Prayer - What is it?

[TreeBeard]

1 minute ago, John Stone said:

............... no idea, but likely depends on the individual

Confused with ur use of the word, 'results' ..... solace? 

If you pray for something with no chance of it happening, why pray?  And if it’s only about keeping hope, can’t that be done without praying or religious dogma? 

[John Stone]

1 minute ago, TreeBeard said:

If you pray for something with no chance of it happening, why pray?  And if it’s only about keeping hope, can’t that be done without praying or religious dogma? 

............ it's about expressing ur feeling to a greater being

Arguably there are  no truer words expressed than, 'there are no atheists on the battlefield"

Likely seeing ur platoon shredded, near misses, the noise, the blood, death, disfigurement drives even an ardent  atheist  to prayer in pursuit of self preservation?

The HOPE to survive? 'dear God, please save this non-believer'

[TreeBeard]

4 hours ago, John Stone said:

it's about expressing ur feeling to a greater being

If the greater being isn’t there, what good is it?

4 hours ago, John Stone said:

Arguably there are  no truer words expressed than, 'there are no atheists on the battlefield"

That’s really poor evidence for a greater being. 

 

4 hours ago, John Stone said:

The HOPE to survive? 'dear God, please save this non-believer'

Can’t there be hope without a religious prayer to something that may or may not be there anyway? 

[CdnFox]

2 minutes ago, TreeBeard said:

If the greater being isn’t there, what good is it?

 

That's been a fascinating study for many an expert. The idea of positive affirmation and hope bringing into existence that which the person is hoping for is well documented and recorded.

Having hope and belief and clearly articulating what you desire to have happen has a strong impact on whether or not those circumstances materialize. If god exists you're doubling down on the effect presumably by having the positive affirmations along with the help from the day, but even if the date he doesn't exist prayer that comes from belief would still have a strong impact in people's lives in helping to make things happen

Oh ye of little faith    

[August1991]

On 4/7/2026 at 2:18 AM, CdnFox said:

Two things.  One now NO one will understand you and 2 the board will become more quiet  

Two things? 

Religion? Prayers to God?

Everyone - every human - has one thing: an internal voice. We all speak to ourselves.

This is life. 

[CdnFox]

30 minutes ago, August1991 said:

Two things? 

Religion? Prayers to God?

Everyone - every human - has one thing: an internal voice. We all speak to ourselves.

This is life. 

Dude I have told you a million times that those internal voices are not your friends

[Barquentine]

Prayer?

Humans can't stand the fact that we don't know why and how we are here only to die.

So we invent and call it Faith and our Faith makes it real. For some.

Or maybe:

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

We're only talking to ourselves, looking for comfort.

Hope, not Faith, is the best of human mindsets.

 

[John Stone]

Is a placebo effective if the belief is it works? 

Same with faith. 

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, John Stone said:

Is a placebo effective if the belief is it works? 

Same with faith. 

Whether god or whatever someone is praying to exists or not, the effects on the human brain and behavior are quite real and well documented, and it can be very powerful stuff. Prayer induces neuroplasticity, strengthens neural pathways associated with focus, emotional regulation, and compassion while calming the brain's "fear center," the amygdala

That leads people who pray to have sharper focus and make better decisions especially in times of stress. 

So it is a powerful real world tool I'm not a placebo at all. It reduces stress, clears the mind, and strengthens neural pathways which amusingly makes for better thinkers

All of this would have escaped you because of course as a leftist you never believe in anything, or think for that matter  

 

[John Stone]

20 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

Whether god or whatever someone is praying to exists or not, the effects on the human brain and behavior are quite real and well documented, and it can be very powerful stuff. Prayer induces neuroplasticity, strengthens neural pathways associated with focus, emotional regulation, and compassion while calming the brain's "fear center," the amygdala

That leads people who pray to have sharper focus and make better decisions especially in times of stress. 

So it is a powerful real world tool I'm not a placebo at all. It reduces stress, clears the mind, and strengthens neural pathways which amusingly makes for better thinkers

All of this would have escaped you because of course as a leftist you never believe in anything, or think for that matter  

 

Def impressed with the verbal nomenclature. 

................ supposedly(?) Osama bin Laden was devout, as are most (all?) jihadists ..........

I suppose it could be argued that having faith made OBL a better thinker, def more focused for the task at hand.

 

 

 

[CdnFox]

3 hours ago, John Stone said:

................ supposedly(?) Osama bin Laden was devout, as are most (all?) jihadists ..........

 

And managed to organize a whole bunch of people in sandals with stolen guns and gear to represent a significant threat to the united states more so than any other terrorist group that's tried has managed to be

That boy was many things but stupid weren't one of them  

3 hours ago, John Stone said:

I suppose it could be argued that having faith made OBL a better thinker, def more focused for the task at hand.

The research says yes

Now the interesting thing about this research is as I said it doesn't require the god to be real. Which means that you can still make use of the power of prayer to improve your own life without necessarily claiming belief in a god that you don't personally believe in. It could be any figure. With the passing of Chuck Norris I'd like to recommend taking a page out of Carlin's playbook and praying to Joe Pesci.   Joe gets shit done.  And george noted that his prayers were answered about a similar percent praying to Pesci as to god, so there you go. 

But either way prayer isn't just a minor thing that gives people a little comfort or the like, it is actually a powerful tool.  And if the god you're praying to happens to exist as well....   now you're REALLY stacking the odds in your favor  

[eyeball]

13 hours ago, John Stone said:

Is a placebo effective if the belief is it works? 

Same with faith. 

Prayer and death appear to be strongly associated in this thread. One shouldn't be so quick to turn their back on science as a source of solace. 

Magic mushrooms sound pretty effective as an alternative to faith. Science shows they actually cause new neural pathways to form in the brain. Terminal patients that eat mushrooms report it greatly reduces the existential anxiety of dying. They feel a greater connection to everything, become more optimistic and experience nothing less than a life and death altering "shift in the lens" regarding their terminal diagnosis.

[Barquentine]

16 hours ago, CdnFox said:

That leads people who pray to have sharper focus and make better decisions especially in times of stress. 

So it is a powerful real world tool I'm not a placebo at all. It reduces stress, clears the mind, and strengthens neural pathways which amusingly makes for better thinkers

That's meditation, not prayer. And religion has nothing to do with it. Read 'The Relaxation Response', by Herbert Benson.

 

16 hours ago, CdnFox said:

of course as a leftist you never believe in anything, or think for that matter

Phuck you're a childish !diot. 

[CdnFox]

3 hours ago, Barquentine said:

That's meditation, not prayer.

No that's prayer. Meditation is different and has a completely different effect

But I appreciate you showing up and talking about something you have no knowledge of with absolutely no information I'm saying something completely untrue. Watching you act like a fool always makes me feel like a superior person somehow  

[User]

5 hours ago, Barquentine said:

Phuck you're a childish !diot. 

Did you see your earlier comment on here about prayer?

 

[User]

On 4/11/2026 at 10:15 AM, John Stone said:

Is a placebo effective if the belief is it works? 

Same with faith. 

Faith is not a pill that you take, which provides some kind of effect. 

Faith is a choice someone makes and a life they choose to live. These things have objective outcomes on someone's life because of their actions. 

 

 

[User]

On 4/7/2026 at 9:43 AM, TreeBeard said:

If you pray for something with no chance of it happening, why pray?  And if it’s only about keeping hope, can’t that be done without praying or religious dogma? 

This it the problem with this whole thread. A fundamentally flawed understanding of prayer mixed in with people who are bigots against religion. 

Prayer is not merely about asking for something; you certainly can, but from a Christian perspective, it is about conversation, not expectations and demands. 

This is only from a Christian perspective, no less. 

 

[John Stone]

6 minutes ago, User said:

Faith is not a pill that you take, which provides some kind of effect. 

Faith is a choice someone makes and a life they choose to live. These things have objective outcomes on someone's life because of their actions. 

 

 

def agree that faith can be good for an individual(s) .................. x10 in times of tragedy or great suffering. 

I was not raised that way ......... but I have seen the restorative effect of having, discovering faith. 

 

[Barquentine]

19 hours ago, CdnFox said:

always makes me feel like a superior person somehow

As you look in the mirro and say: 

• "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me".

[Barquentine]

18 hours ago, User said:

Did you see your earlier comment on here about prayer?

What's your point? He is a childish !diot. His posts corroborate that.

[Barquentine]

19 hours ago, CdnFox said:

No that's prayer. Meditation is different and has a completely different effect

I spent a lot of years in Church. I also took the TM course many years ago. Both those organisations are frauds.

But prayer and meditation are real. We just don't need to pay Preachers or Gurus to take advantage of them. Anyone can pray or meditate on their own. Like I said: Read 'The Relaxation Response', by Herbert Benson. (It's a short book. You can get though it.) Meditation is a simple physiological practise .

AI: "Meditation is a practice of internalizing awareness to calm the mind and observe thoughts, while prayer is generally an active, externalized spiritual conversation with a higher power, often involving requests or gratitude."

But I appreciate you showing up and talking about something you have no knowledge of with absolutely no information I'm saying something completely untrue. Watching you act like a fool makes me sad.

[User]

2 hours ago, Barquentine said:

What's your point? He is a childish !diot. His posts corroborate that.

The point was that your posts here don’t make you much better…

[CdnFox]

5 hours ago, Barquentine said:

As you look in the mirro and say: 

• "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me".

Not exactly,   ...   I say  "I'm good enough, i'm smart enough, and doggone it people like me compared to Barquentine!" 

And i appreciate your making that possible!

5 hours ago, Barquentine said:

What's your point? He is a childish !diot. His posts corroborate that.

LOL you poop your pants every time you're given facts and you pretend someone ELSE is the childish one    LOLOL

Kid, you prove me more right and adult with every post 

4 hours ago, Barquentine said:

I spent a lot of years in Church. I also took the TM course many years ago. Both those organisations are frauds.

 

Ok, well you're certainly entitled to that viewpoint. 

4 hours ago, Barquentine said:

 

But prayer and meditation are real. We just don't need to pay Preachers or Gurus to take advantage of them. Anyone can pray or meditate on their own. Like I said: Read 'The Relaxation Response', by Herbert Benson. (It's a short book. You can get though it.) Meditation is a simple physiological practise .

So this is precisely what i said (about prayer anyway).  Soooo not quite sure why you're pointing that out? Unless you just mean you agree with me more or less and here's why? 

4 hours ago, Barquentine said:

 

AI: "Meditation is a practice of internalizing awareness to calm the mind and observe thoughts, while prayer is generally an active, externalized spiritual conversation with a higher power, often involving requests or gratitude."

 

So not the same thing.  As i said. You were the one who claimed they were synonymous. All i said is they're not and they affect the brain very differently. 

You're kind of agreeing with me very aggressively   IT's very weird.

 

4 hours ago, Barquentine said:

But I appreciate you showing up and talking about something you have no knowledge of with absolutely no information I'm saying something completely untrue. Watching you act like a fool makes me sad.

You literally just agreed with everything i said, after initially disagreeing with what i said  LOLOLOL

you: "Here's some random stuff i came up with"

Me: "That information is incorrect"

You "WELL HERE"S MY PROOF THAT YOU"RE RIGHT!!! HAAA!!! I SURE TAUGHT YOU A LESSON!! DERP!!"

uh huh.  Usually if you disagree with someone you take a DIFFERENT opinon not the same one  

 

Prayer and meditation are not the same thing and have different effects on the brain. Prayer is a powerful tool (not that meditation isn't) and science has noted it does the things i'd previously mentioned. The deity you pray to does not have to exist to enjoy this benefit, you just have to believe in it enough. 

LOL maybe you should meditate and pray more?

[CrakHoBarbie]

On 4/11/2026 at 12:51 PM, CdnFox said:

Prayer induces neuroplasticity, strengthens neural pathways associated with focus, emotional regulation, and compassion while calming the brain's "fear center," the amygdala

 

This is all very true.

Unfortunately,  one has to delude oneself into believing in nonexistent supernatural entities in order for "prayer" to be beneficial. 

Neuroplasticity, which strengthens focus and compassion while calming the amygdala, can be induced by consistent, focused practices such as mindfulness,  meditation,  physical exercise, deep breathing and learning new skills. These activities increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, improving emotional regulation, and reduce amygdala reactivity without the "crazy" involved with believing in that which doesn't exist.

This is why MAGA and religion go hand in hand.  Because they both require a disconnect from reality in order to participate. 

[CdnFox]

6 hours ago, CrakHoBarbie said:

This is all very true.

Unfortunately,  one has to delude oneself into believing in nonexistent supernatural entities in order for "prayer" to be beneficial. 

Well no, as i said you can choose to pray to Joe Pesci   You just have to believe he's listening. 

In fact there isn't much evidence that you truly need to beileve the object of your prayer really does exist .  It's a little complex.  But i assume that helps. 

Quote

Neuroplasticity, which strengthens focus and compassion while calming the amygdala, can be induced by consistent, focused practices such as mindfulness,  meditation,  physical exercise, deep breathing and learning new skills. These activities increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, improving emotional regulation, and reduce amygdala reactivity without the "crazy" involved with believing in that which doesn't exist.

And yet prayer on top of all of those things will still improve  it. So either way if you ignore prayer you're not as sharp as you could be.

 

Quote

This is why MAGA and religion go hand in hand.  Because they both require a disconnect from reality in order to participate. 

Woke leftism IS your religion, and  most of what you spout doesn't exist either