What do you think atheist thinks about offering prayers?

[In situ]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

 

[cuja1]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

I think that they probably think that it is pointless. Maybe they question a little if it actually does any good.

 

[Steven Wood]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

I truly believe every person who say they believe in nothing, reaches out for God when they are truly desperate.They need a miracle, find themselves praying, negotiating, saying "I don't know if you're up there, but if you are, please help", or just crying out if they can't do anything else. Then if everything goes well, they forget as easily as they reached out. It's human nature. It's still good to pray for them though and hopefully it will mean enough to them to actually stick.

 

[cuja1]

I truly believe every person who say they believe in nothing, reaches out for God when they are truly desperate.They need a miracle, find themselves praying, negotiating, saying "I don't know if you're up there, but if you are, please help", or just crying out if they can't do anything else. Then if everything goes well, they forget as easily as they reached out. It's human nature. It's still good to pray for them though and hopefully it will mean enough to them to actually stick.

Just to add on to what you said,
when God rescues us it's easy to forget because we don't actually see Him doing it. He may change the situation to our favor but we may think it was coincidence. The only way to prove that God did it is if we could see the outcome had we not asked God for help, and we don't have that ability. Christians just realize that they were in a whole heap of trouble before they prayed, and after they prayed, the situation seemed to work itself out.

 

[talitha]

I have atheist friends who say they appreciate when I pray for them - it means i am thinking about them - and some believe that there is some kind of positive energy that is sent through prayer. I remember when I went through a time of unbelief (long story) I still believed in the power of my mom's prayers - I didn't want to believe it, but I knew that she was praying "whatever it takes" - and I had a lot of freak things happen during that time that I accredited to my mom's prayers.

 

[aiki]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

Why would I offer prayers to an atheist? Did you mean for an atheist? If so, I should think that they think it is rather pointless - though, perhaps, well-intended.

Selah.

 

[Soma Seer]

I have atheist friends who say they appreciate when I pray for them - it means i am thinking about them - and some believe that there is some kind of positive energy that is sent through prayer.

I'm not an atheist but I, too, believe that there is a transference of energy--for lack of a better explanation--from the one praying to the person (or situation) being prayed for.

I remember when I went through a time of unbelief (long story) I still believed in the power of my mom's prayers - I didn't want to believe it, but I knew that she was praying "whatever it takes" - and I had a lot of freak things happen during that time that I accredited to my mom's prayers.

By "freak things," I hope that you mean positive experiences occurred in your life?

 

[talitha]

By "freak things," I hope that you mean positive experiences occurred in your life?

Well, not all things that felt positive at the time.... I would be in the running for a job working at a bar, for example, and then suddenly the owner would say "I don't like her" when everything had gone well up to that point - or when someone stole my credit card and ran up the bill to over three thousand dollars in 48 hours, and I had to call my parents for help, even though I had vowed to NOT call them - and shortly after that when my brother took me in on the condition that I attend church..... that kind of thing.....

 

[Soma Seer]

Well, not all things that felt positive at the time.... I would be in the running for a job working at a bar, for example, and then suddenly the owner would say "I don't like her" when everything had gone well up to that point - or when someone stole my credit card and ran up the bill to over three thousand dollars in 48 hours, and I had to call my parents for help, even though I had vowed to NOT call them - and shortly after that when my brother took me in on the condition that I attend church..... that kind of thing.....

So when you wrote that your mom prayed for "whatever it takes" and, then, freak things began happening to you, did you mean that you believe your mom's prayers affected you in negative (i.e., "freakish") ways? Just want to make sure that I understand your meaning.

 

[Dirk1540]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

Didn't TLC cover this lol "But all the praying just ain't helping at all cause he can't seem to keep himself out of trouble..."

 

[wndwalkr99]

I truly believe every person who say they believe in nothing, reaches out for God when they are truly desperate.They need a miracle, find themselves praying, negotiating, saying "I don't know if you're up there, but if you are, please help", or just crying out if they can't do anything else. Then if everything goes well, they forget as easily as they reached out. It's human nature. It's still good to pray for them though and hopefully it will mean enough to them to actually stick.

You are not correct.

 

[wndwalkr99]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

Why don't you ask a few atheists?

 

[Steven Wood]

You are not correct.

Please offer your opinion. I see you put your belief as atheist. That's a pity “Either there is a god or there isn’t, both possibilities are frightful, because if there is a god then we better find out who he is, and find out what he wants and do what he says. If there is no god then we are in trouble, because we are hurdling into space at 66,000 miles an hour and nobody is in charge.” — Russian Atheist Astronomer because no person can know everything so relying on themselves and thinking that only humans are the smartest things we have to go on mean we have absolutely no hope. take this quote to heart for example If you think I'm wrong, don't just leave it as I'm incorrect. After all, the question is What do you think Atheists think about offering prayers? Since you labelled yourself an atheist you would be more of an expert on this question than I would be.

 

[wndwalkr99]

I

Please offer your opinion. I see you put your belief as atheist. That's a pity “Either there is a god or there isn’t, both possibilities are frightful, because if there is a god then we better find out who he is, and find out what he wants and do what he says. If there is no god then we are in trouble, because we are hurdling into space at 66,000 miles an hour and nobody is in charge.” — Russian Atheist Astronomer because no person can know everything so relying on themselves and thinking that only humans are the smartest things we have to go on mean we have absolutely no hope. take this quote to heart for example If you think I'm wrong, don't just leave it as I'm incorrect. After all, the question is What do you think Atheists think about offering prayers? Since you labelled yourself an atheist you would be more of an expert on this question than I would be.

i discovered since posting, and was additionally reprimanded by several people, that I'm not allowed to post here. If you're actually interest in my viewpoint, you can pm me.

 

[Dirk1540]

I

i discovered since posting, and was additionally reprimanded by several people, that I'm not allowed to post here. If you're actually interest in my viewpoint, you can pm me.

Yeah there are other areas that are more suited towards debate this is more of a support section...I got reprimanded too once for a confrontational post in a support thread. Don't worry plenty of war zone threads for you lol.

 

[pursuetruth]

I think that an atheist would think that it is pointless at best, and also, condescending. Like I think I
have some sort of "hot line to God". Which I do, LOL.

 

[Gentle Lamb]

I told someone who's agnostic that I was praying for him and that God loves him maybe last year around this time. We still talk occasionally and I mention God more to him and he doesn't run away... he used to attend church as a boy though, sang in the choir and such. A lot of people don't mind you praying for them, but I see more hostile attitudes towards prayer being raised up these days...

 

[godshapedhole]

What do you think an atheist thinks about prayers you may offer to them?

As a former atheist/current agnostic, I never minded if people prayed for me. To me it seemed a harmless, pointless (and potentially condescending) act, but ultimately it's expression of love and care.

The manner in which they prayed would also be important. If they said "Jesus loves you, and he wants to be in your life and to help you through these difficult times, and I'm praying to Jesus that does just that", that would be offensive, however if they said simply "I'm praying for you", I wouldn't mind, and if they prayed privately, say in church or at home, without telling me, I wouldn't mind in the slightest.

In short, I think most atheists believe it pointless but harmless, so go ahead, just not in their face.

 

[AtheistOne]

I actually would not like someone saying they would pray for me, however well intentioned.

 

[AHH who-stole-my-name]

You don't offer prayer to Atheists. You offer your prayer to God through Christ Jesus. You can pray for them and I think that should be encouraged. They are the epitome of the Prodigal Child as I once was.