How Much Do You Pray?

And holding on to jobs....

I understand it to mean that when one prays publicly the intent of their heart is to impress others - so when others are impressed they have accomplished and received their goal. Conversely, when one does so in secret one seeks only to interact with God, and they too have done what they set out to do.

Exactly this.

Demiurge once mentioned that while he was battling cancer, he had a lot of the "I'll pray for you" type who did little else when called to help his wife and newborn son with errands or other such support.

That's not a diss at prayer, but being in the here and now with people going through hard times helps a lot to close that gap between miracles.

That's something right there that I've seen and has been another of the reasons that I can't stand the "I'm a good Christian" fucks. They will be the first to jump up with "I'll pray for you" or the other favorite "Saying prayers". But will actually do very little on any other way, they won't actually do anything that requires any effort on their part. They find an excuse or reason to avoid any actual assistance, which I an understand if they really cannot do. But too often they will be the very ones who brag at how much they do at their church or to carry out the Lord's work. Fuck them and their prayers.

We do not, however, accept the events depicted in "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" as historical simply because they were written down.

What we know about Caesar from historical accounts also fits with observable evidence (though, as has been noted, there is still question about what's true and what was propaganda). Zombie Jesus and the spontaneous transformation of H2O into a nice Cabernet Sauvignon? Not so much.

that is EXACTLY what happened both after our fire and after my injury.

As a matter of personal preference I NEVER say "I'll pray for you" particularly on social media as is common. If I do so, or if I don't, is between me and God.

That's what some of my family does. They leave me with the work, and they promise to pray. If, and I hope this comes to pass, my mother can walk again soon, you know what they'll say? "God healed her!"

Well, yeah, apparently, and I must have been his unpaid intern.

But that's 12 years bad luck.

God's a fucking tight bastard when it comes to paying his people.

In fact, the only guy I remember getting paid for following His will was Judas...

How has this impacted your belief in God (assuming you have one)?

Well, to be fair, those were entertainments. Today's analog would be a historical movie - made-up characters set in a historically true setting, but acknowledged from the start to be fictionalized for the sake of entertainment. Of course I don't doubt that much of the Bible is the same - though written not to entertain, but to inspire and instruct. And instill fear.

And control.

Right now I'm praying this dumbass thread "accidentally" gets purged during the next board upgrade.

Does that count?

I have heard your prayers, but I'm still saying no.

I prey at church and before meals. I probably should do it more.

I may be apostate when it comes to my former religion, but I figure you should pray when you feel the need, not for any rote reason. I feel that if it doesn't mean anything to you, it's a worthless prayer.

Living abroad away from one's family's and friends, there are some lonesome moments when I find my thoughts pleading to higher powers, although none in particular. Getting sick, having no one to take care of you, and having no medical services in English--that sucks.

I'll don't really pray for anyone online in anything but in a general way unless they request it (has happened a few times). To me when it comes to praying for a particular person you do need to know why they are at least.

Of course that doesn't mean generalized prayers don't have a place

That's one reason I'm not entirely motivated to go to church every week. I still go most weeks, but I don't need to be told when I can pray or just sit there for an hour listening to someone I can barely understand talk about stuff that comes off as boring. To love god and Jesus I don't need the church to tell me, and I don't think not going to church makes me a bad person.

Every morning when I'm on the toilet, I pray that I remembered to eat enough fiber the day before.

Isn't it a bit too late by then?

Well, yes, it's pointless. That's what makes it praying.

Well, if he prayed about it before, then he would have eaten enough fiber himself. Then praying is pointless.

Yes that can be a bitch for you in Korea. I really "got over" because I was in the army and had free medical. Plus I still got paid when I was convalescing from sickness or injury. That worked out well because during my second tour in Seoul I accumulated quite a few stitches and broken bones, but I could sit around drinking beer and popping pain pills for a few days and still get paid. Good times, good times.

And if I planned ahead and ate enough fiber, that would be called thinking, which is the opposite of praying.

Ya, if you work for a Korean company, sick days are almost unheard. Very poor culture of work-life balance.


Sent from my iPhone while driving

Not to come off as racist, but that's kinda the case for most Asian cultures from what I can tell. Japan is the most infamous example of this, with 70 hour work weeks being considered a very light load.

There may be exceptions that I haven't heard of, however.

Japan is the source of the militaristic, slave-driving work culture. They embedded it in Korea during the colonial era.

Korea has the worst productivity in OECD. Despite the volume of hours clocked, most of them are spent sleeping at their desk (which is accepted as a sign of commitment) or hungover from having been up all night drinking with their company team. The rest of the hours are spent preparing pointless reports and Powerpoints for their superiors. It's such a circus.

It's very much as Asian thing. Definitely not a European "pampered worker" thing. I do know in Japan (I learned it on Word Forge BTW) that falling asleep at work is good because it proves that you are tired from working yourself to exhaustion. Every Filipino I've met will work you into the ground as well.