ok in more depth guys, i was thinking when you think about things in your life God always hears you, when your like i hope she or he gets better, like your thinking and God reads your mind because he always knows what your thinking.. but when you pray i no its a direct and open connection with him, but what is the difference, its like your repeating yourself eh? from when he reads your mind during the day and then at ngiht your thinking the same thing just telling him directly... what you all think? i hope you understand what im saying.

I think I understand what you are saying. Anytime you "think" God hears you. You can say little prayers in your head while you're walking down the street.

When you pray, you address God. When you just think "I hope he gets better" its simply just that, however I would not classify this as a prayer.

On the subject of praying, you should talk to God, not just say 'Hail Mary's' etc. And, if and when God does answer you, it's probably best to say thank you.

thanx ask.. i miss u babe!

LOL, well log on LE lol

prayer IS imagination!

it does not matter if you pray to a 'god' (no matter what name), or you pray to a bananna tree. the effect is that if you truly believe in the god or the bananna tree, you will empower yourself through this external reference. the power is within your thoughts, not gods or bananna trees!

Of course!

So how does god talk to you?

Does he talk back to you in some funny voices than you made up in your head?

I prayed for 16 years and there were no little voices in my head talking back..

Who ever said God TALKS to you O_o.....

or that you talk to a god ...

I talk to myself most of the time...

I`m not religious in any way, but just because God doesn`t answer or prayers or doesn`t talk back doesn`t mean he/she/it doesn`t exists. maybe this being can only listen and it knows that the mere act of prayer and belief it exists can sooth and comfort you.

God knows our innermost thoughts and desires. So why does he require us to bring them before Him in prayer?

God is, more than anything else, a God of relationships. This is evidenced in the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And us, being in the image of God, are creatures of relationships. We forge friendships, bonds, aquaintances and loves. And God created us to be in a relationship with Him. Relationships are based on communication and if we don't communicate with God then how can our relationship grow? We speak to God about all kinds of things, not just when we want something from Him.

As I said, God knows all our thoughts. Prayer is just as much for our benefit as it is for His. We grow in our relationship through this, and God knows that we take time out of our lives to speak to Him. He's not just an extra in our life that isn't worth paying attention to.

Until next time,

btw Whoa, God speaks to us as well through the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 refers to scripture as "God-breathed", the literal meaning being "breath of God". God's Word.

I think the difference is in the level of intent(focus)that you put into it, i.e if you ask for gods help while walking down the street it only takes a couple of seconds of focus(your barely powering up) before your distracted but when you pray you devote a couple of minutes and if you meditate you focus even longer, that way god knows how much you really desire something, so maybe its not really about whether god is always reading your thoughts but how much he thinks you desire a particular thing. But hey! its just a thought?

Prayer is the most important thing you can do to get closer to God. It is not imagination. Is it what it is. God doesn't speak in an audible except through via prophecy. And just because God doesn't answer automatically doesn't mean he is nonexistent or without compassion.

I am an atheist…
In the movie What The Bleep Do We Know there were samples of water in Japan which would change to different shapes after Buddhist Monks blessings…But water can be centered to another point of devotement from a drastic measure on it’s emotional values (YEA I KNOW I SOUND CRAZY) and it’s said this is most effective on water…So maybe when prayers are conducted it’s the water in your body which causes the brain to churn out more of that emotions, which starts to mix with the cells in your brain, which soon erupt to the blood stream. So this could lead ourselves into a happier state. But I certainly will agree there are some strange things out there, but I do suggest you all rent the movie What The Bleep Do We Know…

take a look at brain images of people in deep meditation and you will see it is an altered state.