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As I have said in other threads, I have been praying a lot more recently given tendencies toward insomnia. Here are the results. 1) I had a prayer answered.
2) I have felt on one occasion, the feelings I consider to be the Spirit. Something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
3) I prayed as a family before a work project and we all got along well.
I have this gut feeling that even though prayer isn’t always effective, and is rather frustrating at times (very frustrating to me at times), it is something God wants me to do more.
Part of me resists. It’s part of the general frustration I feel with being put on the planet with apparent salvation at stake. I desire not to rely on it too heavily. This is due to unreliable means of communication, unclear standards amidst the many religions, and the mandate to base important decisions on “feelings” that are easily manipulated.
I am wondering if Curt’s admonition to pray with hope but not firm expectation is the way to go. Hope for the best but not expect it. It flies in the face of a plate my Dad had on his dresser that said “Expect a Miracle” when I grew up. This attitude flies in the face of the idea that we are to exercise faith with the solidarity of a rock. But it seems to be a reasonable medium-stance between outright faith (and the accompanying frustration when things don’t happen) and outright dismissal of prayer.
What are your attitudes toward prayer? What are your experiences with prayer? What role does prayer play in your life?Unmet expectations = disappointment. Quote:What are your attitudes toward prayer? What are your experiences with prayer? What role does prayer play in your life?
From my point of view prayer can operate as a sort of placebo.
Some of the things the prayer requested might have come about anyway due to random chance, some of it may have come about because the believer got off their knees and set about to make it happen (self-fulfilling prophecy), and lastly some of it may come about because the believers belief makes a difference (placebo effect).
Those things are not bad in and of themselves.
regardless of why something positive occurred, I believe prayer can set up a situation where we more easily feel and express gratitude. I believe feeling gratitude helps with quality of life.
For me personally, prayer serves as a vehicle for me to express hopes and dreams upon those that I care about.
SilentDawning wrote:
I am wondering if Curt’s admonition to pray with hope but not firm expectation is the way to go. Hope for the best but not expect it. It flies in the face of a plate my Dad had on his dresser that said “Expect a Miracle” when I grew up. This attitude flies in the face of the idea that we are to exercise faith with the solidarity of a rock.
I think the extreme examples of “expect a miracle” and faith like a rock are those individuals that refuse medical treatment and instead rely on faith healings. I see this as people walking out onto a tight rope of faith with no safety net. I feel that faith and prayers work best when coupled with due diligence and preparation with every tool available to us.
SilentDawning wrote:
But it seems to be a reasonable medium-stance between outright faith (and the accompanying frustration when things don’t happen) and outright dismissal of prayer.
Yes. Prayer can serve other purposes besides trying to control the uncontrollable. That is what I did (try to feel in control) and it became my downfall.
Roy wrote:
I think the extreme examples of “expect a miracle” and faith like a rock are those individuals that refuse medical treatment and instead rely on faith healings. I see this as people walking out onto a tight rope of faith with no safety net. I feel that faith and prayers work best when coupled with due diligence and preparation with every tool available to us.This is insightful. I was watching Criminal Minds recently. They pepper each episode with quotes that bear on the theme in the episode. One struck me as really insightful. It’s from Ben Franklin…paraphrased it goes like this:
Quote:They who live by faith alone live in blindness
I like how he said “faith alone”. He subscribes some worth to faith, but not without supporting information if available. That gets you out of the situation where medical professionals are telling you that you need an operation or some kind of medical treatment that will heal you. If you are NOT living by faith alone, you will consider the treatment option as it informs your choices. If you live by faith alone, you may refuse the treatment and then get sicker or die.
Yes, exactly! I hear people say their prayers were answered bit I have never had that experience. Perhaps i set the bar to high. Its not an answer if its coincidence. If something could have happened either way how is that a prayer answered? The scriptures are full of dramatic events in response to prayer. But in modern times we get nothing. Pres nelson has called for two world wide days of prayer for covid relief. You could say they were effective because alot more people could have died. You also can say they were useless because we still have covid.
So if answers to prayers are just a matter of perspective, they only have value if you find value in prayer. I don’t find value because I have never been able to change the outcome of anything with prayer.
I have at times felt like I got unsolicited feelings or assurance from time to time, but never in response to prayer.
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I believe prayer can be helpful for a person to clarify what they think and what they believe, and that can be important. I find value in getting in touch with intuition, and trusting yourself. It can lead to moving forward with actions with more confidence, and sometimes that confidence can create the desired results. Sometimes not, and that creates a learning opportunity.
But I think we often know more about what is the right thing to do than we let ourselves believe. We doubt ourselves, and we question and seek others’ input (including tapping into devine input) so we can try to get the best answer. But often our initial “gut feelings” are the right ones, and prayer can help us come to peace with it and have confidence in it.
Meditation, prayer, walks in nature…all good ways for us to quiet our doubting minds and to get some clear thinking on what we believe to be best. We can also learn to let go of expecting absolute perfect revelation, and more comfortable with “best revelation based on what we know now” kinds of answers to prayers. Then trust that and let the road unfold before us.
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