I'm genuinely curious, since I'm someone who isn't religious, what it is folks are praying for? What effect do you see prayer having?

It's an ingrained logical fallacy.
If good thing happens > god willed it
If bad thing happens > god works in mysterious ways

Repeat ad infinitum

This post was edited by Wilks on Mar 20 2020 09:09pm

For reminding us what really matters. Prayer is especially needed in these situations where emotions run high and its easy to lose sight of priorities among a sea of stresses and fears.

Action and prayer both serve a function here and proper action comes easier from a mind made clear by prayer.

Fools will try to create a false dichotomy saying that people who pray don't take action.

Depends how you approach prayer. I know some people who pray and then just go with their gut afterwards, and I know some people who essentially describe their "prayers" as a process of thinking it out and then attribute their conclusion to God. The former are usually rednecks and the latter are usually only marginally religious when you really get down to it.

I see. So is it less that you're praying for X, Y, Z externally in the world and more of internal prayer that allows you (or others who pray) to focus and clear the mind?

This post was edited by Handcuffs on Mar 20 2020 11:14pm

Sounds like you need prayer. I'll pray for you right now, Thor123422. Feel free to pray with me.

Heavenly Father, you are our lawgiver. That’s what you say in Isaiah 33:22. We pray right now for Thor123422 that he would want to follow you God.
Father we ask that Thor123422 who is against you would feel guilt, Lord, that he would realize that it’s folly and he would realize that he is going to Hell Lord.
Hell is real. The lake of fire is real. People weep and gnash their teeth forever and ever. The fire is not quenched. The worm does not die. It’s a miserable place.
Oh Father all of your ways are just and all of your ways are righteous. We submit to you right now.

Father we pray that the fear of God would fill Thor123422 and that everyone would say that anybody that is against God is an evil person.
Father this is what our founding fathers believe, this is what your word teaches and Father, we trust in you right now to raise up Thor123422.
Vengeance is yours so we trust in you LORD, we rely on you and we hope in you and now we pray this in Jesus’ name amen.

Thank you for praying today, please tune in next time and may God bless and keep you.

Some sects and religions like Hinduism especially encourage praying for external material things. For Christianity the norm is to prioritize love, sacrifice, and generosity, since Jesus is the ultimate role model.

The big underlying principle is that God gives us instructions in the Bible. Our human emotions often run contrary to those instructions and pull us in different directions. Prayer can help remove our ego from the equation to bring us back to God's path.

too bad you guys would travel ban him and call him a socialist pig if he arrived in the US today.
"jesus the ultimate role model" yet you support tRUmp??? do you have any of your own thought process that would allow you to realize what utter BS that is.. LMAO

You sound like someone on The View.

I don't know never watched the view.. I have no idea how this is an accurate defelction on you side.
Trump and Jesus do not align in any way.
You look up to both of them and don't even know or acknowledge that they clash.. It's pretty fuckign creepy.
= cult follower