What do you believe prayer is for?
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Prayer serves several purposes.\nIt brings you into a right relationship with God.\nIt allows you to enter in to repentance.\nIt allosw you to be thankful.\nIt allows us to be humble.\nThis is not a comperhensive list, just a beginning to help you understand why I would pray to God. So I guess for the most part both of your answers are valid. \n\nYou said "And, based on that communication they choose whether or not to assist."  You assume that prayer requires a response that benifits me. You could not be more wrong. Prayer does not require a response at all.
307504
I believe God has an end goal for us. Either we arrive there as a result of our own choices, or God will help guide us there. \n\nYou're not alone - sometimes I think I'm not seeing it either! But praying keeps you close. Be familiar with God and His word, and you'll more quickly recognize anything that doesn't seem quite right. You can also pray for more obvious signs, but be careful! I've done that, and then the signs were sort of like getting slugged upside the head with a cast iron skillet! OUCH! But I got the message, loud and clear!
25188
I believe one of the "values" of prayer is that it provides a measure of comfort to people.  If it gives you comfort to pray for the deceased, then it can't be wrong.
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My religion? I choose to keep things as simple as possible.\nI try to live by kind acts. I try to act in accordance with my conscious, with humanity. Why not put prayer into action? AHHHHHHHH! I'm religion-illiterate for that matter. :D
1140484
Prayers are the Christian equivalent to Spells. They both have just as much effect as the other.
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Prayer is the elevation of the mind and heart to God.\n\nIt should contain one or more of the following:\n+ In praise of his glory\n+ In petition for some desired good\n+ In thanksgiving for a good received\n+ In intercession for others before God\n\nThrough prayer the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church.\n\n"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)\n\n"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." (St. John Damascene) \n\nBut when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1) \n\nHe who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."\n\nWith love in Christ.
427407
First, let me remind you about Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  In all things God works for the good and He has a special purpose for your life. Keep in prayer to God and ask Him how you are to use the gifts He has given you. He will let you know when and how you are to use them.
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Yes I do. I use on line prayer sites. People all around the world need help, and simple prayer can go along way.\nI keep those people in my daily prayers.Its like how in churches they have prayer boxes, so people can pray for their situations.\n\nThis is another amazing prayer site too!\nIf you make an account on the second link you can make an account, talk to other Christians and put up prayer requests, you can see who is praying for you.
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<*> try this list of sites\nhttp://www.newtimes.org/issue/0208/prayer.htm
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Its too broad a question.  Work for what?  Is prayer a magic wand?  I'd say no--we understand too well that try as we might, we are limited beings and we can't just make anything we want happen.\n\nThe christian belief is that prayer is essentially about relational communication, not just about asking for things to happen.  So, does prayer work?  It does if you are deepening in your spiritual relating with God through it, and becoming more fulfilled in who you are meant to be as a result.  I'd say that it does work, but like any relationship and any communication is fraught with challenges at times.\n\nDo prayers work in terms of influencing reality around us?  It isn't possible to prove or disprove in a sense, because we can believe whatever we want.  However, my experience is that they can indeed.
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No, I personnally don't believe in it, nor do I believe in conventional prayer.\n\nI can recite or read a page in a book as many times as you want me too, but that doesn't mean I'm praying. It is only praying when what I say comes from my heart and to do that I must say my prayers in my own words and not recited from another prayer of mine from another time, because that again would just be reciting and not coming from my heart. Keep in mind many of my prayers might sound exactly the same, but they are still fresh words to me from each day I pray.\n\nI hope I didn't offend anybody, but I just wanted to answer this question.
627621
I try to pray about a lot of things, even just opening my heart to the Lord is a recognition of the fact that I trust Him to guide me. You don't always need to pray.\n\nAlso, I find that some decisions really don't require prayer. I don't think anybody would pray about which flavour icecream too choose, because the effects aren't that great.
456747
Practicing the privilege of prayer yields abundant blessings.  Not only are we allowed to speak directly to the Creator of the universe through prayer, and often experience the excitement of seeing our prayers answered directly, but family devotions also prepare our children to raise praying families of their own.\n\nWhatever state you find your family in today, go pray about it together.\n\n"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:12
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Many people do not understand prayer; a large majority of people pray selfishly, so, when they preceive their prayer not answered immediately they feel like "god has forsaken me", or that prayer does not work.\n\nPersonally, I beleive in the power and strength of prayer. However, I also understand god may not always give me what I want but always what I need.\n\nAs a person who believes in the power of prayer, I included those who don't in my prayers with a hope that one day they will understand.
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most definately.I pray that God will get me through the hard times, not knowing myself how i will cope, seriously. I sincerely put myself in Gods guidance, and he allways provides. The trick is not to dictate how you want the prayer to go, but to put your faith in the Lord, in that he will get you through any outcome no matter how difficult.Life will allways throw eventualities at us and they are unpreventable. But with Gods help its easier to get through them.
1149620
What works for me is every morning when I get in the shower I start of by singing a praise song and then I ask the Holy Spirit to channel the course of my thoughts and direct me in my prayers. I always try to "pray God's Word back to Him". In other words as I'm giving the Lord the burdens that are on my heart I'll say something like "You Word says such and such about this situation but I'm having trouble...". \n\nAnother tip to having valuable prayer time is to be thinking of what God's revealed will for situations is in the Bible and praying along those lines. As to praying without ceasing, for me that means that throughout the day when something bothers me I say a quick prayer about it when I have a chance. I might go outside on a break if I'm at work or something like that and pray where people can't overhear me.
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i do believe in prayers and the power behind the prayers.i cannot say how many in numbers have come true, but it has been alot. i learned the hard way that not all that i ask for i get. one has to remember that what we want may not be what God wants us to have. sometimes the answer is no and we have to accept that. i love to pray cause God is always there for me and he knows me inside and out, and accepts me the way i am. he does answer prayers so don't stop! remember: P U S H - pray until something happens!! God bless you!!