| Oct 21, 2006 @ 6:44 AM |
Prayers for other people
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Bj864
Posts: 3,964
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Is praying for other people imposing your will on them without permission?
Should we ask before saying a prayer or otherwise interferring with what is going on with them?
I try to live by the following:
Do all you have agreed to do
Do not enroach on another person or their property
It has been said, you are doing the right things spiritually if you can abide by those 2 things.
I believe we all have our spiritual lessons to learn and that we must be very careful not to impose our will on other people.
I am interested in hearing how other people feel about this.
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| Oct 21, 2006 @ 7:39 AM |
Prayers for other people |
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MICHIGANGIRL11
Posts: 1,649
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When I was dealing w/cancer treatments there were several people who would ask me if I minded if they passed my name on to a prayer group or if I minded if they prayed for me. I didn't mind that they asked, but in my opinion....you don't need to ask, just do it. Everyone can use prayers. Every morning I spend time reading my bible and praying for my family, friends (this includes my friends on MD).
I think it is important to pray for other people with or without their knowledge.
Migirl11
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| Oct 21, 2006 @ 9:40 PM |
Prayers for other people
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sealacamp
Posts: 3,681
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No BJ we must be very careful to do what Jesus has asked of us or what God leads us to do. To follow your advice merely leads to a place where satan can exercise his insanity.
I pray for everyone every day because we are all messed up and without Jesus none of us stand a chance in the life to come.
S
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| Oct 21, 2006 @ 9:48 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,629
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I pray for people that don't ask me to. I always have and will continue to do it.
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| Oct 21, 2006 @ 10:13 PM |
Prayers for other people
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Jankia
Posts: 11,909
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Prayer "imposes" nothing bj,prayer is a request or a petition to God.
It wasnt until I had people that I hardly knew come to me after my accident and told me they had prayed for me that I put the needed efffort into praying for certain people that I know little about.
It made me feel great knowing I was prayed for by people I might only see once every ten years.Think of all the people that pray for you and you never even know about it.Thats what Christains do, prayer of gratitude and of love in times of sorrow as well as of joy for others.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 5:03 AM |
Prayers for other people |
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Bj864
Posts: 3,964
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To follow your advice merely leads to a place where satan can exercise his insanity.
I gave no advice. I merely stated what I thought and asked how others might feel about it.
Please refrain from making inaccurate statements about me.
I believe that prayer is a very powerful force. When more than one person prays, I believe it is even more powerful. I am just not sure that it isn't interfering in spiritual matters.
When one prays for oneself, it is different than if you pray for another. I am concerned that it may be imposing your will on them, even if it for good reasons.
For an example:
A person is terribly injured and their life is threatened. We pray for them to live and they do. They are in horrible pain and are unable to walk or take care of themselves. Have we done the right thing?
[Edited on 10/22/2006 5:11 AM]
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 5:20 AM |
Prayers for other people
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MICHIGANGIRL11
Posts: 1,649
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A question for you BJ. How do you know the person will be incapicitated when you initially pray for them? You are not imposing or interfering in spiritual manners. God has a plan for everything and everyone, we can't control that. I do believe it would be wrong for you not to pray for someone who needs prayer. That is what a Christian does, that is what God wants us to do. He wants us to care for others, prayer shows you care.
Migirl11
**sorry for any misspelling**
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 9:54 AM |
Prayers for other people |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,629
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 Michigangirl.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 9:57 AM |
Prayers for other people
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sealacamp
Posts: 3,681
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Please refrain from making inaccurate statements about me.
The statement is accurate. Please refrain from being unable to see the obvious.
S
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 11:39 AM |
Prayers for other people |
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sciurusniger
Posts: 2,958
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You are right, Bj, prayer IS a powerful force.
I learned that it is best to simply request the highest healing or outcome from the situation at hand. To not request specifics, simply because we are unable to see the Whole and therefore, as you note, our wish may not really be the right possible outcome for all concerned.
And so using prayer in that way is not imposing our will, but simply helping to put focus on accelerating that which is truly necessary, regardless the form it may take.
It is the old, "Thy will, not mine" idea. And has been found to be the most effective.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 12:05 PM |
Prayers for other people
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desertwolf
Posts: 1,847
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For a thread on prayer, it seems a bit dangerous to step in here, but what the heck....
When I pray for a person, I pray for peace to enter his/her life...peace of heart...peace of mind...peace of body. How that becomes translated into reality I leave up to him/her and his/her God to work out.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 5:51 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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Bj864
Posts: 3,964
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I learned that it is best to simply request the highest healing or outcome from the situation at hand. To not request specifics, simply because we are unable to see the Whole and therefore, as you note, our wish may not really be the right possible outcome for all concerned.
That seems like a good way to do it without imposing your own will.
It isn't that I don't care. I care a lot. I just want to make sure that I don't use such a powerful force in an inappropiate way.
You see, I had a personal experience with asking other people to pray for someone to live. They did live, but they suffered terribly for 6 months, before they died. I realized that I had been very selfish in asking for what I did, without thinking about what I was doing. I have been very careful ever since that experience.
Often I try to write my prayers down. That way I can make sure I do what I feel is right.
I think anyone praying for someone else has love and concern in their heart. I think though we don't always realize that if we get our prayers answered it might not be the best answer for the person we are praying for. At least I know I didn't. It wasn't something I thought about until the experience I mentioned above.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 5:55 PM |
Prayers for other people
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Heaveninawildflower
Posts: 18,615
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It is the old, "Thy will, not mine" idea. And has been found to be the most effective.
Exactly...I don't really visualize a specific outcome when I pray, as much as balance...or peace.
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| Oct 22, 2006 @ 11:26 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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SunBabe
Posts: 12,279
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This is a very sensitive subject with me. 
I think praying (and prayer) is a very PERSONAL thing...I can understand how it makes someone feel better, like they're 'doing something', which I can appreciate; but unless it's to send out "good vibes" toward healing (I believe in "collective energy"), I'd rather people keep their prayers private.
I've been shocked and offended several times by the arrogance exhibited by those that publicly pray for others souls or with the intent of affecting another's PERSONAL faith and beliefs!  How egocentric and RUDE, frankly. It's totally disrepectful, in my opinion. 
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:04 AM |
Prayers for other people
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Bj864
Posts: 3,964
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I think praying (and prayer) is a very PERSONAL thing...
I agree.
I also agree with you that there can be a sort of arrogance in praying for someone else, if you aren't careful. It's as if some people think they know better than God or the person, what they need.
Most times though I think people do it from caring rathing than trying to control a situation. Maybe, like me, they thought what they were doing was good and didn't realize we might not always know best.
It was nice to see how others feel about this subject, as it isn't something people ever talk about.
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 2:50 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,629
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I pray for the people in Iraq, Iran, etc. Our troops (all the troops) any where.
There are times that you do pray for a certain person. That is when you use their actual name. I do this too.
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 4:07 PM |
Prayers for other people
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MICHIGANGIRL11
Posts: 1,649
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When I pray for specific people who are suffering I don't ask for them to get better. I ask that their suffering be taken away, from there it is God's decision how to handle it. I also don't normally tell people that I have included them in my daily prayers. That's personal between God and I.
Migirl11
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 4:35 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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SunBabe
Posts: 12,279
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I also don't normally tell people that I have included them in my daily prayers
That's personal between God and I.
That's what I mean 
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 7:56 PM |
Prayers for other people
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Jankia
Posts: 11,909
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I also agree with you that there can be a sort of arrogance in praying for someone else, if you aren't careful. It's as if some people think they know better than God or the person, what they need There is no arrogance in praying for someone else.Wherever that thought ever came from is beyond my guess.
Since you started this thread asking questions that were answered and were interested in the replies,why dont you answer those asked back?
If you think that praying for someones life and they do live but in constant agony is the wrong thing to do,why not just pray for healing like most prayer is done for.There is no guilt over prayer.
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| Oct 23, 2006 @ 11:40 PM |
Prayers for other people |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,629
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It's as if some people think they know better than God or the person, what they need
Ok, God knows the beginning and the end. What you pray for in Gods name is not going to happen unless it is suppose to happn. We can't pray for something that is not already written in the book of life.
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