How often do you pray?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I'm intrigued by this. Do you not pray for remission when a family member has cancer? Do you not pray for your husband to get the dream job he applied for? Do you not pray for your son to make friends at his new school? "

How does this work? Whose prayers are answered? And why?

Not the PP, but I believe my prayers worked. For instance, my husband was dead set against having children. Novena to St. Jude, he became all for it. We are now undergoing IVF. That is a far leap from not wanting children at all to such interventions to have children.

St. Jude answered my prayers, I have no doubt.

[Anonymous]

I don't formally pray anymore, but I do pray in my own way. I used to pray and assume that God didn't hear me if I didn't get what I prayed for. I spent a long time being angry because I felt abandoned. Now that I've had time to think about the things that I would pray for, I realize that even though I didn't get what I wanted, I was still being heard by God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pray every night before bed, every night with my children before they go to bed, on Sunday mornings at church, and whenever I am feeling a lot of stress or anxiety.

I do not ask for specific actions or material things, but I do ask for things like peace, contentment, calm, strength, patience, wisdom, and to keep my loved ones safe from harm. I also give abundant thanks in prayer.

I'm intrigued by this. Do you not pray for remission when a family member has cancer? Do you not pray for your husband to get the dream job he applied for? Do you not pray for your son to make friends at his new school?

I'm not judging. In fact, I wish I was better at giving thanks, but I wonder why you wouldn't pray for specifics in some circumstances.

I guess I do pray for some of those things occasionally... I have a mentally ill family member and I do pray for them to seek help, but that is about it. More often I pray that they stay safe and know that they're loved, and I pray for guidance and strength in dealing with them. In terms of career things I might pray that we have wisdom to make the best choice or something like that, but no, I don't pray for us to get our dream jobs and I don't pray for cures for cancer. For physically sick people my prayers might be something more like asking for strength and peace for them, that they will know God's love and feel God's peace, for God to be with them, that sort of thing. For my children, I pray for them to be happy and strong but not for specific things like a good teacher or good friends. They are very small, though, so that could change when they get older, I guess.

I don't really believe that people getting jobs or people going into remission are affected by prayer -- this is something I struggle with, because on the one hand I feel like it shows a lack of faith on my part, but on the other hand, I can't reconcile it with all the bad things that happen in the world. Cancer, for instance. We know it's not a question of who's the strongest or who prays the hardest that determines the outcome. Some things just happen. I rely on my faith in God to show me how to deal with those things, but not to swoop down and intervene. But then of course I give thanks when things have a happy ending... when sad things happen I ask for comfort and solace. I don't know. That's just what works for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I'm intrigued by this. Do you not pray for remission when a family member has cancer? Do you not pray for your husband to get the dream job he applied for? Do you not pray for your son to make friends at his new school? "

How does this work? Whose prayers are answered? And why?

Not the PP, but I believe my prayers worked. For instance, my husband was dead set against having children. Novena to St. Jude, he became all for it. We are now undergoing IVF. That is a far leap from not wanting children at all to such interventions to have children.

St. Jude answered my prayers, I have no doubt.

I find it hard to believe that people still think like this in this day and age. Humans really are just giant hairless rats, I guess, and we shouldn't expect too much of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I'm intrigued by this. Do you not pray for remission when a family member has cancer? Do you not pray for your husband to get the dream job he applied for? Do you not pray for your son to make friends at his new school? "

How does this work? Whose prayers are answered? And why?

Not the PP, but I believe my prayers worked. For instance, my husband was dead set against having children. Novena to St. Jude, he became all for it. We are now undergoing IVF. That is a far leap from not wanting children at all to such interventions to have children.

St. Jude answered my prayers, I have no doubt.

I find it hard to believe that people still think like this in this day and age. Humans really are just giant hairless rats, I guess, and we shouldn't expect too much of them.

I'll pray for you tonight - that you get over being such a closed minded jerk.

[Anonymous]

Never. Atheist here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pray every night before bed, every night with my children before they go to bed, on Sunday mornings at church, and whenever I am feeling a lot of stress or anxiety.

I do not ask for specific actions or material things, but I do ask for things like peace, contentment, calm, strength, patience, wisdom, and to keep my loved ones safe from harm. I also give abundant thanks in prayer.

I guess I do pray for some of those things occasionally... I have a mentally ill family member and I do pray for them to seek help, but that is about it. More often I pray that they stay safe and know that they're loved, and I pray for guidance and strength in dealing with them. In terms of career things I might pray that we have wisdom to make the best choice or something like that, but no, I don't pray for us to get our dream jobs and I don't pray for cures for cancer. For physically sick people my prayers might be something more like asking for strength and peace for them, that they will know God's love and feel God's peace, for God to be with them, that sort of thing. For my children, I pray for them to be happy and strong but not for specific things like a good teacher or good friends. They are very small, though, so that could change when they get older, I guess.

I don't really believe that people getting jobs or people going into remission are affected by prayer -- this is something I struggle with, because on the one hand I feel like it shows a lack of faith on my part, but on the other hand, I can't reconcile it with all the bad things that happen in the world. Cancer, for instance. We know it's not a question of who's the strongest or who prays the hardest that determines the outcome. Some things just happen. I rely on my faith in God to show me how to deal with those things, but not to swoop down and intervene. But then of course I give thanks when things have a happy ending... when sad things happen I ask for comfort and solace. I don't know. That's just what works for me.

I am very much like this poster. I pray, but try not to pray for specific outcomies. however, sometimes I do. for example today my sister is going in for some serious tests and I am praying that the results are negative I am also pryaing for calm and peace for her as she goes through this process.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP above - sorry for the typos. For some reason when I quote someone on the board, my screen does not allow me to see what I am typing.

[Anonymous]

Never, not religious.

[Anonymous]

I don't pray for specific things such as a dream job with lots of money but more for the wisdom, strength and courage to make the right decisions. I pray that my family makes the good decisions and will becomes a good person and if they don’t that they may find their way to a good place.

[Anonymous]

14:08 - I like your approach. I happen to believe in free will and don't believe in predestination. Peace, strength, guidance, those are things that make sense to me to pray for, rather than specific outcomes.

I find this thread interesting, b/c recently I wondered out loud to DH how and when other adults pray. Some children are taught to pray in a very Leave it to Beaver fashion (kneel by the bed in their PJs, "now I lay me down to sleep..."). But I've never seen anyone do this in real life. Not at summer camp. Not at college. Not my housemates. I do have a coworker who is Muslim and prays at work, but very quietly, so I don't know what he is actually saying.

So for those who pray on a regular basis outside of church, do you kneel? Do you close your eyes (hopefully not while driving!)? Do you start with the Lord's Prayer and then add on? Do you use another prayer from the BCP? Do you make it up on your own? I'd be curious to hear how non-Christians pray, too.

I was raised heathen (technically Protestant, but not church-going), so much of this is still a big mystery to me, despite taking comparative religion course in college and occasionally attending church as an adult.

[Anonymous]

"St. Jude answered my prayers, I have no doubt. "

Why are there unanswered prayers?

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who mentioned a "dream job" as something I might pray for my husband. I've noticed that a couple other posters assume that meant lots of money. It doesn't.

Let me ask this. To those of you that pray not for outcomes, but for "stength, wisdom, etc." What is it that you are thankful for? I gather you are not praying for the remission or the dream job or the friends for Billy, but you are offering prayers of thanks when they occur?

[Anonymous]

Whenever I feel like praying, I dance. I dance with my kids at least every night, and on the weekends. Makes me feel better, and very often, the things I wish for while dancing come true.

For instance, we have a very cluttered, claustrophobic house. I danced and danced for a way to fix this. To all the skeptics out there--we just put the finishing touches on a huge, beautiful garden shed.

[Anonymous]

AdequateParent wrote:14:08, you sound exceptionally wise, reflective, interesting and altogether cool. I'm going to plagiarize you heavily in future conversations with my daughter. Thank you for your words.

I gather you aren't talking about the 14:08 (two of them) hairless rat poster, right? I'm envisioning that conversation with your child right now...