Is praying becoming a religion unto itself?
Consider this: 39% attend church weekly yet 75% pray at least weekly, according to the Pew Religion Forum.
In fact, 58% of Americans, and 66% of American women pray daily.
And maybe most remarkably: 35% of those who don’t identify with any religion at all — the “unaffiliated”– pray weekly or daily
That means there’s a large number of Americans who don’t attend church regularly but pray a great deal.
For some, their prayer life flows directly from their church life — a way to fill the gaps between visits to a House of Worship.
But these statistics, as well as the popularity over the years of books like the Prayer of Jabez and The Secret and many other devotional books, show that prayer has become sometimes detached from the tradition of church. Call it Prayerism.
People are turning to books, TV shows, or bloggers for prayer insight. On Beliefnet and other websites, users are turning to “prayer libraries” and online prayer groups — often asking questions heretofore reserved for their own clergy. Consider some of the questiions fielded by one of Beliefnet’s prayer advisors, Sheila Walsh:
“How can I be humble and also pray for myself? How can I make praying a habit, instead of just praying when someone asks for prayer? How is the best way to teach children to pray? Should you just pray or should you also study the bible and/or do devotion. Is there an order that you should do them in?”
Is this phenomenon, people who pray outside a particular tradition, a positive or negative trend?
If you’re one who feels that spirituality detached from a strong church or religious tradition is risky or imperfect, then it should be a sign for concern. Americans are serving as general contractors on their own spiritual project, perhaps a reflection that their clergy person isn’t doing the job.
Another potential problem is when people pray entirely for God to solve problems — God as a gum ball machine, as Rick Warren puts it.
On the other hand, prayer detached from a religious tradition may be seen as a sign that people are letting go of anxiety about the “right way” to pray and aspiring simply to strengthen their connection with the Divine. It was Bill Graham, after all, who explained, “Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.” For many, it’s not a replacement for traditional religion but a supplement.
And for those praying outside a religious tradition — the orthodox Prayerists — it could be argued that these Americans have found ways to connect with faith, even when alienated from religion. Taken as a whole, the emphasis on prayer may be seen as powerfully positive movement, imbuing more spirituality into religious practice, putting renewed focus on the most soul-ful part of faith — the connection to God, and the desire to live a Godly life.
Also printed on The Wall Street Journal Online.
Beliefnet
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posted September 17, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I think most people want to pray because they want to believe in a God who hears and responds to them personally. Unfortunately, without the depth of a worshipful relationship with God, it is difficult to have the spirit of discernment that allows us to recognize when God answers our prayers. People who pray without worshiping often forget that God also likes to hear our praise and not just our requests. Corporate prayer, or shared prayer, is very valuable because it lets us open our hearts to others as we open our hearts to God.
It is unfortunate that some people feel alienated from religion, as the Pew Report indicates. I think as churches have tried to re-design themselves to reflect culture they have lost some of their original appeal as a reflection of an unchanging God. That’s something to pray about right there.
I am glad to hear that people are praying. I know God is listening.
Thom
http://thom-signsofastruggle.blogspot.com/
http://sbcvoices.com/the-church-home-a-refuge-in-an-information-overload-era/
posted September 18, 2009 at 10:08 am
beautifully expressed Thom..cant said it better.
posted September 24, 2009 at 3:18 am
I read a brilliant description recently of the four basic types of prayers: “‘Gimme! Thanks! Oops! and Wow!’”
Praying is the worst of human desperation, spoken out loud. (I suppose that might be just a tiny bit better than living a life of “quiet desperation.”)
But then, how to justify all the absurdities of the idea that the creator of the universe is sitting around waiting to find you a parking space, or help your team win a game? Or how about the spectacle of a guy who just went into a church in Italy to pray and a stone column fell over and crushed him to death. Or the fact that churches regularly collapse on their praying occupants during earthquakes. What kind of protection does prayer really provide? And wouldn’t improving the structural engineering of old buildings be far, far better?
Prayer doesn’t make people better who are sick. It doesn’t do–well–anything. Except perhaps make the person praying feel like they’re accomplishing something–when they’re just sitting there talking to themselves. And don’t bother with the apologetics–God’s plan, yadda, yadda. You can’t bullsh t a bullsh tter. I was a minister for seven years until I figured out the whole thing was a lie.
People are waking up to the utter depravity, incoherence and divisiveness of the ‘God’ concept. More and more every day. After misleading my congregation for years, that’s what I *hope* for now.
posted July 28, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I agree with you we need to pray for our children and teach them to pray. I like Beliefnet and have used them in the past.
posted February 23, 2011 at 3:44 pm
I believe that when that question is answered we will answer the the question “Is praying becoming a religion unto itself?”