QUESTION: Today's comes from CDF...
"If God sometimes says 'no' to our prayers, then why bother to pray? I admit I have a hard time trying to figure out when to pray and when to just keep quiet -- although if something looks hopeless, I really don't see any reason to pray about it."
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
From time to time throughout our lives we are faced with challenges and hurdles. Sometimes these obstacles appear to be insurmountable by ourselves and it is natural to seek help wherever we can. However, praying to a god has never been proven to have any effect. Religious people don't have better health, don't have more good fortune, and don't avoid death and injury any more than the rest of the population.
Consider the concept of praying for the weather. A religious person will pray for rain and when it rains two days later they thank their god. However, weather happens every day anyway and so it may just be coincidence. Also how many other people live in your city? What were they praying for? It is very ego-centric to credit the whole city's weather to your prayers. Furthermore, your next door neighbour may be praying to Allah for rain - so whose god gets the credit? Perhaps your neighbour may be praying for sunshine, in which case you can imagine the heavenly tog-of-war as one god pushes the clouds above your place and the other god pulls them away again!
Your last sentence inadvertently touched upon the essence of this issue "....I don't see any reason....". The total disengagement of prayer from reason should be enough to show us that prayer is futile. Whilst there is nothing we can do about the weather, there is a well-known saying that applies here: One pair of hands doing something about a problem is more valuable than one thousand clasped in prayer.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6219
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Stand On Your Own Two Feet
QUESTION: Today's comes from NR...
"In my view, religion is only for weak people who can't stand on their own two feet. Life isn't easy, but it's useless to lean on some imaginary "God" for help. We have to fight our own battles and can only depend on ourselves. I don't have any use for religion."
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
Life isn't easy. There are pitfalls and pleasures, setbacks and triumphs. It's hard to negotiate life's journey by yourself, so we all need the support of friends and family. Some people like the idea of there being an ultimate authority to help them. This is a parallel to when we were children and we could always run to our mummy when the going got tough. However, it is part of growing up to take on responsibility, and anyone who leans on an absent being is abrogating their responsibility to themselves. Saying prayers into the cosmos has never brought any tangible results, and is patently a worthless waste of time. You have obviously thought about things and made a decision. Congratulations. Many do not have the strength to do so, particularly when it involves going against what they have been taught since childhood. Don't let a run of misfortune weaken your resolve to be in charge of your own destiny. There is no god to intervene in your favour.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6089
"In my view, religion is only for weak people who can't stand on their own two feet. Life isn't easy, but it's useless to lean on some imaginary "God" for help. We have to fight our own battles and can only depend on ourselves. I don't have any use for religion."
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
Life isn't easy. There are pitfalls and pleasures, setbacks and triumphs. It's hard to negotiate life's journey by yourself, so we all need the support of friends and family. Some people like the idea of there being an ultimate authority to help them. This is a parallel to when we were children and we could always run to our mummy when the going got tough. However, it is part of growing up to take on responsibility, and anyone who leans on an absent being is abrogating their responsibility to themselves. Saying prayers into the cosmos has never brought any tangible results, and is patently a worthless waste of time. You have obviously thought about things and made a decision. Congratulations. Many do not have the strength to do so, particularly when it involves going against what they have been taught since childhood. Don't let a run of misfortune weaken your resolve to be in charge of your own destiny. There is no god to intervene in your favour.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6089
Monday, June 7, 2010
Onward Christian Soldiers
QUESTION: Today's comes from JE...
"Our son is planniing to enlist in the military in a few months. I know we're supposed to believe God will take care of him, but right now we've got a bad case of nerves and our fears are a lot stronger than our faith. How can we get over this?".
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
There's no denying that doing military service is dangerous. The main purpose of the job is to kill others and put your own life on the line for your country. No amount of praying will change this fact. Furthermore there are no statistics that show religious soldiers have a lower casualty rate than others. Unfortunately for your family there is no divine spiritual being to take care of your son.
The mainstream religions preach peace and loving your neighbours. However, it doesn't seem to be put into practice as every army has their chaplain to bless the troops as they go into battle. How often do you hear priests condemn war?
Instead of wasting your time praying, how about thinking about the issues at stake. What battles will your son be expected to fight? Do you support these conflicts? Does he? Do the supposed enemy belong to another religion? How will these conflicts be viewed in decades to come? If you feel strongly let your political leaders know your feelings. They are very susceptible to public sentiment.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6092
"Our son is planniing to enlist in the military in a few months. I know we're supposed to believe God will take care of him, but right now we've got a bad case of nerves and our fears are a lot stronger than our faith. How can we get over this?".
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
There's no denying that doing military service is dangerous. The main purpose of the job is to kill others and put your own life on the line for your country. No amount of praying will change this fact. Furthermore there are no statistics that show religious soldiers have a lower casualty rate than others. Unfortunately for your family there is no divine spiritual being to take care of your son.
The mainstream religions preach peace and loving your neighbours. However, it doesn't seem to be put into practice as every army has their chaplain to bless the troops as they go into battle. How often do you hear priests condemn war?
Instead of wasting your time praying, how about thinking about the issues at stake. What battles will your son be expected to fight? Do you support these conflicts? Does he? Do the supposed enemy belong to another religion? How will these conflicts be viewed in decades to come? If you feel strongly let your political leaders know your feelings. They are very susceptible to public sentiment.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6092
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Words In Your Mouth
QUESTION: Today's comes from SL...
"I grew up in a church that always used printed or memorized prayers in its services, and I'm having a hard time learning to pray on my own. I even worry if it's wrong to try praying in our own words, because we might say something wrong and offend God. Is this a danger?".
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
When deciding on your spiritual beliefs you should look inside yourself and decide what you know to be true. Be careful to distinguish justifiable truths from wishful thinking. Trying to follow someone else's system of beliefs will inevitably lead to inner conflict. The prayers that you were given to say are an example, whereby you feel you are being holy but the prayers do not come from your heart and hence are meaningless. How do you feel about someone putting words into your mouth and telling you what to say? Most people would reject this, as the majority of the population pride themselves on making up their own mind. Religions such as Christianity are by their nature dissatisfying because they come from sources external to yourself. My advice is to decide what you believe in and ignore external influences.
Your question covers praying and worrying and wondering if you are fitting in with the correct dogma. The time and energy used up here would be better spent on thinking things through, making up your own mind, and enjoying yourself.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6022
"I grew up in a church that always used printed or memorized prayers in its services, and I'm having a hard time learning to pray on my own. I even worry if it's wrong to try praying in our own words, because we might say something wrong and offend God. Is this a danger?".
IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
When deciding on your spiritual beliefs you should look inside yourself and decide what you know to be true. Be careful to distinguish justifiable truths from wishful thinking. Trying to follow someone else's system of beliefs will inevitably lead to inner conflict. The prayers that you were given to say are an example, whereby you feel you are being holy but the prayers do not come from your heart and hence are meaningless. How do you feel about someone putting words into your mouth and telling you what to say? Most people would reject this, as the majority of the population pride themselves on making up their own mind. Religions such as Christianity are by their nature dissatisfying because they come from sources external to yourself. My advice is to decide what you believe in and ignore external influences.
Your question covers praying and worrying and wondering if you are fitting in with the correct dogma. The time and energy used up here would be better spent on thinking things through, making up your own mind, and enjoying yourself.
BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6022
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