Prayer Requests: Phony?

Question by J: Prayer requests: Phony?
Let me start by saying that I’m not trying to anger anyone: just looking for opinions on something that has always puzzled me and at times annoyed me.

So here it is… Prayer requests always seem to be false gestures to me, and I would basically put them it two categories:

1) Making public prayer requests (i.e.- in church) for someone else- To me, this seems like it is just a socially acceptable way to gossip. If you know for some reason that someone is going through a difficult time, why couldn’t you just pray for them on your own and be finished with it? Why share that person’s personal information with everyone else? Example: “Everyone, please pray for the Smith Family. The son Johnny was just admitted to rehab last week cocaine addiction”. Well, I’m sure the Smiths appreciated that.

I have been on the receiving end of this type of thing twice, and neither has been plesant.. Once, someone made a request for my family because “we hadn’t been in church much lately”… which I didn’t appreciate because it seemed so “holier than thou”. In the second instance (a more annoying one), someone made a request for me because I casually mentioned to them that I had just had a blood test and my red cell count was high (which turned out to be a harmless thing.. no big deal). But, this person made a “prayer request” about it in church and now every one in that church thinks I have Leukemia… So every once and a while, when I see someone from that church in public, they will cautiously approach me and ask me “how I am hold up” and after a few moments of confusion, I finally realize that they think I have cancer, and I have to explain to them that I never did.

2) The second (and recently more common) prayer request is the facebook request for prayers for yourself and your family. It goes something like this: a status update says “pray for my family, my mom had to have emergency gallbladder surgery last night” and then a person comments on the status saying “sending prayers your way”. I see this all the time, and it bewilders me every time. Why couldn’t the person who posted the status pray for themselves? And does the commenter really believe that the “sending prayers your way” thing does anything? I always picture the commenter, like, throwing fairy dust or something when I read that.

I guess the root of my question is why do people make prayer requests? Do they believe that if more people pray that there is a better chance that their prayer will be answered? Do they think that there is a prayer line and if more people pray that their request will get bumped to the front?

My theory is that people do it for two reasons… to share information and to make them selves feel better (ie- obtain support and make themselves feel like “better Christians”). At best, it is self comfort and at worst it is gossip.

Opinions?

Best answer:

Answer by dead fundie
Much of religion is the exchange of meaningless niceties. It’s a way of socializing.

Answer by Phlox Skye
Well it is like talking to the plant with nice words… the plant will grow healthier.

So I believe spiritual support really does work as well. Allow people to know about your situation… and people will create good positive surrounding, so that you can heal well.

You know… positive energy.

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