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Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Prayer??


I guess this thread will begin with at least 2 different conversations.
First....When you're talking to someone who isn't aware that you are Pagan and they find that you are, as you discover they are Christian, either active or non, and all of a sudden they want to pray for you. How does that make you feel? What is your response?
My general response to someone commenting that they will be praying for me is...'Thank you, I can use all the prayers I can get'...and let it go at that.

Second....do you believe Pagans pray? Why or why not?

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
10/18/2008, 8:24 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
de Corbin Profile
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Re: Prayer??


Generally, it seems to me that the polite thing to do is to say thank you, whether you want their prayers or not - just like you would if somebody gave you a gift you didn't really want. If the person who offers to pray for you is sincere, and really means well, it would be churlish to say "no thanks."

Sometimes, though, it seems like people will offer to do something like that for reasons other than truely wanting to help - like they are trying to deomonstrate some kind of moral supreriority. When that happens, I just say thanks, then forget about it.

As far as pagans praying...

For me, if a prayer is defined as a communication between me and something divine outside myself, then I say that I do pray, but I don't actually seperate praying from everything else.

It's more like everything I do is part of one long prayer that makes up my whole life (yes, even the bad things I've done and sometimes still do, and the mistakes I make are all part of the prayer. Let's hope that anything listening is forgiving emoticon ).

---

10/18/2008, 10:09 pm Link to this post Send Email to de Corbin   Send PM to de Corbin
 
Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Re: Prayer??


I think for me, in a way, the rituals that I do are a form of prayer. A way of asking for what I need, as well as thanking for things given or to be given. When I was a Christian, I was what was called a prayer warrior. If someone needed prayer, didn't matter the time of day or night, they could call me and we'd pray either in person or over the phone. I've learned to stop giving and giving and giving of myself to everyone else, and start giving to myself some. One way that I do that, is through what I term prayer (as above) for ME....for things I need. I do believe that our Higher Power hears these and helps things come about.

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~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
10/19/2008, 3:55 am Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
TexasMadness Profile
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Re: Prayer??


Like Corbin said, it depends on the way the person says they will pray for me. When I was a teenager, it annoyed me terribly no matter how nice people were about it. I always said something rude. Now that I'm older, I can see that some folks are sincerely concerned about my well being and they don't offend me anymore. However, when a person lets me know that I'm evil, going to Hell, etc, I tend to say something like "do as you wish" when they say they will pray. This has only happened a few times in the past years though.

As far as pagans praying, I would say in general, yes. As far as me praying, I'm not sure I would call it that but it might technically fit. Since I don't have a divine force in my life I'm not even sure it would fit the technical description. I generally ask of things from myself - which might fit the Satanists definition of prayer though! I generally don't ask or give thanks to "the abyss" but to myself, the specific people and to the Earth (but not quite as a deity). So....do I pray? Maybe yes, maybe no! emoticon Depends on the exact definition!
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Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Re: Prayer??


Let's say, for the sake of this thread that prayer is words of worship or entreaty to a Higher Power. Now, I took the base meaning of the word from Webster's, and took out God and replaced it with Higher Power. For all I know..Mother Earth may be our Higher Power....so, if you have verbal communication with the Earth, I think you can consider that prayer...to a degree.
I can hear things such as..."Please let my peas grow this year" or "Some rain sure would be nice right about now". You're not talking to a specific person (spouse, SO, friend, etc.)...so, who ARE you talking to? You're tossing your desire/wish out into the Universe. You are speaking these things, out loud....so, to me, I consider that a form of prayer. The Universe hears all, and passes things along to where they need to go.

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
10/19/2008, 9:53 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
muladzh Profile
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Re: Prayer??


Pagan prayer I feel is less formal than the christian offerings - I talk to the Goddess all of the time, for many reasons, some of which would be considered prayers, but not in any special format, or action.

If anyone tells me they intend to pray for me, I ground and shield immediately. emoticon just in case...

---

10/20/2008, 8:20 am Link to this post Send Email to muladzh   Send PM to muladzh Blog
 
TexasMadness Profile
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Re: Prayer??



muladzh wrote:
If anyone tells me they intend to pray for me, I ground and shield immediately. emoticon just in case...



Sometimes I do feel that way too! emoticon

But as long as the person truly only means to pray "for my well being" or some such, then I could take all the prayer I can get. If someone is going to pray specifically for my conversion...well, that's another story!

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Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Re: Prayer??


I agree with you muladzh. I think Pagan prayer is a lot less structured than Christian prayer is.

and I'm with y'all, too. If someone is praying for me to 'Get back to God', then my hackles tend to come up. My reply there, generally is something along the lines of....'Pray if you wish, but don't count on anything happening the way you want it to.'

I do get tired of the Bible thumpers trying to cram stuff down your throat. I told some, not too long ago, I prefer they not pray for me, but I'd be more than happy to pray for them. Jaws drop. They don't realize that we pray too!

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
10/21/2008, 4:02 am Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
MagiCat Profile
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Re: Prayer??


ahh yes, I've been in that situation where someone wants to pray for me, and I have mixed feelings -- I know they mean well. Some of them have been friends. Yet there's a part of me that finds it a little wierd too...

I do pray sometimes. I might ask my higher power for guidance. I might ask the Universe that something go as it is supposed to.

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raptorsidhe Profile
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Re: Prayer??


I'd love to say that I tell them "Sure, I'll take all the help I can get." But I want to spit in their faces, honestly, because they feel they are better than me, and that's crap.

Sure, I believe pagans pray, but you don't have to be obvious about it. Sometimes when I'm just thinking, it's praying. It's so informal. And there's more ways to pray than directing a non-verbal sentence into the ... whatever ...

I think your life can be a prayer. I think prayer is a wider avenue than we've been taught.

---
running around like a crazy person in the great plains
12/8/2008, 2:30 am Link to this post Send PM to raptorsidhe
 


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