Most Prayer Is Worthless. Learn to Pray Effectively.

Prayer without introspection, careful thought, work, and preparation is worthless to you and God. Prayer without action is worthless to you and God. A gentle reminder: a prayer is for you. It has a purpose. The purpose is to allow you to do something. God is not involved with you or your prayer. He isn't listening.

So why bother to pray if God is not listening? Because the prayer is for you. It has a purpose: to allow you to do something. God serves as a focal point outside of yourself. That is exactly what you need. You need to focus away, outside of yourself.

He, God, exists. The Awareness that is God is not riding around on your shoulder all the time. He is outside of you.

The act of mentally focusing outward does several things for us. (a) It makes us feel better. (b) It gives us the strength to continue to strive. (c) It tells us that we are not alone in the Universe.

Prayer makes us feel better as it functions as a form of therapy. I assume that if you are ready to pray, that some need exists. Emotional, physical, or psychological need. Your emotional need is addressed by prayer. As, in order to pray, you must first bring yourself under control (control of your emotions) so that you can focus outside of yourself.

Your physical need is addressed by prayer. In order to pray, you: (a) must have first identified the problem that has caused you to have this need, (b) identification of the problem is the first step in achieving the solution to the need, (c) when you have ordered your mental faculties (put them in order) to achieve identification of the problem, you also have put your full brain to work to achieve a solution.

Prayer, by itself, will not satisfy long term physical needs like the needs for water, food, or sleep. Prayer can allow you to achieve short term control of the requirements for these things, and even control the intensity of pain.

Your psychological need is addressed by prayer. In order to pray, you have done the steps listed above. In order to pray, you can begin to use any of your well-practiced stratagems of dealing with such problems that you have learned in the past.

Do not forget that prayer without introspection, careful thought, work, and preparation is worthless to you and God. Prayer without action is worthless to you and God.

Everything I've discussed so far would be invisible to an outside observer. We've taken care of introspection and careful thought. Now it is time to prepare for action, and then to act. You have work to do, duties and responsibilities. You have obligations to take care of for yourself and others.

Once upon a time, I had the, for me, unusual, experience of hiring a professional painter. It was a very valuable learning experience for me. Fully two-thirds, or more, of his time was spent in getting ready to paint! When it came time for him to actually apply the paint, all the conditions and surfaces were ready. Now his knowledge of materials and tools, and his practiced skill could really be used to their best advantage. He did a magnificent job. I was more than just satisfied, I was impressed!

Take these ideas above and extend them to your life. Extend them to your need for prayer with action. Prayer without action is meaningless. Prayer without action is really no different than a whining child begging his parent for some toy, or some special food at the supermarket. The good parent in such a case should never respond to the whining. God knows this, and like a good parent, He will not respond to your whining. God has already done His part.

Get off the couch of life and do something!

Prayer for the oppressed Sudanese may, or may not be useful. Sending money to the famine relief fund is a positive step that you can do. It might feed someone on a temporary basis. Prayer for the still-living victims of the Southeast Asia tsunami near Malaysia may, or may not be useful. Sending a check to the international relief fund of the Red Cross for general disaster relief planning and preparation, or Red Crescent may do more good.

A prayer for good health may be more helpful if you watch your diet and exercise regularly. A prayer for good performance in any activity will be more helpful if you have been diligent in your practice. A prayer for relief of pain, slavery, confinement, sickness, or any other condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you exercise free will.

A prayer for relief of any other condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you make your own way. A prayer for relief of any condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you make your own decisions. A prayer for relief of any condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you exercise careful thought. A prayer for relief of any condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you act without fear. A prayer for relief of any condition will most likely be “answered” to the degree that you are honest with yourself.

Article Source: http://www.religionarticlelibrary.com

(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace completed an MA and taught in the public schools for 28 years. He recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, the layers of money sucking priesthood, and their departures from the fundamental ideas and messages of Religion. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will outrage everyone. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com

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