07-27-2010, 04:43 PM
I don't know how most people pray. Just some people I know consider God a beloved friend. And as a beloved friend he will have to suffer through everything our friends suffer through. This includes complaints about the weather, but usually in humorous format. The idea is that to accomplish oneness there must be intimacy. I am here and you are there does not convert to intimacy, we're both here however does. So I do tell him what I want, even if it's pathetic and selfish. I don't expect him to give me what I want I don't expect him to tell me what to do. I only expect him to be a friend, and it is hoped that a friend would tell me if I'm being selfish and small minded, it is hoped that a friend would give their insights to help me, and it is hoped that a friend would lend a hand when needed.
There's a whole host of experiences in prayer or in the religious experience itself. I think it'll be difficult to judge others even if we do know, word for word, what they pray for.
The God is a king paradigm from the middle ages is still very much alive today. Some people do follow the God is a candy dispenser paradigm but they usually loose interest quickly. But there are other ways, perhaps even 6 billion of them when you get down to counting them all.
There's a whole host of experiences in prayer or in the religious experience itself. I think it'll be difficult to judge others even if we do know, word for word, what they pray for.
The God is a king paradigm from the middle ages is still very much alive today. Some people do follow the God is a candy dispenser paradigm but they usually loose interest quickly. But there are other ways, perhaps even 6 billion of them when you get down to counting them all.