This thread is for anyone who wants to discuss the method of prayer but I'm mainly looking for input from people who still pray to some form of deity or another.

My question is:

What actually goes on when you pray?



For example: Do you picture someone/something? Is it a man? Woman? Baby? Do you picture the cosmos? A black hole? Light? Darkness? Do you see a name? Do you use a name?

Do you sound out the words you want to say in your mind? Do you censor yourself? Do you just let go (stream of consciousness)?

Do you have a set method, like starting a certain way, ending a certain way?

Do you hear a reply? Feel a reply? See a reply?

Do you feel there are correct ways of praying and incorrect ways of praying?

Does anyone feel like praying is really just a way of probing your subconscious?

Has anyone ever actually had a dialogue with the object of their prayer? An actual conversation where you talked like two human beings?

Thanks in advance for your replies. This is an open thread so anyone is welcome to chime in with any perspective.

whatever it is I am thankful for at the time. It is usually a spontaneous prayer, preferably aloud, but can rarely find the solitude to feel confortable enough to do that, so I speak in my mind. I don't picture a god or spirit or anything like that...mostly I picture my own life and circumstances that brought me to the moment of the "blessing" for which I'm giving thanks.

Sometimes I pray for wisdom or guidance, knowing that the answers are usually found within my own consciousness.

I'm like wcgirl about that. I tend to feel that speaking outloud or in my mind about being thankful will help the feeling last longer
and asking about help or wisdom or guidance will bring the response within me because putting into words a need will help in understanding it better and therefore will also help in finding a solution or at least find a way or a place where to find the solution...
Also there are moments when I miss my mom and dad (they have passed away in 2003 and 2010) and I say it outloud or in a whisper and I feel them near. Now, maybe it is just my memory of them that comes back to me, maybe it is actually them comming to me, truth be told, I don't think it matters one way or the other, as long as in that moment the outcome helps me feel better and move on, that what's important. But I must admit that when I left the church I struggled for a while... I didn't know if or how I could pray or to whom... so I felt "destabilized"

I don't pray. Sometimes a situation is such that I do make a conscious effort to be mindful of my thankfulness for it and my appreciation for it. It's silent and internal and addressed to no one but the situation itself and my perception of it, but taking a moment to do that helps me feel connected to things and to the universe in general...which helps me be mindful of who I am and my responsibilty to make the world a better place for all things.



....Amen! :)

I thank Ged every day for my good fortune. Geddy Lee, that is. Why Geddy Lee, you may ask? Well, at least he is a real person (sexiest bassist/lead singer on the planet and a genuinely nice guy and good person). But I doubt he can hear me all the way in Toronto or wherever he happens to be at the moment. I have used signs to thank him in concerts, though.

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd480/doubleagent2112/InGedWeTrustBanner.jpg

Prayer is all in your head - nowhere else! Prayer is like kissing a baby's boo-boo. It doesn't really do any good but everybody feels better for having done so.

Telepathy is nothing more than good guessing, selective memory and wishful thinking.

I think all these questions are valid, however those who answer that they pray are setting themselves up for ridicule by some of those who don't pray. That's just the way it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2011 02:48PM by orphan.

orphan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think all these questions are valid, however
> those who answer that they pray are setting
> themselves up for ridicule by some of those who
> don't pray. That's just the way it is.


Ya, you're right: but who gives a shit what they think?

One of the positive outcomes of this board is learning to exercise your freedom to think and feel your life in your own way regardless of another's approval or disapproval.


I pray, much like how wcg prays. I also have a few set prayers that I say as incantations when I must face something very difficult or unpleasant.

Human

I agree with you and wcg. I was just trying to point out a fact. If I really gave a damn what people thought about my opinion, I don't think I could have left the church. Opinion in the LDS church is very important.

When I used to pray it was a set ritual. I would begin it with "Dear Heavenly Father" then blah blah blah, mostly thanks and then asking for stuff like help so and so accept the gospel, can you make so and so stop being so mean. And ending with "InthenameofJesusChristamen."

I would say it was a monologue, but sometimes I could fool myself and it would seem like a dialogue. And it always seemed like a chore. But I would feel guilty if I didn't do it, so sometimes it was just a quick HI God, how's it going? Talk to you later. Truthfully, I followed the way I was taught in church, like a formula.

Long before I stopped believing in a god, I quit praying. It just seemed so useless to me especially since I couldn't see any difference in my life whether I prayed or not. It seemed like one less chore to do at the end of the day.

Now, I couldn't even pretend to pray if my life depended on it. My sister told me about an experiment about prayer. Who knows how true this is. But one group prayed to a god, the other group prayed to a milk carton. I think they prayed for the health of certain people, I can't exactly remember, but the results were the same as chance, and maybe statistically, the milk carton did more than god. She was offended by it since she still believes in a god, but it gave her pause and caused her to think if there really is a god. She is still on the fence about that.

Let me pray about this topic and then get back to you.

Okay Im back. The answer I got was the same answer that I have received for every single prayer that I have ever prayed. ........NOTHING.

I don't think that I have ever offered a prayer that was ever heard by anyone other than myself.

On the other hand I have found that prayer is an interesting way of communicating to people who are praying with the person offering the prayer. It has a unifying effect on a group of people wether it be 2 people like husband and wife, father and son, etc.... or a larger group like in a classroom, or a larger group like a congreation. In those ways it can be powerful as it unifies people on a way of thinking. I have heard very good speakers that can pray and unify an audience.