Comments on: Prayer: Why I may do it Anyway (if asked)

By: fluorophore

fluorophore — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:43:19 +0000

I was so saddened to read about your forced altar call – thank you for sharing that with us and educating me – I’m probably not the only person to be shocked at what happened to you. I am so sorry.

I hope it’s not unwelcome, but I’d like to offer the thought to your and your commenters that perhaps prayer is not about words. And to those who might suggest that it is – I’d ask to whom are those words important? To us? or to God?

Nor do I think that it is possible to be insincere or hypocritical with God – those are words that describe human interactions.

I’m glad I found this site – this is a really good and supportive community. I wish you and all here (and all of us) much healing on your journey.

By: Thom

Thom — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:35:42 +0000

When I was Christian then I was never comfortable with praying out loud. Anything that had to say to god was between me and god and nobody else.
Praying out loud in church I would cringe and tell him in my mind that I apologised for having to us name in a fake prayer spoken out loud, but that I sincerely hoped that he would understand my situation and take mercy on me, and that I would speak with him myself later.

By: the chaplain

the chaplain — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:21:22 +0000

John David:

I’ve heard a bit about “centering prayer” in my denomination but, to tell the truth, the folks in my tradition (The Salvation Army) put more emphasis on serving others, living as they believe Jesus would live – so that people can “see Jesus in them”, than they do on prayer and Bible study. They believe prayer and Bible study are important, of course, but they feel that solitary faith is not fruitful; faith is meant to be shared, not nurtured secretly. The Salvation Army takes its evangelistic mission very seriously. It’s a bit less successful in discipling and shepherding sometimes.

By: John Dave Coleman

John Dave Coleman — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:44:42 +0000

I was pained to read about your Good Friday forced confession. That probably would have made me smoke Camels for the rest of my days. I’m a Lutheran pastor who shares some of your struggles, as best I understand them. Please know that this is a friendly query. It sounds like you come from and may still be part of an evangelical Christian church. In that tradition as you’ve experienced it, do folks talk about or practice “contemplative prayer” or “centering prayer”? Just curious. I haven’t read all of your posts, so please forgive if you’ve already talked about this.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:10:43 +0000

If you don’t want to pray, then don’t. Many Christians go through the same thing. The difference is that you were wise enough to know that praying this way is hypocrisy. Prayer should be of sincerity. That’s one of the things that makes prayer meaningful. It gets empty when the words are meaningless. For me, I think God doesn’t care if you worship Him or not. To me, worship and prayer are meaningless if there is no sincerity behind it.

By: Ted Goas

Ted Goas — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:10:51 +0000

I understand, Apostale. No worries.

By: The Apostate

The Apostate — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:01:10 +0000

Ted Goas,
I apologize if it came across that I was saying all Christians (or even a majority of Christians) are obnoxious. I was speaking about the vocal minority that makes life a hell for people who want to live without having dogmatic feces flung in their face. I realize my grammar left that ambiguous in my previous comment.

By: Ted Goas

Ted Goas — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:28:40 +0000

TheNorEaster, one person might call it bitching. Another might call it preaching. Still yet another would be stating a point of view. There are a lot of Christian denominations that have no problem claiming that other belief systems are wrong.

The Apostate, that’s a bit harsh. Not all Christians are obnoxious, but it’s ones that are that give the religion a bad face. Though I know it’s tough to be tolerant of theists when encountered with comments like the one TheNorEaster left…

By: The Apostate

The Apostate — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:33:07 +0000

TheNorEaster,

If I ever did leave Christianity, I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life bitching about it.

Think before writing. Or not.
Just think about how pervasive Christianity is and how utterly obnoxious Christians are in our society. Not to mention that probably every person that writes for or visits this site has close friends and family that continue with their belief system which deeply and sometimes hurtfully affects us all.
But you don’t give a rat’s ass about that anyway, do you?

My equally absurd retaliation to you is this: if you stay with your cult in this, according to Christians, depraved and sinful world, why don’t you just jump off a cliff so you can get to heaven a wee bit quicker – because trust me, you aren’t doing much to “further the kingdom of God” with your attitude around here.

By: TheNorEaster

TheNorEaster — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:41:09 +0000

If I ever did leave Christianity, I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life bitching about it.