Protestantism

» pink101 - Being So Superior

In response to Be Serious posted by HeadZenCards:
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Coincidence?
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So you say.
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You can kick that dead horse all you like, Ollie, but, there is something to prayer that goes far beyond coincidence. YOU don't have to like it and YOU don't have to believe it. But, You are not the arbiter of truth--not by a long shot. No more than I am.
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You are just as human as any other person who comes here in spite of your claims about being so superior. We're all in the same boat. It would be good for you to admit it.
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-- posted by pink101

» HeadZenCards - Being So Superior

In response to Being So Superior posted by pink101:

I totally admit that.

Please prove the power of prayer by having what you pray to stop any more tornadoes this calendar year.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» pink101 - Power of Prayer

In response to Being So Superior posted by HeadZenCards:
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I don't think the power of prayer works that way.
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Instead, it's all within the mind of the person who prays.
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There's that old story about prayer being liike a man in a boat who throws an anchor out towards shore. Once the anchor sinks to the bottom of the water, he pulls on the rope until the anchor is, once again, in the boat. Then he throws the anchor toward shore again and repeats his actions. Finally, he is able to step out of the boat onto the shore.
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Did he pull the shore to the boat or did he pull the boat to the shore?
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Prayer is a form of interaction between a supplicant and the one to whom he or she prays. There is power in that action that cannot be denied.
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Are you trying to say that you make no prayers?
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I think of Sir Walter Scott:
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Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentrated all in self,
Living shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.
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I think the same could be said about a person who never prays.
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But, what do I know?
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-- posted by pink101

» HeadZenCards - Power of Prayer

I have photographic evidence that I have prayed, Pinky.
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My dad had a Super 8MM camera in 1957 and captured me with my six-year-old hands folded, praying for well over a minute.
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It's one of the only shots of me lasting more than 3 seconds, as I would normally come into camera range, stick out my tongue and jump hither and yon.
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The burden of proof that prayer works to solve any concrete problems remains with the prayer.
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Atheists do not have the ego to believe that a mythical Creator of the Entire Universe is interested in their problems.
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They ruminate and confer with other human beings, just like people who pray.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» pink101 - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by HeadZenCards:
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I think I know some atheists who believe in a form of prayer they might call meditation. Repeating aphorisms generally is a good idea.
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-- posted by pink101

» redback - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by pink101:

" I don't think the power of prayer works that way..
Instead, it's all within the mind of the person who prays."

The efficacy of prayer is selective? The what and when of it as well as the capacity of one's mind and our will to exercise our mind as prayer intended...all affects the outcome?

This is not the same as 'random' or 'coincidental timing' I guess but it's in there with Biblical explanations or more correctly, human's interpretations. Are you limiting it to a divinely inspired mind?

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by redback:
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Are you limiting it to a divinely inspired mind?
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No. I opened with a short comment on hynnosis and I made my point.
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Prayer is a powerful tool.
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I watched John Hagee this morning as he prayed with his congregation that they would give sacrificially as he mesmerrized them into believing they would be rewarded beyond their ability to contain the riches God has in store for [His] obedient servants.
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If you want to conn someone into doing something, there is no better way to screw them than to get them to go down on their knees with you as all fervently pray for whatever is involved.
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Wether they get what they want or not is not the question. That they believe they will is the question. Prayer is a mightily powerful activity.
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-- posted by pink101

» HeadZenCards - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by pink101:

Repetition of anything, even nonsensical words, gets your mind off your troubles, which is usually helpful when you have them.

When I was a Hare Krishna devotee, there was nothing as good (except for a sugar-filled lunch) as chanting HARE KRISHNA, HARE KRISHNA, KRISHNA KRISHNA, HARE HARE, HARE RAMA, HARE RAMA, RAMA RAMA, HARE HARE.

After a few hours of that, you just flat out had no idea what the heck.

Try that next time prayer doesn't work and give us a report.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» pink101 - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by HeadZenCards:
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I've made my point and have nothing more to add.
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-- posted by pink101

» redback - Power of Prayer

In response to Power of Prayer posted by pink101:

"Wether they get what they want or not is not the question."

OK...happy to leave it to what you see as the relevant question from the questions within my post. I think I'm getting the point. ABC

-- posted by redback