Do you believe in prayer?

Wake up please Baggs. Do your own research about cashmere production and then get back to us!

Baggs- yes how I feel.

So imagine we are in A&E - and 2 children are dying. One the child of good Christians who are all praying to save the child. And the other who does not have parents to do that, or whose parents don't pray. Which child will be saved? Just don't get it.

Reading Trevor Noah's book 'Born a Crime' - he recollects how as a young child, anyone in the shanty town where he lived would come to him to pray if they were in trouble or someone was sick. They would say 'you are the only one of us who is half white, so you must pray for us because God will hear you better than us.'

I do pray but I don`t get down on my hands and knees.
I do it as i go along or if I have something on my mind that`s worrying me.
Do I get the answers ? well I can say that on occasions yes I do.
Is it real ?.who knows but it makes me feel better.
I have had horrible things happen in my life but lots of good things too.
It tends to balance out TBH.

We don't see fur coats for sale. Why are fashion retailers now dropping cashmere do you think?

theprettyplaneteer.com/are-goats-killed-for-cashmere

jura2. There is no guarantee for the Christian either. The only promise God makes to us is, if you have a belief in and want to follow Jesus, you will be saved. Everything else is at His discretion. We as Christians, are told to ask, but we won’t always’ get’, much the same as when children ask for things. Don’t forget, this is temporary to God, the real thing is to come.

There will never be perfection in this life, only the next.

I am not a Christian but I think prayer is a good thing, akin to the meditation that I do.
I think it gives you a sense of being apart from the concerns of this life, if only for a short while, and the motivation to be more compassionate.
I don't think it changes external circumstances, but just the person who practices it.

Who are you praying to Greeneyedgirl ?

After a strict Catholic upbringing when I prayed for many things (ie to make my horrible childhood stop) no I don't pray. Prayer never worked. I appreciate that it gives comfort to some.

Yes, I do believe in the power of prayer.....but certainly not to receive the equivalent of a Christmas wish list.
In fact, not for anything material at all.
I have been ‘answered’ many times with a feeling of perfect peace and the knowledge that I will get through whatever crisis life has presented me with ( and there have been many.)

Our RE teacher at school said that God might answer your prayers, but maybe not in the way you want. He said if you are worried, he might give you peace of mind, but not grant your wish.
I expect peace of mind is worth so much, if only it can be achieved.
The local vicar said to a humanist minister at a funeral that he offered nothing, whereas he, (vicar) offered hope.

Whenever my sister or I can't find something, we pray to St. Anthony. It works every time. Despite cruel indoctrination as a child, I have prayed in times of extreme stress. On a few occasions after praying, a quiet voice in my head has told me everything will be ok.

Hetty58 that website is hardly an unbiased one, is it? If goats were constantly dying through being shorn, I'm pretty sure those keeping them would stop doing it till more clement weather. What kind of farmer risks losing his stock?
On the praying thing though - I sort-of do but not for something trivial like clothes! I think I don't believe in God but if a friend is ill I'll light a candle and Have a Word and I definitely cross myself before take-off on a plane. Just in case!

I echo everything Doodle says.
I do pray but certainly not for frivolous things .
Most of my prayers have been answered. Thankyou to the One above .

I attend, belong to a CofE church...

and attend Prayer Groups, etc.

I once asked , ok. what do we mean by prayer... and I was shut down. scoffed at by one person. of course, everyone knows what prayer means

do we?

me? I think there is a lot to prayer... Pray as Jesus taught us

anyone want me to recite it?

Prayer is NOT just asking God for things!!!

Prayer is Praise,,Worship... a huge, whole lot of "stuff" far more than I know..

Prayer is thanking Him.... how many praying people remember to Praise Him, Worship Him, and Thank Him

Just my view on prayer..

It’s a difficult one. I am a practising Catholic but I don’t believe that prayers are a ‘request’ as such but I have found great comfort and strength in times of quiet reflection i.e. prayer. The reciting or quoting of set Prayers just seems to focus my mind. Prayer is evident in most religions in some form.

There is published Psychological research to confirm the theory that focusing the mind allows people to cope in situations they wouldn’t have believed they could get through or cope with.

I don't believe in prayer as such but I can see the comfort in talking things through out loud and feeling that someone is listening.
I don't like the way that it is sometimes used (like the lady in the OP although she sounds a bit exceptional).
I don't like the God Bless America kind of prayer. It always comes across as it should end 'and sod the rest of the world'. What sort of god would bless one country over others or why would he think nationally? It is arrogant and the opposite of what prayer should be about.
It is no one else's business if people get comfort from prayer in private or communally as long as they don't impose it on others. It is annoying to be prayed over and I agree with that not being allowed in hospital. You get people doing it on the tube too and it seems such an imposition.

I’ve discovered after 25 years of praying it’s sometimes the only thing that works and in the last few years depended on it quite a bit and not disappointed. Last year after a major op ( a miracle itself) my temperature wouldn’t come so I texted my husband to do a particular prayer for me, he did , temperature came down. Even I didn’t quite believe what was in front of my eyes. But my prayers aren’t blocked by my slight skepticism and I try not to be. I would be an anxious person if prayer didn’t calm me down. But I have no problem with people who don’t believe or think God exists - we all have to make choices and live and die with them. What enrages me is when a persons choice is taken away from them like the Chinese brainwashing prisons.

Prayer to me is a personal thing. How , when, or why is purely up to you.
Praying to me is also part of what is known as "mindfulness" those few minutes of peace that is very much needed each day.

It’s a very personal thing isn’t it. I am a non believer in a “God” as I have to see to believe. I would never denigrate another person’s belief but I would be cross if I thought they were trying to “convert” me. In the pre Christian days people used to pray to gods of the sun, wind, rain etc for good weather for their harvest or being thankful for what they have. That makes more sense to me.

As others have said Doodle expresses it perfectly for me. I like to talk to God through the day and ask for the intercession of the saints and Our Lady. On occasion, when I can't find the words or feel the need of support there are lots of communities who will pray for your needs.

Claim as we may to never having, or wished to pray how many can say that at some time in their lives when faced with adversity have not prayed.?

Oh yes! Praying for someone is such a privilege and sometimes the answer is awesome. Sometimes the answer is longer in completion but that's ok. We are far more precious in God's sight than we know or often believe. I have seen miracles as a result of trust, faith and prayer and am so aware of the need to pray more, especially for others and the world situation.

Lovely doddle! About sums it upx

Some distant Canadian relatives of mine (some sort of non-mainstream vicar and his wife). certainly believe in it.
One communication we had from them said that they could do with some new household appliance - I forget which - so that was going on the ‘prayer list’.

At the time I did think it a bit odd that a couple who are fairly in-your-face religious, were praying for things for themselves, and not for other people.