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10/30/07, 11:55 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 948
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prayer vs. thought
I almost hijacked suburbanite's thread but stopped myself just in time!
She reminded me of something I've been wondering about for quite awhile:
How do you distinguish prayer from ordinary thought? Is prayer anything you start with "Lord" and stop with "Amen"? I mean, I can come up with extreme examples, like "Lord, please cure my ailments" and "I gotta remember to wash the drapes" - but what about "Lord, help me find my keys"? Is that sincere prayer that you expect G-d to answer or is it ordinary thought (in this case, an expression of frustration)?
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10/30/07, 11:59 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: N. Calif./was USDA 9b before global warming
Posts: 4,596
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what a cool question.  but non-answerable by an atheist, so I'll just lurk from here out.
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10/30/07, 12:05 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: WI
Posts: 4,277
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I figure if I am talking to God directly, that's prayer, whether I'm asking for something, giving thanks, or just rambling. If I'm not talking to God (or anyone else, for that matter), then it's thought.
__________________
Marvelous Madame
Be kind to others. You do not know what burdens they are carrying.
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10/30/07, 12:19 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 948
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Madame
I figure if I am talking to God directly, that's prayer, whether I'm asking for something, giving thanks, or just rambling. If I'm not talking to God (or anyone else, for that matter), then it's thought.
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So do you actually express "Lord" or "Dear G-d" or "Heavenly Father" or something, or do you have an image of him that pops up in your mind, or what? How do you decide when you are "talking to God directly"?
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10/30/07, 12:31 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 2,597
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dente deLion
So do you actually express "Lord" or "Dear G-d" or "Heavenly Father" or something
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yes - and I never take the Lords name in vain....or use one of the cleaned up substitutes, either.
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10/30/07, 12:48 PM
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If I need a Shelter
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ozarks
Posts: 17,695
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Hmmmm well I guess I'm Praying all the time because I'm always talking with God,but then again I get down bow your Head serious with him a few times a day. He don't care He likes it all.
big rockpile
__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock! 
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10/30/07, 01:40 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: a little farm in Oklahoma, I love it!
Posts: 429
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where does TRUE prayer originate?
For me I feel that TRUE prayer starts in the HEART... I don't feel that I have to say "Our Father who art in heaven..." and end with AMEN for it to be a prayer.
In the prayers I read Jesus praying there is no Amen attached to end the prayer... in the prayer often refered to as the Lord's prayer He was simply teaching His disciples to first acknowledge God and His holiness, a reverance of God, not flipancy, not meaningless repitition.
Because the Spirit of God resides in my heart I know I am communicating with God.
How do I know that my prayers arent' just thoughts??
I can't explain it, I can't describe it.. I just KNOW it. I KNOW it on a level that could not be experienced until I became a believer in Jesus Christ. Once I accepted who Christ is and what He did for ME, dying for MY sins, rising on the 3rd day to guarantee my salvation... once I personalized it , then I KNEW my prayers were being heard and were no longer just random thoughts.
I don't think that when you just throw out a thought it is the same as directing a petition to Jesus or God... I think once you attach His name to the thought it becomes a prayer because now He is listening.
Misty
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10/30/07, 05:47 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: WI
Posts: 4,277
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What do I call Him? I don't , necessarily. It's like having a conversation with someone in the room with you. You might not say 'hey Joe, I wanted to say...'. You just start talking.
But of course, as if evident in the posts, we all do it differently.
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Marvelous Madame
Be kind to others. You do not know what burdens they are carrying.
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10/30/07, 05:55 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Australia
Posts: 3,187
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A prayer is aimed at a deity you believe will make your wish come true.
A 'thought' is just that. You hope your wishes will come true, but have no expectation that some superior being will make it happen; rather, that circumstances will alter so that it is more likely to happen.
I subscribe to the 'thought', being non-religious. The idea of a superior being with the power to change anything in a person's life is to me complete fantasy. Like the tooth-fairy.
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10/30/07, 08:07 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Dysfunction Junction, SW PA
Posts: 4,808
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I used to justt jabber on in my head 24 7 talking to "god".
Maybe thats why that big truck ran over me, god wanted me to shut up?
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10/30/07, 08:14 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,490
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I think it absolutely doesn't matter what humans call it or think it is or isn't.
Prayers, thoughts, candles, sage smudges, pixie dust.
They all count.
The Great Spirit is smarter and more forgiving than all of us.
__________________
Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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