Among the reasons I do not believe God answers prayer and that he is not active in our lives is the terms used to reference prayer. We teach God is a loving God but look at the terms we use:
Pray fervently
Pray hard
Prayer works
The first two some how describe how to pray. The last suggests the act of praying is enough and that God does not have to do anything. What we teach keeps the laity looking to the clergy for help. They pray for us. We need them.
We also teach that God knows what we need before we ask. If he does, why doesn’t he provide it without our having to ask? If you see a friend needing help and refuse to do anything before he asks would you be a friend. If you required that he ask several times before you helped would you be a friend? If you required groups to request on his behalf would you be a friend? You would not but that is how we describe God.
Prayer is more superstition than it is a belief. Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality---that one even causes another without any natural process linking the two events—such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, prophecies, etc., that contradicts natural science.
The word superstition is sometimes used to refer to religious practices (e.g., Voodoo) other than the one prevailing in a given society (e.g., Christianity in western culture), although the prevailing religion may contain just as many superstitious beliefs.
I don’t expect anyone to agree. I have no doubt I am right because I can see the lack of results from prayer and I know others agree because of the things they do not pray for. They know God does not answer prayer but they are afraid admitting it somehow is no right. Believing what is not true and expecting what is not going to be is what is not right.
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