Do you pray?

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I've been curious about how many SP'ers pray. I'm not referring to just Christian prayer (though I happen to be one), nor simply to the well known verbal prayer practice of many religions. I'd also include such activities as religious chant and spiritual meditation. Many traditions also include work and art directed to the glory of that faith's God as prayer, too.

And, I consider such exclamations as "Oh my God!" to be prayer. You may not agree with me on this, of course; one could argue that those words have lost all religious referent for many people, just as "good bye" has in English (the etymology being, IIRC, "God be with you"). If you don't, then by all means answer no, never, even if you sometimes say that.

General thoughts on prayer are welcome, too.

 

I thought exclamations such as "oh my god" were considered as blashpemy rather than prayer, using the Christian Lords name in vain.

I tend to use "oh God", "Oh lord", "oh merciful gods" etc as swearing ehrn surprised and in polite company, though I assure you it refers to my own

I pray irregularly but with full conviction and intention. I generally am around people unwelcoming to my practice so often am muted on what I do and discussing my faith.

 

I'll be happy to use your definition - I sometimes say Oh my God, so I voted yes, accidently (although subconsciously my be the more appropriate adverb - I don't think about it before I say it).

I certainly don't think saying "Oh my God" is swearing. At least not the same way as saying "god damn it" is swearing. The former is usually said out of surprise, while the latter is usually said out of anger.

 

I often intentionally say "Oh my God."

 

I do sometimes say "Oh my god!" and "god damn it" but these sayings have long since lost all connection to the idea of an omnipotent creator (Christian or otherwise).

So I voted no, never, because I never sit down and direct thoughts towards an ethereal being; omnipotent, omniscient, immortal or otherwise.

 

...only as a prelude to (and accidentally during) sex.

 

Exactly. The fact that a curse/interjection has the word "God" in it, doesn't mean it has anything to do with religion anymore.

Same idea in reverse. Many languages have curses including Satan (or devil/demon), it's not like they really say "Satan, come clean up this mess, take his soul and so forth".

EDIT: And I voted no, never.

 

T2, you are a sick puppy, and there's just no use denying it!

I pray regularly, but not as often as I should. I have found it to be a rewarding and uplifting experience.

 

No praying for me... I think the last time I prayed with full conviction (or at all) was in 7th grade, and that was an "if you DO exist, please ________."

 

I voted no, never. I'm very likely overthinking the matter, but these past few years have made me very conscious of phrases that invoke GOD. Seeing how much harm organized religion is doing all over the world, has made me avoid phrases that involve religion. Not just to avoid conflict, but also to consiously oppose organized religion.
Once, when I was on a group holiday and treated lousy (strangers shouldn't take away a 6 year old kids' toys and make him do chores), I did pray to God to get me out of that mess.
Pure spirituality, meaning praying to a higher being, but having your own opinion about what it is (meaning that there's no church for it), is something I don't oppose. Spiritual people are as respectable as atheists, but very rare indeed.

 

Coineineagh, I think you'd be surprised how common truely spiritual people are in organized religion. It's usually the idiotic but vocal minority that causes most of the trouble.

I pray regularly and intentionally.

 

Before going to bed each night I tend to kinda monologue (like a mental diary pretty much) my thoughts about certain situations going on and such. I suppose it is directed at an almighty being, but it's more to help clear my thoughts and organize my head. Kind of like how sometimes you just need to say something, it comforts me that way.

 

It's no longer a secret I'm a LaVeyan Satanist, in which you are your own god, so why would I pray to myself?

I know there are some dead serious Xtians in this thread who will have a problem with my philosophy, and to put it short, if you have a problem with LaVeyan Satanism, keep it to yourself. I'm tired of the giant barbecues.

 

I find regular prayer difficult. I kneel down and my mind goes all over the place, and I just can't seem to focus.

 

If I did believe in a god, why would I think my minor grievances would matter at all to him? And if I thought I was capable of changing my god's mind about something, I think I'd lose a lot of respect for that god.

 

I can't say 'No, never' since I used to think of myself as an Xtian years ago and I used to pray back then.

If 'Oh my God' is prayer, then I invoke an ancient finnish god of thunder as often.

Can't say that I'd pray to anything these days. I dislike the dichotomies between the real and the unreal, natural and supernatural, physical and spiritual. I'm not an atheist, but I renounce the basis for the word 'religion' and if someone might see that as renouncing everything that is understood as religion and religious practices, then it's quite beside what I'm after, but perhaps not entirely wrong either.

If a word like 'pray' might be understood to refer to any kind of action, if it encompasses almost any possible practice, then it loses it's meaning. It might as well be said that I pray all the time, to all that is holy and everything is, but then it might also be said that I pray to nothing, nothing is holy and there's nothing to pray for and no prayer at all, or even that there's no-one who'd be doing any action that might be referred to as 'praying'.

 

I do, but seldom and not on any regular basis. It's more like a "Wouldn't it be nice if you could help me on the test tomorrow/do something for the guys in Indonesia/help me and my friends/family/etc this summer" thing when I feel the need for it.

 

i voted no, never

i am not that much into religion, and i don't believe in any of it.

also i am not much for being bothered with preaching people wanting me to believe something.

if i did go religious i would join a cult of some sort, with free recreational drugs and unlimited sex , if i had to choose

 

Very interesting responses so far.

I, too, used to think of prayer as primarily petition or intercession (please God do this for me or for someone else) but I don't any more. And I, too, think that trying to talk God into something that is not in God's nature to do is a futile enterprise. There is much more to prayer than that for me; I am personally very involved in contemplative prayer that is less goal than process oriented, in which I seek to place myself more consciously in God's presence. There are many other approaches to prayer as well.

I agree prayer can't be defined as anything at all, but a surprising number of human activities become prayer if done with the intention of offering them to glorify God, whoever you understand God to be.