Has prayer EVER worked for you?

Hi Vvance, Has prayer ever worked for me, yes, but can I prove it or provide examples, probably not. See we are taught that God answers prayer, but not always in the way we think, or by giving what we ask for. It's kind of like the proverb (not from the bible) give a man a fish, feed him for the day, teach the man to fish, feed him for life. We can ask for something, but what we get may appear totally different, but if you think about it a bit, it really solves the issue.

This is a good question. Has prayer ever worked for me? Yes and No. Yes in the sense that it has made me feel better. I had the delusion that someone was listening. I felt as if I had somewhere to keep my thoughts. It works just like meditation. It's relaxing and soothing. If prayer worked in the sense that most think it did, then the world would be a lot different.

I would like to impart my experiences and what my "faith" has brought me all these years. mine could be typically common, as many other stories you may have read. My struggles started when i was 12, because that is when my parents separated and that is where all the troubles and hardships started... I alsmost lost even the chance to finish my studies. I have even experienced walking from home to the school and that is located in two different cities. So that is how hard i thought life is, my mom is a catholic, we never skipped masses and so on. But then my mom's bestfriend invited us over to attend a Christian Church and that is when instead of us doubting, we turned to God even more, had more faith, and prayed even more and thanked him for the blessings even those when we can open our eyes. You see, my life is a journey i never even want to take again, i am glad those days are done and over with, but i guess i would never have wanted to have it changed, at least not anymore and that is because how i got to where i am now. I stood by my faith, i prayed for better life, and i got it now. it was not so fast as we all wanted to receive a gift, but it is when we are ready to receive God's blessing and that is the time we will probably get the ones we are praying for. Just always remember there is always better plans for us, if we did not get the ones we are praying for, it only means we are to receive better ones that the good ones we think we deserve.

I personally believe that time spent in prayer is like time spent talking to the better part of your own self. We rarely spend time in introspection, so prayer becomes this channel. If you consciously 'ask' for something, you are more likely to find it than not because your mind is opened up to the possibility to finding it. This is the same as when you are thinking of purchasing a certain model of car, you suddenly see loads of them on the road. Of course, there are no more than there were last week but that model of car is at the forefront of your mind. If you 'ask' for a brand new Jaguar, of course this is unlikely to work, but if you're wants are more modest you'll find that opportunities present themselves. The same logic applies to asking for 'forgiveness' in prayer. By making a concious acceptance that you did something wrong you are more likely to find ways to change your behaviour than if you brush it off. If you ask for forgiveness, you free yourself to carry on unburdened by pointless guilt. Prayer then, is a useful tool for those who use it. Whether there is a God, god or gods is for individuals to decide, but by talking to their personal deity they also talk to their own subconscious. I'm not a religious person (nor am I a NOT religious person). I do not intend to offend anyone with my personal take on the subject.

Before I start to fully respond to this discussion I want to say something that came to mind for me when I saw the title. I have an ex BF who believes that the power of prayer is not in just that one individual prayer, but that the miracles occur because many pray on that same thing. Like to say a family's house burnt down and people asked for prayers for the family to get back on their feet. They got back on their feet with the help of the prayer, but only because so many had prayed for them. Atleast I think that is the way he thinks on it. I have seen through my own prayers every night that things keep looking up for me, even when I have "down" times. I pray and I can see that day by day my circumstances are improving. I can't say a grand "miracle" has occured, but in baby steps my life is improving because of my prayer and my efforts.

you need to be a strong believer because whatever you believe thy will be done. prayer is not always a solution but it makes you believe more and give you more hopes. God knows what our hearts desire even without asking for it. for the last two months, we are experience work related problems. pressures and stress come in our way. i pray to God to help us make it through and i strongly believe in Him. we are slowly but surely overcoming the situation through Him. because i know nothing is impossible with Him.

Prayer is a powerful medium, but not the kind of prayer that finds you on your knees grovelling before your deity. The prayer that works is when you say thanks before, rather than after the fact, all the while holding your prayer (want or requirement) in your mind, as you wait patiently for your prayer to be answered. Say, "thanks," every day, and be sure you know what you're asking, because your prayer will be answered sooner or later!

yes prayers work for me because my prayers come straight from heart that is the reason I think GOD approve it but sometimes my prayers do not work but I take it as wish of GOD since GOD can not give us anything harmful for us ..... So we should leave our prayers on GOD and do not worry much whether they will get approved or rejected but yes we must put across our heartiest prayers to the GOD since he is our creator Hare Krishna Ganesh

It has for me as you could see on my previous discussions here. Prayer do really works, and i think God's way of hearing us is through this. Having a strong faith or belief in God and sincerely expressing our thoughts makes one assured that there is Someone looking after us.

well i think when you really believe on something.. every steps you take lead into it.. I do pray a lot.. specially when im feeling down,lonely or usually when i am in negative situation and i do find comfort somehow.. i guess i dont really feel all alone and i know He will always be there for me... the funny thing is i do forgot to give thanks and i just call on Him when i do have problem..which i think is so bad of me.. anyway yes prayer helps me achieve my goal.. well i do have religion but i am a kind of person who doesnt really go to church every sunday.. i dont really know bible but I DO BELIEVE... SO even if you are an atheist.. (anyway theres nothing wrong being like that, doesnt mean your atheist your already satanist, everybody has a choice..and in this confusing world..theres a lot of religion to choose from and i do sympathize with them somehow) lets say concentration or meditation could actually boost your energy to be more focus... and yes i see it that way...i guess i didnt make you guys confuse anyway..this is only my point of view.. im not really saying that concentration, meditation and prayer is the same.. but it is a little bit similar.. well atleast for me... and i do consider prayer as a very powerful deed...

Yes it works really..we cant see it materially but we can feel sspiritually....

I believe in power of prayers, it's up to individual if they also believe in prayers. For me, it's not a requirement to join a group of religion so that your prayers would be powerful. A simple prayers can make a mountain move. Just believe and nothing is impossible with your prayers.

It has.It never works in a great proportion,but it works in small parts.Any good thing that happens to you.it must have been wished for sometime.It is difficult to realize whether the prayers work or not,but it surely does.

Well, that is a really interesting topic. Hmmmm, I think it's not really about god granting our wishes. Sometimes, god wont let us have what we want because it is not what we need. Or maybe, he just needs us to wait for the right. When we pray to have a car now, it does not literally come down from heaven. You should also need to give your best shot to have it.