# The Power of Prayer



## Universal (May 30, 2005)

has anyone been interested in the power of prayer lately? I think prayer can do miraculous things that can help along people like us who have mental illness. Does anyone else have any experiece with prayer? Sojourner you're more than likely to respond to this, i affirm. LOL


----------



## Guest (Nov 14, 2005)

No, not particularly interested. I lost faith somewhere along the line.


----------



## peacedove (Aug 15, 2004)

Prayer doesn't seem to do much for me. I usually end up getting pissed off cuz there's no answer. Or he is answering but he's saying no.... as I've been told.


----------



## terri* (Aug 17, 2004)

Prayer comforts me.

I think this belongs down in the religious or alternative medicine section as this is one of two subjects that always get ugly. New people passing thru will look at us like a bunch of raving lunatics and not really get the compassion that is on this Board. IMHO.


----------



## bbsan (Nov 7, 2005)

prayer sometimes helps me


----------



## jft (Jan 10, 2005)

Prayer is huge for those with mental illness, a source of transcendence that can be very welcome, even if no one is listening. It works for alot of reasons of course, but my comment here is that when one tries to pray when severely dp'd or in a nasty dr state, it is so hard to connect within that prayer. You have lost that connection to transcendence if your own state is temporaryily in disarray. . This is what has happened to me and I always wound up gettting so frustrated I just drank a beer instead. I no longer pray, but I indeed miss this very much.
jft


----------



## Guest (Nov 15, 2005)

I believe prayer can be a huge source of comfort. I find hope in prayer. Combined with using the resources God has provided for us such as medications, therapy and taking care of oneself, prayer acts as way of releasing control over something that is difficult to understand or predict the outcome. I often pray for God to give me strength to endure and the faith and hope to pass through this time. 
The bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but rather of power and love and a sound mind." For me personally, fear is the root of my anxiety. Add anger, confusion and sadness and you have the perfect recipe for emotional "issues." God doesn't want us to live in these emotions, he expects and wants good things for us. Sometimes for whatever reason be it nature or nurture we need help to get back on track. He is there for us. .. .carrying us when we are at our weakest.
Peace,
Faith


----------



## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

Prayer is a form of self-delusion. And sometimes, of course, it helps. Much like a placebo. But for those who lack the belief in god, prayer can destroy you.


----------



## sleepingbeauty (Aug 18, 2004)

there are different kinds of prayer martin. you dont have to pray to the great spaghetti god in the sky. you dont have to pray to anyone. im not a bible basher. (in fact, i dont know how anyone can truly think that something written by scizos can be factual.) im not a religious person but i do believe in a creator, that being the Gaia, mother of all living things. that aside i think prayer is healthy in SOME instances. like if you pray for the health and happiness of others, even those whom you dont care for. who you pray to doesnt matter, as long as you have good intentions and wishes for whoever it is your prayer is for. prayer is only bad when it gets confused with OCD. when i was a child i used to pray to Jesus and he would answer me and tell me to mindless OCD tasks like open and shut doors and pick things up and put them back down over and over. OCD prayer can lead to even worse things like superstition. its also bad when you pray for only selfish things. even if you get what you prayed for its not exactly like you will feel good about it. if you pray for others, it always leaves you feeling better in the end.


----------



## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

Yes, I agree with you.


----------



## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

sleepingbeauty said:


> im not a bible basher. (in fact, i dont know how anyone can truly think that something written by scizos can be factual.)


Where do you get this from?

I do pray every night and never really derive any satisfaction from it, but when i really feel burdened with sadness and anxiety...desperate prayer does help, whatever the reason for that might be.

On another note though, i feel that God and/or angels have helped me through the worst of times and honestly looked out for me. You can call that delusional, but frankly i find atheism and/or the denial of a "soul-giver" (for lack of a better word) equally delusional, for reasons which i'll gladly debate if anyone is interested.

Moved to Spirituality section.

s.


----------



## Guest (Nov 16, 2005)

sebastian said:


> sleepingbeauty said:
> 
> 
> > im not a bible basher. (in fact, i dont know how anyone can truly think that something written by scizos can be factual.)
> ...


She might be referring to the opinion of some scholars that the author of Revelation was schizophrenic.


----------



## terri* (Aug 17, 2004)

error.


----------



## peacedove (Aug 15, 2004)

"when i was a child i used to pray to Jesus and he would answer me and tell me to mindless OCD tasks like open and shut doors and pick things up and put them back down over and over. "

Me too!! And then I would think why would Jesus make me do this... maybe it's not him maybe it's satan... for awhile I thought I was posessed.


----------



## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

> You can call that delusional, but frankly i find atheism and/or the denial of a "soul-giver" (for lack of a better word) equally delusional, for reasons which i'll gladly debate if anyone is interested.


Let's do it Sebastian. 

While I am careful not to completely dismiss the idea that some paranormal experiences are based in some reality that we do not yet understand, I am still unable to find anything that cannot be easily (and I'm saying EASILY) dismissed by taking a real close look at wishful thinking or fraud. The vast majority of this guardian angel/clairvoiant stuff is, at best, misdirection, or at worst, lies. People, like yourself Sebastian, use your powerful intellect to rationalise this wishfull thinking into some veneer of reality. I use my rather less powerful intellect to do otherwise. So who is the more delusional?

I apparently have an Egyptian guide. Curious eh? Quite fashionable. Why not a Bostwanan AIDS victim ? Or a paraplegic? I thought all souls were meant to be equal.

I am truely confused as to why you think that atheism (lack of theism) is delusional. It is simply a lack of belief in god/s, because of the total and utter lack of evidence. I think the focus of atheism regarding mainstream (and not-so-mainstream but increasinly fashionable) religions is misleading. I am also A-Father Christmasist. A-Tooth Fairyist. A-Loch Ness Monsterist. A-Astrologyist. A-Tarotist. A-Numerologyist. A-Spidermanist. I also don't believe that you can walk through walls Sebastian, unless you show me otherwise. So I am also A-Sebastian cannot walk through wallsist. Do you see what I am saying?

If you took a step back, wouldn't you think it's just slightly suspicious that never, not once, ever, in this history of anything, has any of this mystical mumbo-jumbo been proven? Ever? Yet at the same time there are trillion and one reasons why people want to believe these things. Why cannot you apply your immense powers of intellect (and I'm not partonising you) in this way - if you were sitting at a table, and there were 99 buttons labelled 'live' and one labelled 'die', which one would you press? The same obvious logic applies to these strange beliefs in spirits or guides or what-the-hell ever. It's just not real!

Of course, whether that matters or not is a different question. But for adults to sit and discuss whether they should carry on deluding themselves might get the alarm bells ringing.


----------



## falling_free (Nov 3, 2004)

Born from an egg on a mountain top
The punkiest monkey that ever popped
He knew every magic trick under the sun
To tease the Gods

And everyone and have some fun

Monkey magic, Monkey magic (repeat 4 times)

What a cocky saucy monkey this one is
All the Gods were angered
And they punished him
Until he was saved by a kindly priest
And that was the start

Of their pilgrimage west

Monkey magic, Monkey magic (repeat 4 times)

With a little bit of monkey magic
There'll be fireworks tonight
With a little bit of monkey magic
Every thing will be all right

Born from an egg on a mountain top
The punkiest monkey that ever popped
He knew every magic trick under the sun
To tease the Gods
And everyone and have some fun

Monkey magic, Monkey magic (repeat 4 times)

Its all very simple, God is a magic monkey who was born from an egg










THE POWER OF MONKEY WAS IRRRRAPRESSIALE!!!

























He walks around with a buddhist priest who is a boy but who is actually a girl


















Brainwashing over you can go back to sleep now


----------



## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

Martinelv said:


> People, like yourself Sebastian, use your powerful intellect...


I like you better every day, Martin. 

I knew a mouth-frothing Satanist like yourself wouldn't be able to resist this challenge. In a few days i'll post a new thread and we can publicly debate it on there. I don't agree with people who are touchy about religion and don't like to hear any criticism about it. I don't expect you to pull any punches, and let's debate this until one of three things happens:

1. I lead you to the light, which subsequently endows you with a hope and passion you've only dreamt about.

2. You beguile me into darkness, and both our souls are lost to the monstrous vagaries of Satan and his ilk.

3. (Undoubtedly the most probable of the three) We exhaust ourselves in semantics and nit-picking until we agree to call it a draw and such phrases as "we're both obviously too steadfast in our beliefs" get thrown around like wedding rice.

In any case, i'll issue my manifesto on the subject within a few days ("a few" stretching into the weekend), and the mud slinging shall commence thence ("commence thence"...what a funny thing to say).

s.


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2005)

-


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2005)

-


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2005)

When I was a child and for some time after that, I would always pray for something I wanted. Never worked, so I quit. 
Much later I began to pray in gratitude. I had no one else to talk to about the deep feelings of gratitude I sometimes felt, since gratitude was considered an artificial and unwanted sentiment in the family I grew up in. I learned gratitude from the kindness of people outside my family.
Now I never pray for something I want. - it's never worked. I just shoot 'upwards' a kind of 'thanks for that thought or experience' feeling which takes only a split second. It doesn't get me anything but a feeling that there's a place that will acknowledge my happiness. 
Martin would say I'm delusional. I have more to say on that topic next post.


----------



## Homeskooled (Aug 10, 2004)

Dear Martin, 
There is always proof. It would be hard for someone like myself, who was raised by scientific and _religious_ parents to not come up with examples of proof. But I think that you will have an ace in the hole by saying that we just dont understand the natural cause _yet_ - which is what us Catholics like to call a "cop-out". Any proof can be circumvented with that argument - I've heard that excuse used to argue against the link between HIV and AIDS. But common sense, and an overwhelming plethora of "proof", suggests that these people are mistaken. Only the truly paranoid would throw out evidence which is very obviously linked to a specific occurrence, such as contracting HIV and developing a syndrome a few short years later wherein your T cell count drops to 0. Only the truely paranoid would fail to call a remission in this T cell count drop, without any treatment but religious "mumbo-jumbo", a miracle. So too, when you use this excuse, you make the possibility of your position seeming rational slimmer and slimmer. If you dont mind Sebastian, I'm in too. Although you can just tap me when I'm needed in the ring. :wink:

Peace
Homeskooled


----------



## sleepingbeauty (Aug 18, 2004)

sebastian said:


> sleepingbeauty said:
> 
> 
> > im not a bible basher. (in fact, i dont know how anyone can truly think that something written by scizos can be factual.)
> ...


common sense is where i got that from.

the bible is a book, or rather, a collection of essays written by men who spoke to god. its called gods 'word' right?? so god spoke to them and told them what to write at least in many of the passages that are forced down humanities throat by the religious. nowdays, when people walk around saying that god 'speaks to them' , and homie cant argue with this, we call them mental patients and shove pills down their throats. how can god feel about the way we are treating his prophets?! i think, we should get all the schizophrenics off meds and put them in charge. thats what god wants right?


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2005)

sleepingbeauty makes sense. No book should be so incomprehensible as the bible is. People spend lifetimes studying it and still make different interpretations. Where is the simple truth in it? If anyone tried to publish it now, they'd be rejected by every publisher - not for lack of faith, but for lack of logic in it. 
Have you ever read something written by a schizo? They ramble on and sound plausible in patches, but no single sentence is coherent.

The bible has been subject to editing and poor translations for nearly 2000 years. Does anyone know where the 'original' scripts of the bible are?
There are apparently scripts dating back that far, still in their original languages that speak far more simply and logically about God and Jesus. I would want to read them and see how they compared to the bible.


----------



## sleepingbeauty (Aug 18, 2004)

> Have you ever read something written by a schizo? They ramble on and sound plausible in patches, but no single sentence is coherent.


sounds alot like the bible to me.

and i should know since i was forced to memorize its wierdness in christian school. not to mention evening bible study groups 3 times a week, sunday school, fellowships, and weekend retreats.


----------



## Universal (May 30, 2005)

http://www.srf-yogananda.org/wwpc/power.html

The Power of Prayer

God is the love that upholds the universe�the ocean of life and power that pervades all creation. Through scientific methods of prayer, we can consciously attune ourselves to that Infinite Power, and bring healing to body, mind, and spirit. The methods and principles described here may be used by anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, for they are based not on dogma or belief, but on application of universal laws.

Doubters regard prayer as a vague and ineffective exercise in wishful thinking. The ordinary person resorts to prayer only when in dire trouble and when all other options have failed. But Paramahansa Yogananda taught that true prayer is scientific � being based on precise laws that govern all creation � and is a daily necessity for harmonious living. He explained that our physical bodies and the material world we live in are condensations of invisible patterns of energy. That energy in turn is an expression of finer blueprints of thought � the subtlest vibration � which governs all manifestations of energy and matter. The whole of creation was brought into being by God first in thought or idea form. Then the Divine Consciousness willed those thought-patterns to condense into light and energy, and finally into the grosser vibrations of matter.

As human beings, made in the image of God, we are different from the lower forms of creation: we have the freedom to use these same powers of thought and energy. By the thoughts we habitually entertain and act upon, we create the circumstances in which our life unfolds. Scientific prayer is based on understanding of this truth, and on application of the universal forces of creation: It tunes in with God�s thought-patterns of health, harmony, and perfection � and then uses will power to channel energy to help materialize those patterns.

Prayer is the science by which we can attune the human mind and will to the consciousness and will of God. Through prayer, we form a loving, personal relationship with God, and His response is unfailing. We read in Paramahansa Yogananda�s autobiography:

"The Lord responds to all and works for all. Seldom do men realize how often God heeds their prayers. He is not partial to a few, but listens to anyone who approaches Him trustfully. His children should ever have implicit faith in the loving-kindness of their Omnipresent Father."

By patient and persevering application of God�s unlimited power, we can, with His love and help, create whatever circumstances we desire, and dissolve difficulties and disease � not only for ourselves, but for others.


----------



## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

Homeskooled, I'm confused. I thought you relied on 'first principles' (your own) and not 'proof'?


----------



## Homeskooled (Aug 10, 2004)

Eegads man! Debate/Philosophy 101! ALL arguments/positions have first principles. If not, you'd go backwards into infinity, "Well if that is so, then why?....." until eventually, you would have to decide on *something* you beleive exists. Some fact you wont question. Like an element. Something that cant be split into smaller parts, without losing the whole. After that you can use all of the proofs, bluster, nihilism, or ridiculosity you want. But not until. Now go sit in the corner.

Peace
Homeskooled


----------

