Evaluation of the Purpose of Prayer
Prayer has a great purpose for many different reasons. For one reason
it shows the way in which Christians respect and honour God. Even if
God doesn’t answer, surly God can still hear you and that is all that
matters. He would honour your respect to persevere in prayer even
though there was no verbal response. Just because there in no verbal
response, doesn’t mean there is no physical response. Say for example
you were praying your mother would survive an operation and she did.
Although God did not answer verbally he still answered physically and
that is even better. When you are talking to someone and they don’t
answer your instant reaction is not “that was pointless” because you
know that some part of what you have said has still been acknowledged
by that person. Even if God doesn’t hear, there are still all the
great effects that prayer has on a Christian:
· It allows Christians to show and declare their faith.
· It strengthens and helps a Christian in their daily life.
· It creates feelings of praise, love, wonder, repentance and
commitment within the Christian.
· It can be expressed in many different ways both as a community and
as an individual.
Prayer is pointless because surly if God doesn’t answer, there is no
God there. Prayer is similar to having a conversation but you don’t
see people having conversations with brick walls. Is there a point to
having a conversation with something that doesn’t answer back? When
you say to someone how are you? You don’t expect to hear an answer of
the wind whistling through the trees. Prayer is a waste of time
because instead of spending time praying, you could be doing something
to help the community or even saving the world, by becoming someone
like James Bond, saving starving children, using your brain for the
reason that God really put us on this planet, if there is a real God.
All these things could make a difference but what use is it praying to
Book Review of The Path of Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by St. Theophan the Recluse
existence of God and that God created the earth and all of the life on
A human cannot face a puzzle and not try to understand it. There is no paradox or conundrum that people ignore completely. The race as a whole has evolved into a species of extremely developed problem solvers, which is the basis of what ties the whole species together. That hunger for understanding is what drives people to consider the biggest “why?” of all: “why am I here? “Humans, throughout time and all the cultures of the world, constantly struggle against the thought that they have no purpose. People search all their lives for something that justifies the space they take up in the universe. Though the search for validation occurs in different ways, it is still what ties every single person that ever has existed, does exist, or will exist together.
Throughout the years, religions have come together to bring about a new age of interfaith and interconnectedness. There are countless of examples where people have adopted two or more religions as there own, seeing and respecting the relationships and similarities between the two. In hand with this, people are now beginning to understand other religions and respect their practices. There is sort of a hybrid coming about of religions, where communities will pray with each other in a sort of collaboration of respects. However, this change in religion did not come about easily, it took much strife to bring about an interconnectedness that everyone is now a part of. Now that this interconnected and respect occurs in some areas, this can open up
Prayer in Public Schools An issue that has been constantly debated for years is whether voluntary prayer in public schools should be permitted. A student should be allowed to pray voluntarily at the beginning of each school day based on many reasons. Prayer based on moral beliefs reinforce good citizenship as defined by our forefathers. A daily reminder of a need for the belief of good over evil is a necessary part of this society.
Humans were put on Earth because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but what were the specific reasons? God wanted someone who he could trust, but also someone who could choose from right and wrong, and God was willing to guide us to choose the right. Our God wanted to be a father and make us his beloved companions and he did that by blessing us. But we utterly betrayed Him and refused to listen to God, and he cursed the Earth. So even after we have betrayed Him, is there still a reason for our existence?
Many philosophers’ goals is to figure out if we do truly we exits and if we do why do we exist? Some agree that if we have the ability to question our existence then we must exist, or else we couldn’t question it. So once we have determined that we do in fact exist we must find out why we do. Is there a reason or a goal to our existence? Do the gods affect people on earth or care about as much as humans think? And what lies after death and should it be fears? Many Philosophes try and come to a conclusion, one of those was Epicurus.
Our purpose in this life is a question that has been asked countless times and answered in various ways. One of the central rational arguments for the existence of God is the teleological argument. This argument focuses in on how intricately designed aspects of life that could not have just fallen into place on their own, they must have had a creator. One of the central practical arguments for the possible existence of God is Pascal’s Wager. This argument is based on weighing the consequences that result from the gamble of believing in God or not believing in God. These arguments can be viewed as comparable and also as diverse.
Everyone looks for something greater than themselves, and most people find it in their spiritual life. But for many people it is hard for them to believe in a God, or a superior being because of their selfish desires. Peter Kreeft, a professor of philosophy, has written an article the “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” in which he states 20 arguments that prove the existence of God. One of his main arguments is the Argument of Desire which says that everyone has a desire for some real object that satisfies us. But in us there is a desire which nothing in time, on earth, and no creature can satisfy. Because of this there must be something more than time, earth and creatures that can satisfy our desire.
The universe, and what it means to be alive is almost impossible to define; yet that does not stop humanity from trying. “Lonergan’s philosophy of the human person reveals that being human means having an unlimited number and variety of questions about life and the universe.” (Morgan, 1996). There is no limit on the number and variety of questions the human person will ask, "the most subversive people are those who ask questions” (Gaarder), as a result there are many varied and opinionated answers. This essay will explore three different theories on how one might find answers to life's ultimate questions. At one point or another, every human being has asked the question why: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point? It is in our nature as human beings to reason, to think, to ask, it is what separates us from the rest of creation, and with this ability to reason, we are left with one question: Why? Throughout history many have tried to answer this question, some have come to the conclusion that meaning is found through God, and one’s faith. Others feel that life begins meaningless, and it is up to the individual to give life meaning; then there are those who believe that life has no meaning, and we are all essentially, just waiting to die, "The meaning of life is that it ends." (Kafka).
to know what we believe and why we believe it. For when it comes time to vote we can match
School prayer, in the context of religious liberty, is state-sanctioned or mandatory prayer by students in public schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, state-sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited. Countries which prohibit or limit school prayer often differ in their reasons for doing so: In the United States, school prayer cannot be required of students in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
We need to look at prayer with deeper thoughts. Prayer isn’t just closing your eyes, folding your hands and speaking. Prayer is a much more meaningful part of religion. We all need to pray, God himself demands us to pray. Prayer is defined as an act of God, a god or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving. When most people pray, they just say the same prayer, like the Lord’s prayer for example. Saying the same prayer isn’t really such a bad thing, its more about the meaning and the time that you spend praying. Prayer shouldn’t just be looked at as a routine or habit, but as more of a love poem to express ones self to God. Questions such as: why do we need to pray? What is this prayer?, and What does God command us to pray for? Are what we should be asking ourselves before we come to God in prayer.
The praying time cannot be shorter than 3 minutes. The length of time depends on the persons and his state, sometimes one likes to pray more. Islam considers many activities in life as worship such as cleaning your house, working. In praying there is a pattern where people kneel and bow couple of times and repeat the words of Quran. Each prayer has a specific number of kneels and bows, so some prayer times is longer than others. The mosque is used differently during “Jumha” Friday prayer; people pray and listen to the “kutbah” speech afterwards. Quran as a sacred object is used in praying when the person stands to read the holy words of Allah.
The existence of God is a very fundamental topic on which many philosophers have argued and till date there is no physical proof of His existence. At some point or the other of our life, we all ask the question, does God exist? The answer to this changes our way of living, our thinking and how we understand or interpret the world. If one answers a yes then they live for a purpose and hope for eternity, while others create their purpose on planet earth and understand death as their final end.