From: theirony2013@gmail.com
On 2026-01-17 08:41, JTEM wrote:
> On 1/17/26 10:41 AM, Mike wrote:
>
>> Guidance for prayer:
>>
>>
>>
>> Jesus would most likely frown upon prayers that
>> invert his stated values: humility → entitlement,
>> compassion → advantage, trust → manipulation.
>
> I guess I see all prayer as self serving; people want
> something!
>
> Asking for forgiveness is asking to escape consequences,
> if not in this life then most certainly the next.
>
> "No, I just want to escape consequences for all of
> eternity, instead of for however many years I have
> left. That's not selfish."
>
> Healing?
>
> "Please, lord, bend the laws of nature, reality itself
> to heal me."
>
> Because THAT'S not beneficial or anything...
>
> The only prayers that might qualify under your rules
> oops I meant "Guidance" would be prayers for other
> people. And even then you might get into trouble if
> you're a D bag.
>
> "Oh, lord, please make my cousin a self righteous
> WokeTard, like the rest of us. Open their eyes to the
> wisdom of going mental in the streets over things that
> don't actually matter to any of us, as we refuse to
> prioritize the improving of life for ourselves and the
> rest of the country."
>
> If you pray for someone else to be lifted out of
> poverty though? If you pray for someone else to experience
> something that convinces them that God is real, miracles do
> happen? If you pray for someone else to heal? If you pray
> for someone else to achieve greatness as an accordion
> player... the world's most famous Barista...
>
> But even then I'd disagree with you.
>
> What I always thought, if people are sincere, is they should
> pray for those things that only God could do. So asking for
> God to cure a disease which is medically treatable, but
> refusing a doctor, is insane. And, asking God to end a war
> which took humans to start and humans can end at any time is
> more than a little nutty.
>
> But, praying that God cure a cancer that the doctors told you
> is incurable? Makes sense. Because it is something that only
> God could do.
>
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>>
>> Examples that clearly clash with Jesus-style teaching:
>>
>> Praying for wealth, luxury, or status
>> “Lord, let me get rich, famous, or admired.”
>> (Hard to square with camels and needles.)
>>
>> Praying to win over others
>> Promotions, lawsuits, sports victories, or business
>> success that require someone else to lose.
>>
>> Praying to escape consequences
>> Asking forgiveness without repentance, or asking God
>> to “fix” the fallout of dishonesty or harm.
>>
>> Praying for control over others
>> That someone will change, obey, return, fail, or be
>> removed because they’re inconvenient.
>>
>> Praying for signs, proof, or miracles on demand
>> “If you’re real, do X for me,” which Jesus explicitly
>> rejects.
>>
>> Praying for public admiration
>> Asking for recognition, applause, or visible blessing
>> to appear “chosen” or superior.
>>
>> Praying while ignoring need next door
>> Asking for personal comfort while disregarding hunger,
>> sickness, or injustice in plain sight.
>>
>> Praying as transaction
>> “I’ll believe / behave / donate if you give me what
>> I want.”
>>
>> Praying to be right rather than to be good
>> Vindication over reconciliation.
>>
>> Praying to avoid suffering entirely
>> When Jesus repeatedly frames suffering as something
>> that cannot be neatly bypassed, only transformed.
>>
>> In short, Jesus doesn’t seem opposed to asking—but
>> to asking from the wrong center. Not “What do I want?”
>> but “What kind of person am I
>> becoming?”
>>
>> These prayers treat inconvenience as moral injustice—
>> and morality as a tool for comfort.
>>
>>
>> Here are some eyebrow-raising things people have
>> publicly asked others to pray for—often in churches,
>> prayer chains, or online groups. They’re not meant
>> to mock faith itself, but the way prayer sometimes
>> gets reduced to a cosmic wish-list.
>>
>> -A brand-new Lamborghini or Ferrari
>> -Winning a specific lottery jackpot with numbers attached
>> -God “changing” a teacher’s grades after final exams
>> -A rival’s business to fail so one’s own will succeed
>> -A parking spot directly in front of a crowded mall
>> -Clear weather for their wedding while a drought is ongoing
>> -That a judge will rule in their favor despite obvious guilt
>> -For a celebrity to notice them or fall in love with them
>> -To become famous or “go viral” without any particular work
>> -For God to make a sports team win a championship
>> -For a boss to be fired so they can get the promotion
>> -To pass an exam they didn’t study for
>> -For an ex to “realize they were wrong” and come back
>> -For a neighbor to move away
>> -For a luxury house, yacht, or private jet
>> -To avoid consequences after lying or cheating
>> -That God will “fix” a broken phone or laptop
>> -For a flight to be delayed so they don’t miss it
>> -For a pastor to stop preaching so long
>>
>> Philosophically, these requests treat prayer less as reflection,
>> humility, or moral alignment—and more like a supernatural
>> customer-service desk. Many of these also quietly ask for
>> reality to bend in their favor at someone else’s expense.
I thought you might find this interesting:
In what way does the British National anthem
not follow those guidelines?
If you measure “God Save the King” against the kinds
of things Jesus is portrayed as endorsing, it departs in
several clear ways—mostly by turning prayer into national
self-interest and domination rather than humility or
compassion.
Here’s how it misses those guidelines:
1). Prayer for power and victory over others
“Send him victorious, happy and glorious”
This is a request for triumph, not righteousness. Victory implies
others’ defeat—something Jesus consistently refuses to frame as a
spiritual goal.
2). Prayer for the defeat and suffering of enemies
“Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks”
“On thee our hopes we fix: God save us all”
Earlier versions are even more explicit about scattering enemies.
This directly contradicts “love your enemies” and “pray for those
who persecute you.”
3). God as a national ally
The anthem assumes God is aligned with one nation, ruler, and
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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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