For those who pray, how do you figure that it is not a waste of time?

How does one figure being on this web site not a waste of time?

Praying for something usually doesn't work...for instance, praying for the Colts to win, would be going against other prayers for the Colts to lose...who does God then listen to? Unless He is a Colts fan, He won't choose.

Praying for material gain is usually a no no... money, cars, fame..etc...no way. Imagine a world filled with people with money, and then..who would do the work? Who would be the servants.? No one would do anything, and nothing would get done.

New car..who would make them...everyone is rich, they prayed for money and got it. So no, praying for a new car won't work.

As for God intervening and helping us.... what would become of our knowledge, our motivation, our will to succeed? We wouldn't have to do anything, because God would provide all.

But for the billions of people on Earth, giving them what they want, day and night , 24 /7 would be a very trying task, even for God. And like I said, what would we humans then gain from it.?

Would God provide us with shelter, like a ten room house and four car garage? And then build the cars, since no one would be doing it? Who would supply the lumber for the houses. ? How about food? Would we have to go out in the fields and pick food that God provides or will He put in on our table every day...all 6 billion of us. No one would work the fields, for sure. And who would deliver the food, if it was provided.? No trucks running or trains....who wants to work if everything is provided?

You see, God will not intervene with anyone person, for if He did, then to be fair to all, He would have to do so with all the rest of the world people also. He couldn't do that, it would be impractical.

So sickness will be sicknesses, diseases diseases, and famine famine, etc. Death will come to those whose time it is, and all will be as it is..

It is up to us humans to make this world a better place to live, not up to God.

As for thanking God, why do you thank the grocer for selling you food? Or the mailman for delivering your mail...they know you appreciate it, but still... " THANKS " means a lot.

Prayer from the perspective of a real believer, not a RELIGIOUS self exalting hypocrite, is far above asking for stuff to make us happy. It is asking to be conformed to the image of Christ that He has set before us by His suffering the injustice that sinful humans (all of us) inflicted on Him and His responding with nothing else but His own prayer to forgive us for we know not what we do.

I am just now beginning to get a taste of what it is like to stop caring about anyTHING in this world and start caring about the ones made in His own likeness. The least of these and especially those who have never had anyone tell them that there really is a God that cares about them. Part of that has been reaching a point in my life where I can accept that God loves me and that is what gives me my value, not learning to love myself. We are to become self less not seek self esteem. What a crock that is. Just look at what people with High self esteem are like. I am sorry, that is just the PC term for SELF INDULGENT SELFISH people.

I don't pray for things.

I don't believe Gods are up there to grant us things like football wins or fancy cars. They aren't vending machines that run on prayers.

I don't believe They are there to hear our prayers about world hunger or suffering... they're the Gods of nature. Hunger, death, suffering, etc. is part of the balance of nature.

My prayers are for me to reconnect with the Higher Power I believe in so I can draw the strength or courage or comfort I need to get through the day and accomplish my goals.

God is not a belief. You are mistaken in your so called logic. You suppose because you don't know that another doesn't. Stick to what you know when you open your mouth because the moment you teach your conclusion based on a subjective point of view as though it was a objective reality is the very moment it cease to be a non-belief and becomes a blind belief. You have no proof or you conclusion.

God is all-knowing.

He knows what you're going to pray about when you're going to pray about it.

I'm not sure why people pray for mindless things such as teams to win, fame, fortune, etc.

When people do that, they are not understanding the actual meaning of praying to God.

When you pray, it's supposed to be a personal time between you and the Heavenly Father. Not to ask favors or for selfish nonsense.

I personally pray when I need help, or answers. I pray for the well-being of my family and friends. I pray to tell God thank you for all that He has done for me.

Although God can see that you are thankful, He wants you to recognize him for it. He wants to to personally address him for it so that you're actually showing your love and gratitude.

God wants people to actually take the time to thank him, He created you, without Him, you'd be non existant so there's plenty to be thankful.

God doesn't make children in Africa starve, he permits that kind of stuff to happen. He wants us to help our brothers and sisters. He wants us to realize what we've been given so we give back to those who need it. God wants us to be kind to each other, and He'll thank you for helping out His other creations, just like you'd thank Him for creating you. (:

because for them its important, for some some people its a waste of time to play video games but for others its fun, even if you dont believe in god some people do and its important for them to pray,

(Even if prayer have no effects upon reality other then on the person who prays)

I don't think that football games and sick people are a part of his plan. God looks at the big picture, we should too.

I don't think you get that praying feels good.

Don't YOU do stuff that feels good? Do you say, oh,this feels good. It must be a waste of time. I need to be seriously doing something.

The person praying imagines results to suit them

Perform a statistical analysis