For those of you who pray and who believe that you are having a conversation with God (an entity that you believe is living and aware and that is outside of your conscience,strictly speaking)
perhaps you could share some of the dynamics of the prayers, mantras, and conversations. I realize that for some of us this is an important and personal thing, so lets keep the jokes limited to ourselves.
What do you ask and/or talk about?
Do you hear answers or feel inner confirmation in any way?
Does the action of communication with God change you in any way?
First of all, I am guilty of taking God for granted, similar to how one may treat a familiar family member. I am getting better at talking in good times as well as bad, but in the past I often found myself asking for things and cozying up only when I needed something! :(
What do you ask and/or talk about?
Phat writes:
I pray for other people, I pray for Him to change me and convict me when I am selfish and/or greedy, which is quite often. Sometimes I sing to Him. Sometimes I listen, hoping for some epiphanies as answers to problems that I am unable to resolve.
Do you hear answers or feel inner confirmation in any way?
Phat writes:
Often, I do not hear or feel anything. Undoubtedly, though...the conversation itself expose my own motives and fallibilities to me as I realize how much I want things to go my way and am oblivious to the needs of others. This awareness is healthy, I think. (even if God were not there, the action of submitting my own ego to overall altruism is a daily cleanse, I think)
Does the action of communication with God change you in any way?
I have changed, but in essence I am who I am, anyway. I hope that I am growing and learning how to be a better person.
I used to pray, no more. But when I did, I do not recall any excact or precise answers. I do know, that generally when I prayed, it was in attempt to keep some sort of natural disaster from befalling my family or me.
No disaster ever came, however, no disaster has ever come even after I stopped praying, and stopped believing altogether. Yet, I do know that prayer has made me feel better in the past, despite my non-belief in a deity named I AM ;).
Dear Phat, I know you are supposed to pray using words and show that you are making an effort and all that, but most of the time when I pray it is more like the meditation form...like 'practicing the presence of God'. I guess I see it as praising God...just clearing my mind and giving my thoughts over to resting in the goodness of God.
The closest I can get to explaining my inner confirmation is that I can sense an eternal and inner joy which has remained constant and of the same quality in spite of changes in my life and personality. This sense of calm is more important to me than asking God for trivial things; it often puts them back into their proper place as 'trivial'.
There are times when I have asked God for trivial things, of course :) but I am confining myself usually to asking for good things for other people if it seems like the person will lose heart or become depressed at one too many failures.
The odd thing though is that lately I have been on a roll of having good things happen in ways that I did not ask for or that I did not think of myself. Life is never perfect, but I feel like some of the things I used to agonize over as far as personal choices, have been solved for me without any effort on my part. I like to think of the parable which says 'consider the lilies of the field. They sew not nor weave, yet I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these'.
The closest I can get to explaining my inner confirmation is that I can sense an eternal and inner joy which has remained constant and of the same quality in spite of changes in my life and personality.
Me too. God is nor something (or more properly someOne ) to be proven.
God is nor something (or more properly someOne ) to be proven.
Doesn't it seem that most of those who do try to "prove God" - e.g. YECs (fundies in general) - are lacking in "inner joy"? Don't they come off as angry, arrogant, sour on life?
Maybe "conversations with God" should emphasize listening rather than talking. Maybe then they'd hear Him telling them to smarten up.
Doesn't it seem that most of those who do try to "prove God" - e.g. YECs (fundies in general) - are lacking in "inner joy"? Don't they come off as angry, arrogant, sour on life?
This is a good point.
How many 'Christians' have we had here who are just filled with hate?
I know so many Christians who are at peace with themselves because they are convinced that they have a very real relationship with God. I can imagine that if I was in their position it wouldnt matter what people said about me or my Holy Book, as I would have the truth and what they think makes no difference.
But I have always said that 'Christians' who look for evidence of silly things like the Flood, or take idiots such as Wyatt, Scott, Hovind etc. seriously, really do have a very weak faith.
On topic though, isn't is such a waste of life believing in God because you feel good during meditation? A rush of chemicals and hey presto Yahweh is real!
... isn't is such a waste of life believing in God because you feel good during meditation? A rush of chemicals and hey presto Yahweh is real!
I agree. The "inner joy" doesn't depend on an exteranl cause. Get it whatever way you can - by meditation, by flying a kite, by teaching ;) - but don't spoil it by trying to put a face on it. Listen to the silence but don't talk to it.
I think that my prayers have been answered and this can be said despite post hoc ergo propter hoc and confirmation bias, as you cannot differentiate between truth and falsity, whence begging that question ergo any proof of God only comes to the humble individual, not the ardent skeptic hell-bent on reducing the irrefutability of the spirit, despite the objectivity of the believer and Thereby rendering the open-minded all-accepting anti-fundy into totality of trust in God, despite any convincing man-talk that might place doubts in the way of the spirit, and cloud the righteouss mind of crystal pure irrefutable clarity that stems from the pure flow of mighty Master that dwells in heaven, and whom has his lawyer on earth.
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