One reason it's hard to believe in prayer...

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when i said Superiority Complex i was referring to how man can assume he is God's Chosen People as the Jews claim to do and the White Man in the terrorist organization: KKK, Aryan Army, Aryan Nations, and Neo Nazis
at one point most men were like that
again very arrogant

A little vague.

Mainstream religion - I suspect here you may not be in a position to argue further than "mainstream Christianity", itself not a very well defined concept.

Argument - very loose - do you mean "there is a God", "Jesus Christ is Lord", "Thou shalt not commit adultery", the nature of a sacrament, transubstantiation? If you mean something more like "things that adherents of some forms of Christianity have alleged about cosmology or history", then you need to say so.

Disproven - It is so hard to disprove things. Disputed - that is easy to show. Rejected - that is easy to show. Often mainstream science has come up with a different explanation or classification - different from the explanations and classifications provided by those churchmen who are not straw men [there are somewho are not] and other scientists. But if I say the Atlantic Creoles should be seen as West African languages on the basis of phonology and some structural features, and you say they should be seen as European languages on the basis of majority lexicon and OTHER structural features, neither has disroved the other. We just disagree, and we are equally scientific or unscientific, just weighting the evidence differently.

"Once you appy science to it" - Very vague indeed. How do you "apply science" to the alleged resurrection of Jesus and the alleged vivification of Lazarus? How do you "apply science" to string theory?

Now if you had said, for example, "The scientific community and many others using a scientific approach have in many cases drawn from the existing evidence conclusions different from those of some who interpret the JudeoChristian scriptures as literally as possible" - I would say nothing. Have nothing to say. Perfect agreement.

I say this, I hope it is clear, with positive intent - both here and in life generally, both in learning and in social interactions, you will find it pays to practice being as clear of statement as you can. It is the communicatins equivalent of driving defensively.

IF the universe is infinite you can get away with saying the universe orbits the sun or earth because if its infinite it goes out in every direction infinitely making every celestial body the center of the universe technically

i was referring to the earth being round and the age of the earth mainly and notice how i snuck in nearly in the other post LOL

Oh, I saw the nearly, and gave you points for it. I know some who would have said ALL, and we ALL know EVERYONE who says ALL is ALWAYS wrong, don't we?

But you would hasve been better advised to specify those two areas. Nearly is not nearly good enough.

My grandfather - I have spoken of him, the one what did verbal sumo wrestling with my father trrying to find logical holes while we tried not to attract his attention - would have taken your "nearly" to pieces.

"Nearly every argument, you say?" Ah. And about how many arguments would that be, exactly? In round numbers? So. And of those arguments, how many woukld you say have been incontrovertibly disproven?"

It would go on from there. Not everybody will do that - even I for all my heritage and teacher's instincts pull my punches.

But, even here, PPR - Awesomely Glorious - and if he were reading this he could confirm it - is quite capable both in training and in debater's zeal of doing a job on you well nigh as good as my grampa.

The nice thing is, if you learn defensive argument here, it will help a lot if you ever get before a thesis committee - or put on trial - or explaining something to your inlaws.

Prayer isn't about an exchange, buying favor and getting the result you are seeking. It is about nuturing and building your relationship with God.

Your complaint rather misses the point.

Sorry for most likely repeating something already mentioned and beaten up in the 4 pages I skipped ...

DW a mom -

Fine by me. Can't hear it too often

I suppose what prayer is depends on who is doing the praying or who is preaching the sermon. There doesnt seem to be a consensus view.

True. Since prayer is the heart of maintaining your relationship with God, the nature of it will vary depending upon how the type of relationship you have with God. I'm not the same with both my kids, and a different parent is not the same with their kids as I am with mine. However, it could be accurately said that a parent child relatioinship that was solely based on child asking and parent answering would not be a very healthy or fulfulling one. Same would be true of a relationship with God: if the entire is basis is you asking and waiting for God to answer, it isn't much of a relationship, is it?

God interacts with individuals, and that is going to mean a lot of variety and unpredictability. No too identical dandelions or human lives.

Likewise, he goes in for dynamic balance, not static extremes. Balancing mercy and justice, freedom and control, longsuffering with quick wrath.

Bothers some people. A lot of us would be happier with a genie of the lamp or a constitutional monarch following ironclad rules.

God interacting with us person to person - it's like the teacher calling ME to the board.

... and/or in just watching closely and gleaning a bit as others are learning their own lessons fitting for all.