Why do athesists ask for prayers

[Anonymous]

An acquaintance called me and asked me to pray for her healing. She is an atheist and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Of course, I said I would pray for her but my prayer would be for healing if it is God's will but I would also pray that God would give her peace and comfort and take away her fear.She accepted this but why would an atheist believe in The power of prayer?

[Anonymous]

It’s her Hail Mary.

[Anonymous]

Not an atheist then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not an atheist then.

+1

[Anonymous]

How do you know she is atheist?

[Anonymous]

I'm an atheist who does not ask for or offer prayers. If someone is in need of help I "keep them in my thoughts"

[Anonymous]

I'm an atheist. If someone tells me they will pray for me, I thank them. Occasionally this is misinterpreted, and I hear back from a third party that the pray-er took it as an admission of belief, either directly or indirectly. It wasn't.

I've also seen people in extremis use cultural shorthand -- "pray for me?" can just mean "please don't forget about me, keep me in your thoughts," especially if you are struggling with unexpected emotions and how to express them.

It can (not always, but can) be like asking for a "Kleenex" when there are no tissues of that brand in sight. It can be verbal shorthand. Obviously, it is unlikely to just be verbal shorthand for true believers, but I'm not sure people who believe are good at interpreting when it may be in a non-believer.

[Anonymous]

If your instinct is to remotely question or pause when someone with stage 4 pancreatic cancer reaches out to you for prayer, or even "good thoughts," you are not truly a person of faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your instinct is to remotely question or pause when someone with stage 4 pancreatic cancer reaches out to you for prayer, or even "good thoughts," you are not truly a person of faith.

+1

[Anonymous]

Just in case you are right!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An acquaintance called me and asked me to pray for her healing. She is an atheist and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Of course, I said I would pray for her but my prayer would be for healing if it is God's will but I would also pray that God would give her peace and comfort and take away her fear.She accepted this but why would an atheist believe in The power of prayer?

Because she will die in the next 3-6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An acquaintance called me and asked me to pray for her healing. She is an atheist and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Of course, I said I would pray for her but my prayer would be for healing if it is God's will but I would also pray that God would give her peace and comfort and take away her fear.She accepted this but why would an atheist believe in The power of prayer?

Because she will die in the next 3-6 months.

If it's a just-in-case, cover-your-bases kind of thing, she's probably asking the same thing (or the equivalent) of people she knows of any faith: Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and all the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know she is atheist?

She told me many times.

[Anonymous]

Probably because she knows you pray.

[Anonymous]

But your answer was kind of gross. You’d pray for healing only if it’s God’s will? Really? You feel some need to tell her that? ugh!