Do you pray?

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Still, I think it's misleading to state (as in the test) that "Oh my God!" counts as anything like a prayer. It would be equivalent to claiming that "Go to Hell!" is a prayer to Satan

 

Disciple, I don't mean to criticize or anything, but I am truely curious. How do you figure yourself as your own god? Is this one of the 'there is divinity in all of us' ideas, or one of the 'I am my own goal and focus, therefore I am my own god' ideas, or something else?

 

Certainly that is a respectable opinion and maybe I should have given that option a more detailed description - I tried to discuss this a bit in the opening post.

For many people "Oh my God" is just an exclamation of surprise, dismay, happiness, whatever, with no intent to pray. However, for some of us s, at least those of us who grew up in the southern U.S., that was not a phrase to be said lightly - we were told in no uncertain terms it was prayer and not a reverent prayer at that and just blurting it out resulted in punishment. So I still twitch a bit when I hear 10 year olds screaming it at each other when they get a text message from their boyfriend or whatever. Maybe this is age-istic prejudice talking, on my part?

But I do want to raise the question, as intended with the wording of the poll: why the continuing references to God if in fact no such reference is intended? The answer may indeed lie in linguistic atavism, but I have to wonder if that is the full explanation.

Nevertheless, the main question of the poll is simply: do you pray, however you define that? And the answers have been quite interesting to me, and I hope to others as well.

 

Thats the English language for you - full of out of date expressions and words.

Besides which, words are only symbols to convey ideas. Its the meaning that you attach to them that counts. So, for you, "Oh my God" is a prayer, but for me "Oh my god" is an expression of surprise. Same symbols, different meaning.

 

Hmm, the picture theory of language combined with the idea that words mean what individuals decide they mean. Both widely held views of language, but not ones I share.

Sorry, that's another thread, isn't it?

But, on topic again, the "no, never" respondents have it so far.

 

I voted never, and say "Oh my god" frequently.

It's really just a phrase. Much like when I say "Oh, sh*t!" although I have no actual intention of defacating.

 

No, I never pray. I don't say "Oh my God" much either, preferring more... colourful language.

 

Perhaps, but I'm curious as to why you dont think words can have different meanings to different people? Do you think words have absolute meaning?

 

I was raised in a religious home, so I was taught to pray every night before bed...but once I was old enough to realize I was just repeating 95% of the same old stuff every night, I stopped. I continued to pray for very important things for a few years afterwards...during a life threatening asthma attack for example. (note, while in those situations, I don't feel like I'm talking to "god"...but from a very early age my brain was programmed to be calm, and have a sense of safety while saying a prayer...so I use prayer as a last resort to get my body to relax...which lowers my heart rate considerably, reduces tension, and relieves panic... so it can get me though the worst of asthma attacks.)

That being said, I haven't said a prayer in years.

 

Sometimes wishing can be praying...when you say 'I wish...' who are you sending your wish to?

 

Nobody. When I say "I wish", it's because I simply wish something would happen like I'm saying. Not because some higher power could hear and help, simply to tell someone else. If even that.

I don't pray, being an atheist, and I also don't consider exclamations like "Oh my god!" or such praying unless the exclaimer specifically means them to be such. As has been already said, otherwise they've been used so much they've lost all religious connotations.

 

I used to "pray" before meals while still living at home (this is my first year in college), but to be honest, it was mostly just done to keep my parents happy. I really don't have the heart to tell my mom, a devout Catholic, that I am and have been an Atheist for about a year now. There's a right time for that though, I'm sure.

 

Football is my religion. Wembley is my church. I pray at the feet of Theo Walcott.

 

Everybody does. Everybody. But some pray to the god made by their religion, some just to god (male/female).

 

As an atheist, I refer to God a surprising amount.

Sometimes I say things like "Okay God, if you make this bus come, I'll like you a bit more" or "You better make sure this report gets a good mark, God."

I figure he can take it.

 

I don't pray. However, I am sure that I will pray just before death (given the chance). As an agnostic I have to acknowledge that maybe I just don't have the wisdom or grace to accept the existence of God....hopefully I send a prayer to the correct god just before my end.

Also, I don't consider using God's name as a prayer at all. I use God's name regularly to make a point...I know my audience.

 

I used to pray as a kid sometimes, but it stopped making any sense to me a long time ago. So no, never.

 

I agree very much with this. In fact, it was the ridiculous notion of God as the switchboard operator (love that description, dmc!) that shaped much of my personal theology and set me on the path I'm on.

Truthfully, I am constantly trying to move from the "sometimes" category into "regularly," I also believe that prayer without intent doesn't mean all that much.

 

Prayer should include an expressin of gratitude and praise, but also a petition for divine guidance and blessings for those in need. I've heard people pray for others to recover from illness, accident and routine surgery, seek protection for themselves and those that are travelling, and to seek spiritual guidance for those speaking and teaching in religious meetings. Privately, Guidance on real world issues, such as employment, spouse selection and education are encouraged...

But one thing that we are taught to remember is that God's will is to be done, not ours. We may pray for the recovery of a loved one in the hospital, but if it's their time, they will die. I've heard (and offered) petitions for their physical and spiritual comfort rather than recovery when that is expected to be the case...

 

I find myself doing it more often, although not for the same reasons as I might have before. These days, I tend to pray for myself and others to find a deeper reservoir of humanity, strength, happiness, wisdom, kindness and/or humility within themselves. The idea of a deity (regardless of belief) as a pot-luck wish-deliverer, omnipotent suspender of universal laws or switchboard operator just doesn't sit well with me - that view seems like a dependent parent/child relationship to me. I have no patience for religious architecture erected and embellished at the expense of purpose and spiritual meaning.

To me, prayer is more for a sense of having set my hopes down in words, and then being able to move forward without being tied to them. Whether you want to conceptualise a deity as an anthropomorphic (or other) personification or some pervasive force, I find that there is great comfort and peace to be found in prayer. Even if in the end it turns out you were only talking to yourself, something which can help you let go of your fears and worries (without obliterating your senses or harming anyone) can't be a bad thing.