dolt! Praying has done nothing for anybody, I'll pray my keyboard works properly hmm... NOTHING HAPPENED! You're just a fool blinded by religion to stupid to realize you're praying to a god that can't here your pleas for help.
Lol lol lol lol.
Praying is not telling God your wishes and getting them granted.
Did you even read my previous comments? Religion is nothing. I have a relationship with a living God.
You are so blind and oblivious to everything! I wish there was a way to beat the shit out of you via Internet, but alas, I'll have to settle with arguing. The fact that you honestly believe in what you're saying proves your diet consists of bleach and paint chips. I love how with each comment you think "Yeah, I got this guy good, he'll never get a legitimate argument for this." Praying is exactly what you said it isn't. When I hear someone pray I hear "God, please grant world peace/Watch after ___/Let me win the lottery etc." That sounds like wishes to me. Your argument is the worst I've ever heard, "The Bible is real because I've read it, LOLZ!!!!!!111!!1!!". Well, I've read The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, huh, no wizards or lions here. There is so much stuff that disproves God every single day. You just deny all contradicting evidence and accepting the evidence that helps your beliefs, you know who else does that? Facists. Finally, why are you not following your gods wi...
First off... I'm kind of repulsed by the fact that you just said you want to beat the shit out of me. Simply for what I believe in. What have I done to you with my faith? I believe in peace and love and also God. You may disagree, but wanting to beat me up... You are simply pathetic. And what gives atheists a bad name. I am at least smart enough to know they are not all like you. I hope God blesses you.
Have you heard me pray? Yes I may ask for things, but they are not a wish list for God. When I pray I repent for my sins and also thank God for everything I have.
No, not for your beliefs, for your incredibly condescending attitude towards me and all of the others that don't believe. "I'll pray for you." TRANSLATION: "You're all going to hell but I'll still pray for you so I look like a good person" If I wanted to beat the shit out of you simply for your beliefs, then I'd have killed every single person at my (Catholic) school. Besides, I don't have to even put together an intelligent argument anymore, God put one together for me. So, be in silence woman, for I am automatically correct because I am a man, and you are a woman. Troll out.
MY attitude? Okayyyyy. You need some serious help dude. I'll just pray for you more :)
And no, I'm not the one who judges who goes to hell or not.
You being a man has nothing to do with anything. I love how you think you're 'winning' this argument, when you are the one that's pissed off and going off topic.
Bitch I've won! 1 Timothy 2:11-14 "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." So, why are you teaching me? Do you think you are greater then the Bible? So how does it feel, tell me, to worship a god that thinks you're inferior to me simply because you're a woman. You know what that's called? SEXISM. If you met a sexist on the street, you'd think he's an asshole, right? Well, that's because your god's an asshole.
You know what else the "good book" tells us to do? Kill: Homosexuals, (Lev 20:13) Adulterers, (Lev 20:10) Women who are not virgins on there wedding night, (Deut 22:13-21) Disobedient children, (Deut 21:20-21) All non-Christians, (Luke 19:27) Those accused of wickedness by to people, (Deut 17:2-7) Anyone who works on the Sabbath. (Exod 35:2-3) Slavery: God supports slavery, (Lev 25:44-6) How to sell your daughter has a slave, (Exod 21:7-8) How to beat your slaves, (Luke 12:42-8) To mark your slave you must drive an awl through his ear. (Deut 15:17) Justice: If a guy suspects his wife of cheating, he should serve her a poisoned drink and if she becomes malformed then she is cheating (Num 5:12-31) forty two children mauled and killed by bears for calling a prophet "baldy" (2King 2:23-4) You should beat your children with a rod. (Prov 23:13-4) Quotes from Christ: You should hate your family, (Luke 14:26) Those who abandon there families will be rewarded. (Matt 19:29)
You may be wondering, do these laws still apply? Well according to Christ: "Every 'jot' and 'tittle'." So I guess I'll go around lynching queers, runaway from my family, Buy and beat some slaves, beat children with a rod, and so much more! Thanks Christ.
I suggest reading the whole chapter before taking little parts out of context.
Jesus was the one who said 'he who is with out sin cast the first stone' and no one stoned the prostitute.
You should read the whole thing before you throw bible qoutes at me.
The devil did the same thing to Jesus in the desert. He qouted the scripture to Jesus! Wanting him to fall into temptation. But Jesus was wise and gave qoutes from the scripture right back.
Again, the name calling and rudeness is very unnecessary.
There's a ton of places in the bible where women do something great for God. Ruth Esther Mary all those women who did great things in the war, there's a lot of women in the bible. And Jesus definitely cared for women if you read the gospels. So many of His miracles were healing women. And he forgave a lot of prostitutes and changed their lives. There was Martha and Mary of magdalene. Both God and Jesus shows their love toward woman.
Men were more respected back in the day, not only in the bible but EVERYWHERE. In America too, we were not even aloud to vote. SEXISM. so don't push it all on the bible. God loves both men and woman. So your 'point' is invalid.
So you think your word is better than your God's, huh, interesting. I also know that men were more respected then women a hundred years ago, but the world got over it. You know who didn't? Religion. I also like you telling me I'm "name calling" when you just compared me to Satan and yourself to Jesus. Now be in silence woman, for I am a man, meaning, you are wrong and I am right!
Hahaha okay okay.
I grew up in a Christian household. Religion never did a thing for me at all, and now I'm proud to be an atheist. I don't really want your prayers, either, considering mumbling to yourself doesn't really solve anything...
Religion is worth nothing. God doesn't want your religion. He wants a relationship.
i agree with miss_tucsoinnn. I grew and am still growing in a house with a mother who prays and such and i did until a year or so ago.Religion is not worth NOTHING. The fact that you said that makes you sound stupid. Your saying that prayer is what you need to do, but that is part of religion! so Pug you have just created an oxymoron! I am not aethiest so don't say it. And "God" is not going to be able to do much if acording to ur logic he is the one who made it happen in the first place! Don't pray for me because i can handle my own thoughts and actions.
Religion is nothing is Gods eyes. Saying you're Christian DOES NOT get you into heaven.
Either way, I don't believe in your fictional being in the sky. When I was young and impressionable I did everything I was supposed to to be near "god" and nothing really happened. Besides, I'd feel safer being in a relationship with something I could recognize as being there. I'd rather be tight with the wind. At least you can feel that.
point being i am not christian nor did i say i was. also how do you know for sure that there is a heaven your working so hard to get too?
I know you never said you were. sigh you obviously don't get my point.
I know there is a heaven because that's what I beileve and the bible says so too.
if that is what you believe then thats what you believe but the bible was written by humans...who tend to lie. I am not saying the bible is a lie but that some COULD be exagerations. Also then your comment was totally randomly placed
the bible is Gods word. not just randomly written because people wanted to.
and your proof?
i've read it.
and you clearly have not.
i actually just finished the whole thing this week! only took me two years.
I have not read the whole thing. I have only read parts but that still doesn't give much of explaination. all i am saying is that you have no PROOF and also it WAS suppossedly written by his disciples and therefore written by humans. and that ,pug, leaves room for mistakes and exageration of the facts.
potd shouldnt involve race religion or orientation
if this post was my first impression of the site i wouldnt be impressed with the main post hardcore bashing lifestyle choices.
I lost respect for whoever made this POTD
So... is this intended to be sexual, or am I just a horrible person?
nope. just stupid.
I saw you a bit involved in that argument, miss fucktard idiot
ALSO if you think writing a check [or texting to give 10 bucks to japan] is DOING something, you're an idiot. How about you go there and hand out food or something? yeah thats what i thought.
Not like you've done that buddy
exactly, who has? so no one can really say they've helped out.
Of course someone has...
Those of us who can't just drop everything we're doing and go off to Japan donate money. It's our way of doing something. And yes, it helps, every little bit helps.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Sandwich
two hands working can do more immediate work, praying is work too it just takes time for change or help to come
If that's what you think that's fine. However, take the tsunami in Japan as an example. So you would rather pray, and wait for a response from god, rather than help them immediately, and save as many lives as possible. You would rather hope that god will make everything better, with some time between your prayer and his actual help, than help now.
And I hope everything turns out well in Japan. I hope everyone could help out in any way they could (even praying, if that's what you think will help), just to show that you are human and that you do care. They are in a difficult situation, and any help is good help.
I wasn't saying that I favor one, just that they both count. No, I would rather try to help them myself and with others than pray first. People can only work so hard, try so hard, then comes god
You can't do both?
I don't think you should be the one asking this question, when you also clearly believe one way helps more than the other.
You don't need to prove to God you care, He should already know. Only God knows the heart.
God is so much more powerful! He can do so much more than I can. I pray for them whole - heartedly.
God knows everything. He knows if you care and to what extent. You shouldn't be doing things in His name just to prove to Him or other people that you believe. The idea is that you should do these things out of LOVE for God because GOD IS LOVE and he wants you to care for others.
I completely agree.
Seriously, it doesn't have to be one or the other. You shouldn't just do nothing, you must physically do all you can. But praying never hurt anyone, either. At the end of the day, God is in charge.
Kinda the same idea here.
http://www.amirite.net/543587
Guess you've never seen the power of prayer. What a shame.
Guess you've never seen what can get accomplished when you get off your butt and actually go help someone. What a pity!
How do you know that your getting off your butt and helping someone wasn't an answer to their prayers?
guess you don't know that the only two hands that can do more than 1,000 hands in prayer are God's. My actions AND praying hands accomplish more than you ever could.
It'sfunny how you say that when it's usually people who pray who go on mission trips and help people much more then sadistics such as yourselves.
How was that sadistic? And of course mission trips help people. It's just that praying alone doesn't do much, other than make the person who's praying feel better.
Praying+mission trips =miracles.
How am I wrong?
A mission trip coincides with what I had said (actually helping someone) and you don't need to be religious or even have to pray to go do that.
In A WAY, frozen carrots is correct. The bible talks about faith and deeds. It says what worth is your faith if it is not followed with deeds. This basically means that you can't just say please god let me be rich and famous and then not do anything to make yourself rich and famous and expect god to do all the work.
Some things though can only happen through prayer. Such as a family member being sick . I have witnessed miracles happen before my eyes that could have only happened with prayer and faith
Lolwut. You told me that I needed to get off my ass, I'm saying I DO get off my ass. Just because you pray doesn't mean you don't do anything to physically help....
They're saying doing nothing but praying. Doing something and praying isn't what anyone is talking about.
I don't think people ever mean 'just sit on your ass and pray'. No, when people say pray usually it's "in addition" or "because their is nothing else you can do".
Initially, you didn't say anything about doing mission trips in addition to praying. As Coday said, we're talking about people who only pray. That's what the OP said.
Either way, our point is, praying in and of itself is futile. And when people say, "Pray for those in Japan," that means ask god to help them out. That doesn't have the slightest implication that you're ALSO donating or going on mission trips or whatever. Mmkay?
Hmm. You're silly. Not everyone can afford to help therefore they pray. Those that can help, should help. Those that can pray, should pray. You're creating a conflict where it doesn't exist.
So cute! You're one to talk, starting the conversation with a condescending comment in the first place. But whatever, I think I've made my point pretty clear.
Did you watch the video that Coday posted? You might learn something :)
She won't watch it.
She'll go on about how prayer works, and that devastations like Haiti and AIDS in Africa was "proven" to be helped by prayer, but not much through donations and volunteers.
Funny world isn't it?
I watched that video. and, i completely understand the concept. There's no evidence of praying actually working! But that doesn't mean praying is useless. One could say that God knew that those things that the people in the study were "praying" for were for a survey, and said "let's make the results even, as a test of faith for those who believe in me". If God is all powerful, then i think it would be pretty tricky to slip one by Him like that. Besides, praying might be useless, but it's the thought that counts, pun intended
Also, not all prayers necessarily get answered. So it's not exactly an either it works or it doesn't situation. In the Christian faith (or at least what I believe) if it doesn't coincide with God's will it's not going to happen.
because Prayer isn't just about putting requests. What kind of relationship would that be? It's about taking the time to speak/communicate with God. You can praise, thank and express your feelings to God and it's still a prayer.
Also, if you are living according to God's word, you'd want God's will to be done. I believe that your prayers will start to fall in line with that.
all prayers get answered. Some just get answered no.
You're right. that's a better way to put it.
I can honestly say that praying has made a big difference in my life, and you have no right whatsoever to tell someone that their prayers aren't effective.
I won't watch it because I'm on mobile and I don't possibly believe that a YouTube video can disprove prayer.
Your argument and reasoning is faulty. You're acting as if the theory if prayer has to be disproven first, before being proved. Which even you must see how illogical that is.
Now seeing that this is how you think, I understand why many would get a "facepalm" from reading your comments.
>> If you can say prayer works without having to provide any proof but unbacked stories, then why can't we do the same to disprove it? We do we need concrete proof but you don't? Pathetic.
agreed. The hands that are working ought to be the nads that are praying
LOL. Stupid religionfag is stupid.
pointless comment is pointless.
when i got a notification, i expected it to be something worth reading, oops.
Well, what I REALLY wanted to do was post one of my other comments, but, I already posted on this post so I'm like "Fuck, I guess I'll just have to show this person my disagreement with her beliefs with a stupid ass, badly worded post." Not necessary? Yes, but I'm a guy who likes to troll people with his honest beliefs.
Well if you honestly think I'm a religious fag, I apologize-but I had someone comment something along the lines of "take your bitch aunt off of life support" or something, so yeah, I took some stuff a little more personal than I should've. But, I get what you're saying.
Well I usually don't mind religious people, but when I saw "You've obviously never seen the power of prayer" I could not stop laughing, so I thought that I just had to get in on that.
I don't know why you think you are so religious and holy when your username is "SlimShady"...
I don't understand what my username has to do with my religion. Yes, I like eminem, yes, I'm a Christian. No, I'm not a perfect person...
Well fortunately you're wrong.
L2 reply
L2 be relevant. @1156674 (TAST):
@1156692 (SlimShady): kay I will be relevant. praying is for fools, god doesn't exist . yada yada yada
A thousand people can pray for my orgasm, but nothing works like a pair of hands!
It depends on exactly what those thousand praying hands are clasping.
I can't believe yoour comment got voted down so much and I also can't believe what these people are saying. You're right, praying does work wonders I've experienced it too, many times.
It doesn't hurt to hope and pray but it helps much more to put in your own honest work.
Well fuck this. I put this up a year ago...
This time I'm serious. Feel free to not feel the need to comment @ all my comments if you want.
For all you bitchin out there,ITS JUST A POST! Dont spend the whole day arguing about it. Its not worth it because there will always be different opinons. God doesn't want you to argue on the computer when you could be up doing somthing to HELP.Prayin is not stupid. Or dumb. Or whatever crap you want to call it. In my opinion, when you can actually help, go help. But for things you don't belive you could do yourself, ask help from God. No "proof" should b needed for all you non-belivers because we have proof. In our hearts. And NOTHING you can say will change our minds. SO EAT THAT.
This REALLY pisses me off. There is such a double standard here it's just ridiculous. Everyone complains about forcing ideas and trying to convert people from their beliefs, but only when it's not the same belief as their own.
This guy posts a link to an atheist video to tell all Christians how they're wrong, and he gets a +3 rating on his comment, but what would people say if I gave a link to a video showing how all atheists are wrong? Oh, then I'm forcing my beliefs on you, and everyone votes it down.
Can someone explain this?
Find proof that prayer works and post that
Find proof it doesn't work...
Wow, now wasn't that a great argument we had.
You can't prove something "doesn't work"
It either is proven to work, or it doesn't.
Similar to the saying; What can be asserted without proof, can be dismissed without proof.
Your'e right, that wasn't a great argument you just had. Because your reply was one of the most half-assed thing I've seen on Amirite.
So, what you're saying is that if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, it didn't fall?
With your logic, that would be a true statement.
no that's not what I'm saying. Read my words carefully next time. What I'm saying is, if you haven't proved it, you can't ask others to disprove it.
You statement about the tree makes no sense. If a tree falls in forest and no one is there to hear, then how do you know it fell in the first place? That's the thing about not knowing; NOBODY knows. And what is asserted without proof about the unknown, can be dismissed without proof.
It stupid how you can say prayer works/ God exists without giving any proof, but you expect proof when it comes to disproving it. You speak out against double standards, but you have no problem giving them put yourself.
There coulda been a deaf guy...
Have you heard of the placebo affect?
Thank you. Exactly. And I don't believe prayer is just black or white. It also depends on God's will as well and your faith in it. Praying for something doesn't automatically mean you're going to get it. Not praying for something doesn't mean it isn't going to come to you.
perfectly put :)
My aunt with cancer was given two weeks to live two months ago. She wants to make it to see her daughter graduate, we've all been praying like crazy, so far doctors are astounded.
Ever hear of odds? Odds are if i flip a coin 2 times, one will be heads, one will be tails. That doesn't mean i can't flip a coin 500 times and have it land on heads every time. It just means it's unlikely. Odds are, some people are going to die from illnesses. Doesn't mean they always will just because they have it. Everyone is different.
I wouldn't call that odds, fact is she was given two weeks to live. Listen, I'm not trying to prove prayer works and it seems you are set in disproving it, an argument is not my goal at all. I'm just saying prayer can't hurt and people who say "pray" are not talking about not doing anything alongside.
I'm not set in disproving it, I'm trying to be logical and say not everything unexpected in the world has to be some miracle brought by praying.
Actually, most prominent philosophers and theologians agree that if an infinitesimally improbable event such as the coin landing on heads all 500 times occurs then that is evidence for a deity. If a deity exists then it would only logically follow that prayers are beneficial.
The same thing would happen if you didn't pray
So... How about you keep praying for her while I turn the life support off, stop her chemotherapy, or not let the doctors help her and we will see how your bitch of an aunt survives.
Well you're feeling assy today, aren't you?
That is just as easy to say as, "My friend with depression jumped off a cliff, halfway through he regretted it and prayed for a parachute. God has gifted him with a parachute and another chance to live." Honestly, you can say anything has happened and without proof, theres not a very high chance it has.
Try rewording. You're comment has nothing to do with anything atm.
thats the beauty of believing without having to see.
trying to prove it correct would be testing God and thus would be ineffective.
ditto
I agree, that would be a double standard.
That a video about atheist beliefs would be welcomed, yet a video about Christian ones wouldn't.
And I don't reckon it would be forcing Christian beliefs on someone on an appropriate post - this post is clearly going to be full of comments about religion.
I don't know how you can say that happens without any proof. I guess you just have a lot of faith :) lol
If you post a post that Atheists are wrong, then you'll get Atheists that speak against it, and some Christians who speak for it. There is no obvious double standard which you claim. Unless you truly believe that if someone posted something against Atheists absolutely everyone would be against it.
Stop assuming one side has all the double standards while the other doesn't. This world isn't black and white; it's unfair for BOTH sides.
"god cares about you
god can perform miracles
all you have to do is pray and god will help you"
sounds like society or submission.
That milk jug video is stupid. I agree wholeheartedly with this post, but most people (including myself) don't pray because it's logical, or even because they think it will work. It's because something deep inside them has faith that there's something more, and we feel they can connect with that something more. It's ridiculous to choose prayer OVER getting off your ass and actually helping someone out, and I don't think prayer is at all necessary in making a difference in the world. But if someone is going to pray, that's not hurting anyone. Who are you to tell them not to?
This is pretty powerful, even if you don't believe in prayer.
Prayer isn't just like an "Easy Button." People strive to be their best and God intercedes to make it happen.
That video is amazing
Love it!
That really can't necessarily DISPROVE prayer. Nor can it disprove God. That's just the Christian God. What if God is not really a being who would want to answer prayers?
He's calling our prayers coincidence. But so is a lot of that.