|
Author
|
Topic: What is Prayer?
|
Heart--Shaped Cross
Knowflake Posts: 1344
From: north of Boston, MA
Registered: Aug 2004
|
posted April 06, 2005 04:01 AM
 
Prayer is gratitude, and gratitude is prayer.Unless God moves you to pray,
Your prayer is presumptuous.
It is not a prayer at all. When God moves us, we recognize Her presence. We do not act as if She wasn't there. We listen, and do not speak. God cannot fill you if you are full of yourself. When we pray we mustn't ask God for anything. Prayers are not questions but answers. When we pray, we are telling God "YES!" Something She has only been waiting to hear. The only way to say "YES" to God,
is by listening graciously to Her voice. If we try to listen FOR the voice of God,
we will miss it. We must listen TO the voice of God. IP: Logged |
sesame
Moderator Posts: 775
From: Oz
Registered: Nov 2003
|
posted April 07, 2005 10:55 PM
I don't know about that. To me, prayer is asking for something you *should* already have. Through words, there is much power, hence prayer is invoking this power. I think what you're talking about is more like worship. We worship when we recognise her presence, but to then ask for something seems even worse than doing it ritually. Repetitous prayers, while they might seem weak, could be very powerful in the fact that the words are repeated. To not say anything is to pronounce your acceptance with everything, and hence is probably approved more by God than anything. O, to watch you play! That is more satisfying than to grant wishes  (IMO)Dean. IP: Logged |
sue g
Knowflake Posts: 670
From: ireland
Registered: Sep 2004
|
posted April 08, 2005 06:11 AM
Is God a she? I like to think of prayer as something very simple - its a feeling that doesn't need examining (well to me that is). I live on a prayer - its there every day and I use it to give thanks and to ask for what i feel i need to get thro the day, praying is a huge part of life for me, even tho I am not religious at all (shame on me living in catholic ireland ha ha) love Sue xxxIP: Logged |
thirteen
Knowflake Posts: 282
From: Rochester Hills, MI USA
Registered: May 2004
|
posted April 08, 2005 08:17 AM
Sue, i loved everything you said. I related to it totally. ( Im a non practicing catholic also--shame on me)IP: Logged |
sue g
Knowflake Posts: 670
From: ireland
Registered: Sep 2004
|
posted April 08, 2005 11:49 AM
Thanks Thirteen for your words, I just think its so tempting to complicate things sometimes - keep it nice and simple thats what I think - love Sue xxIP: Logged |
Heart--Shaped Cross
Knowflake Posts: 1344
From: north of Boston, MA
Registered: Aug 2004
|
posted April 08, 2005 08:16 PM
Hi Sue,I agree that God transcends gender.
Unfortuneately, there is no word in our language to express this.
I've tentatively decided that it makes more sense to say "She" than "He".
So, do I think two wrongs make a right?
Perhaps.
Our present civilization has erred on the side of the masculine principle.
I think referring to God as a "She" does something to balance the scales.
I may be wrong. Often, I prefer to simply repeat the name "God", rather than refer to God off-handedly as "He" or "She". Often, its just a concern for aesthetics, which leads me to "break up the monotony" by saying "He" or "She". I think that, when something is smoothly expressed, it is quickly expressed, and not lost. But, then, referring to God as a "She" is even more likely to raise an eyebrow, and stop the reader in mid-sentence. (I guess I've either got to think about this a little more, or a whole lot less. lol!) I like what you had to say about prayer.
I'm positive you could teach me a thing or two.
You just did.
Hey Dean -
I think you must be right. What I have called "prayer" is in fact worship. It got me thinking about duality. Worship would be Yin, in the sense of a passive experience of, or receptivity to, God,
while prayer would be Yang, in the sense of an outward motion, an approach to God. But, can God be approached by one who is not receptive to the experience of God? The line blurs. The question arises, is it even possible not to be receptive to God? Allow me to explain: If God grants (and I dont mean "will grant") all prayers, and knows what we have need of before we ask, then, it may be suggested that we do indeed have need of asking. Hence, any concept (and any concept of prayer) which does not reveal God as the motive of prayer, is bogus, and pressumptuous.
Of course, that would include the notion that such "bogus" concepts do not come from God. Which brings me back to Sue... "I just think its so tempting to complicate things sometimes - keep it nice and simple." Amen.
IP: Logged |
Gia
Moderator Posts: 1142
From: California
Registered: May 2004
|
posted April 24, 2005 08:15 PM
Make your life your prayer. There is only one God, the God of humanity, only one religion, the religion of love. If you develop love you develop God. That is your greatest prayer and it can truly move mountains.  Gia IP: Logged |
wildflwrs
Knowflake Posts: 238
From: Albuquerque
Registered: Oct 2004
|
posted April 25, 2005 04:08 PM
I have found prayer to be a very powerful force in my life. I don't think you can limit or define it for anyone else--it's whatever it means to any individual who chooses to do it in whatever way they decide.
I pray affirmatively....claiming health and healing, protection and guidance. Praying out loud, for me, is more powerful....but at times I do pray within myself in silence.
Before this year I prayed sporadically. I have committed myself to praying each morning....sometimes for an hour....sometimes for a half hour....and my life has been changing for the better. It is much improved. I try to give thanks every so often for the many things we all take for granted...like for the fact that my body is whole and I can walk and talk, taste and touch, feel, smell, and think. I believe if we take time to count our blessings and express gratitude for what we have those things will be protected and additional blessings will flow. The power of prayer ROCKS! (It doesn't have to be boring.)  IP: Logged |
Gia
Moderator Posts: 1142
From: California
Registered: May 2004
|
posted April 25, 2005 04:39 PM
Yes I agree. Well put. Gia IP: Logged |
Peaches
Knowflake Posts: 27
From: London
Registered: Apr 2005
|
posted April 26, 2005 10:54 AM
I believe prayer is an affirmation for the fact that I do not believe in a god outside ourselves.Do I think its important?
Yes. It is important to send out that energy. It is not enough to simply say it, your voice must reflect that you truly want it to be so.
IP: Logged |
sesame
Moderator Posts: 775
From: Oz
Registered: Nov 2003
|
posted April 27, 2005 07:57 PM
Well, just for the sake (and fun) of argument: quote:
But, can God be approached by one who is not receptive to the experience of God?
I've had this argument before where religious people might believe people need religion to "approach God" but the thing is, why do they need to approach God? I'm sure some people live very happy lives in ignorant bliss of not knowing God, but then as you hint at, how could they not know God? Is God not Bliss? Likewise, if God is everything, then any experience of life is an experience of God, hence he is always "approached". quote:
The line blurs.The question arises, is it even possible not to be receptive to God? Allow me to explain: If God grants (and I dont mean "will grant") all prayers, and knows what we have need of before we ask, then, it may be suggested that we do indeed have need of asking.
I don't understand why we need to ask? If God knows before you ask, then you aren't given a chance to ask. This leads to a theory that to ask is to state aloud something you don't actually want, since God has already given that. Maybe verbalising thoughts is just that - making you real-ise that those thoughts don't really need materialisation, just "verbalisation". quote:
Hence, any concept (and any concept of prayer) which does not reveal God as the motive of prayer, is bogus, and pressumptuous.
Yes, I think we agree on this, but since God is everything, this statement loses any validity No prayers are bogus if they are uttered aloud, or even given time as thought. quote:
Of course, that would include the notion that such "bogus" concepts do not come from God.
Honestly, I think we're arguing the same thing Do you have any Libran in you? Dean. IP: Logged |
Kat
Knowflake Posts: 384
From: Cleveland, Ohio
Registered: Jan 2003
|
posted May 03, 2005 07:04 PM
Prayer is personal
or with a group
but it comes from within
IP: Logged | |
Lindaland
UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone! 
