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Why do christians pray? [Spirituality & Religion]

According to the christian myth, their god has this great plan and always does what's best for us. Praying amounts to asking it to do something it hadn't thought of doing. Isn't it rather arrogant of them to presume they know better than their "almighty god"?
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Because they're supposed to ._.

And you got something wrong :v
Praying doesn't mean they know better than God 😂
It's a form of worship
Sharon · F
@Babylon What about when they ask for something? How are they not asking their god to change its "perfect plan"?
@Sharon you're on something else right now 😂

Tell me what God's plan is
@Sharon that one's quite easy. You know people are selfish and will ask, beg, and pray for something they want. You can anticipate that just as easily as you know a child will ask for a cookie.
@froggtongue wait. I wanna hear about God's plan. She talks like she knows it
Sharon · F
@Babylon [quote]Tell me what God's plan is[/quote]
I doubt it has one because I don't believe it exists. The point is, christians frequently claim their god has a perfect plan for us all so asking him/her/it to change it to suit them seems to be rather arrogant.
@Sharon LOL

"I dunno God's plan but I'll be mocking it"
What type of logic is that?

[quote]so asking him/her/it to change it [/quote]
This literally highlights exactly what your ignorance of the relationship is. Firstly, nobody KNOWS God's plan. Any atheist like you that wants to talk about God should know that God did not explain all to happen. It's a fundamental concept. Nobody knows the future as a human. Second, I'll give you the same question. Christians ask for forgiveness when they sin. Can you tell me why? Does this go against God's plan?
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Sharon · F
@Babylon [quote]"I dunno God's plan but I'll be mocking it"[/quote]
Strawman! I asked why christians ask their god to change [b]what they claim is its perfect plan[/b].

[quote]Christians ask for forgiveness when they sin. Can you tell me why?[/quote]
Why should I know? Ask them why.
@Sharon WHO TOLD YOU THAT THEY'RE ASKING TO CHANGE GOD'S PLAN 😂

WHAT IS GOD'S PLAN??? HOW DO YOU KNOW IT GOES AGAINST GOD'S PLAN??? WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE THAT THEY'RE ASKING TO CHANGE IT??

Do you now see what I'm asking, yo?

And you called it a strawman when I'm literally pointing out that you're saying it is against God's plan for believers to ask God 😂.... and then you mock it all by calling it a myth... without even sharing how it is a myth...

Bruh, you're tripping

I'm not even a Christian btw. I'm straight up just calling out your mistakes cuz you're disrespectful as hell
Sharon · F
@Babylon No need to shout.

They claim their god has a perfect plan so asking their god to do anything is either pointless, because it's going to do it anyway, or is asking it to deviate from its "perfect plan". That's simple logic.

You call me disrespectful but you should take a good look at yourself.
@Sharon [quote]Christians ask for forgiveness when they sin. Can you tell me why? [/quote]
[quote] Why should I know? Ask them why. [/quote]

Are you dodging my question? (Cuz I sure hope you're tryna hide the answer to that question from others)
If you can't answer such a basic question, I honestly don't even think I wanna talk about this with you anymore 😪

How do you literally attack people's belief like this so boldly without even knowing such fundamental concepts. This ain't even particularly a Christian thing but rather a basic concept in believing in a higher power....

I'm outies ✌🏾
Sharon · F
@Babylon [quote]Are you dodging my question? (Cuz I sure hope you're tryna hide the answer to that question from others)[/quote]
You're asking why someone else acts in a particular way. Ask them. not me.

[quote]If you can't answer such a basic question, I honestly don't even think I wanna talk about this with you anymore 😪[/quote]
Good. You're free to leave, you won't be missed.

[quote]How do you literally attack people's belief like this so boldly without even knowing such fundamental concepts[/quote]
Read my OP. I'm asking the question.
SW-User
@Babylon She's saying (I think) that Christians believe that God has our lives planned out, so praying to ask for something would seem to be either asking for something that God has already planned (so what's the point of asking) or asking God to change his plan (which God would not do). I agree with you that prayer is more than just asking for things: it's worship, it's as Budwick said, an "ongoing conversation with God", but I think Sharon is specifically talking about the kind of prayer that is asking for things, like those who pray to win a football game. If you win or lose, it's all part of God's plan. If it was his plan for you to lose, then you will lose, regardless of whether you prayed to win.
@SW-User bruh, I was gunna respond and my boss called me ;-;
I'm sorry about the delay

But in a nutshell, she was equating asking from God in prayer to be the same as knowing better or requesting to "change the plan" (if I'm not mistaken) ._.
That's just weird

And Imma peep this :v
[quote]so praying to ask for something would seem to be either asking for something that God has already planned (so what's the point of asking) or asking God to change his plan (which God would not do)[/quote]
God's plan is different to His knowledge .-.
Even though God knows you're going to ask, He has not denied or accepted any requests until you actually make the request, right? It's almost like you're saying you've been denied before you even request if you request something and it wasn't granted. My question would be: where are you getting that from? ._.
How did you learn that this was part of God's plan? From my understanding, we're given free will and a life and a chance and we do what we can. If we ask, it's up to God to accept or deny our requests. Does God know before hand? Yeah. That's what we're surely taught. Did He deny it before any request was made? I dunno .-.
I'm just not sure where that's coming from

It's almost like asking why we're given free will and a chance at life if God plans who goes to heaven and hell, yeah? :v
It just doesn't make any sense to ask that knowing what Christianity teaches
SW-User
@Babylon That's the "paradox of free will". If God knows what I will do, then do I really have free will? Or is free will just about freedom from coercion? God won't make me believe in him (that would defeat the purpose of faith and free will), it's still my choice to believe in him or not, but he also knows what I'm going to choose. It's not necessarily that God created people not to believe (what would be the point of that?), but because of free will, some won't, and he knows which ones won't. (In the OT there are many instances of God "hardening the heart" of someone, like the Egyptian pharaoh, essentially making them take the wrong actions, it's interesting. Sometimes the Bible does suggest God influences our choices, even if the choice is one against God. But I think that's more to make a point about people's obstinacy and refusal to do what's right rather than support for predestination).

Framing prayer as asking God to change his plan is a bit odd; I would see it more that prayer is asking God to reveal his plan. In granting or denying our requests, God reveals his plan for us. Our requests don't change his plan.
@SW-User oh, I heard about that. That's even in Judaism and Islam if I'm not mistaken. The stated reason for that is because God also promises to people that they will not taste punishment until the truth will be made clear for them .-.
Then it is up to them to choose to side with the truth or to deny and turn away, according to the teachings of scholars from the Abrahamic religions.
Whoever turns away after having had the truth been made clear and chooses to satisfy themselves over their purpose (purpose as said by God in the scriptures), then their hearts will harden and become corrupted from their sinning. That's what's claimed in the books, as far as I believe.

[quote]Framing prayer as asking God to change his plan is a bit odd;[/quote]
Yeah, I find it to be the deception almost XD
Or twisting words. We can't just make up meanings for things. But I like the questions :v
This thinking and evaluation is good in my humble opinion and all people should be challenged to reason and think about these things.
Sharon · F
@SW-User [quote] think Sharon is specifically talking about the kind of prayer that is asking for things,[/quote]
You got it, that's exactly the point I'm making. The abuse I'm receiving from some christians here suggests I've touched a raw nerve or backed them in to a corner.
Sharon · F
@Babylon [quote]she was equating asking from God in prayer to be the same as knowing better or requesting to "change the plan" (if I'm not mistaken) ._.[/quote]

You are mistaken. My point is that, if whatever one asks for is part of one's god's plan, one must believe it will come about reqardless of one's prayer. If, however, it is not part of the plan, the request anounts to asking the plan be changed.
@Sharon [quote]Why do christians pray?
According to the christian myth, their god has this great plan and always does what's best for us. Praying amounts to asking it to do something it hadn't thought of doing. Isn't it rather arrogant of them to presume they know better than their "almighty god"? [/quote]
[quote]The point is, christians frequently claim their god has a perfect plan for us all so asking him/her/it to change it to suit them seems to be rather arrogant [/quote]
Please re-read your words. Clearly you can retract your statements but you can't act like you didn't say this ._.

And in both cases, you assume we know what is a part of the plan which requires you to explain why and where you got this thinking from 😪
IF we knew we weren't getting something, then obviously it would mean we're requesting something we are not going to get. That still won't mean we "know better." I see where you're coming from but just make sure that in the future if you wanna talk about religions that you do it justly. I'm not a Christian and would teach against it but I don't like any misrepresentation of any group's beliefs. Even those I cannot support
Sharon · F
@Babylon [quote]you assume we know what is a part of the plan[/quote]
Where do you get that idea from? Nothing in my OP suggests that at all.

[quote]IF we knew we weren't getting something, then obviously it would mean we're requesting something we are not going to get.[/quote]
Of course we could be asking for something we wee going to get anyway but just didn't know at the time. In such cases however, the request is superfluous as it achieves nothing.

You're criticism is aimed at a strawman.