Christmas prayer for nonbelievers

Nutes and Nugs

Nutes and Nugs

Well-Known Member
In a recent post, an individual expressed his doubts that Jesus Christ ever existed and recoiled when anyone wished him a "Merry Christmas."
My first inclination was to feel sorry for this person. However, feeling sorry for someone is only an inward expression and does no good for the person who has doubts. I then decided to do something more practical - to pray for him.
I'm relatively sure that this person would take exception to this and scoff at the idea of being prayed for. If we were face to face he might even tell me not to do that. He might even laugh at the very thought of being prayed for, or someone interceding for him with Jesus.
Just the same, I did that and invite others to do the same. He's not alone in his doubts that Christ ever existed. There are many like him who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ. However, these "many" acknowledge His existence every year of their lives simply by abiding by the calendar that is based on Christ's birth.
So this Dec. 25 (which is a day set aside to celebrate Christ's birth), the whole world will once again acknowledge Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Christmas story will be told again and again by many who do believe in this Man who changed the world and the lives of untold millions of believers.
By His very existence, Jesus has made it possible for us who do believe, to have an eternal presence with Him and God the Father. Jesus has changed the world as He has changed individual hearts, bringing peace and joy to the recipient.
So whether this person who wrote the letter disparaging Jesus and His birth likes it or not, I am praying that God will soften his heart to receive the true Gospel message of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection and eventual return. Merry Christmas RIU.
 
aknight3

aknight3

Moderator
I do beleive Jesus Christ was a physical person, I do not beleive fairy tales that are told about him, either way iloveyou and Merry Christmas :peace:
 
Zaehet Strife

Zaehet Strife

Well-Known Member
Atheist here, merry fucking christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great time with family and friends eating tons of food and sharing gifts with each other! I can enjoy this cultural holiday as much as any other person!
 
cheechako

cheechako

Well-Known Member
My prayer for believers:

It is my hope that more of you realize that we should all be working towards the betterment of this world - for our children and their children and their great-great grandchildren. I see too many people act like the goal is to get into Heaven or that our demise is fated and foretold on some calendar or in some book or whatever.

Best wishes for the holidays - both now (after the recent end of the world on 12/21/12) and all future holidays after all the other predicted ends of the world!
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Nutes and Nugs said:
In a recent post, an individual expressed his doubts that Jesus Christ ever existed and recoiled when anyone wished him a "Merry Christmas."
My first inclination was to feel sorry for this person. However, feeling sorry for someone is only an inward expression and does no good for the person who has doubts. I then decided to do something more practical - to pray for him.
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So your answer to doubt is to pray, and you think that is practical. My first inclination is to feel sorry for you, but then I realized that you must have a brain like me if you are able to post here, and so you must realize that doubt is justified until replaced with reason. Perhaps you should consider that prayer may be reason enough for you, but others have different standards.

I'm relatively sure that this person would take exception to this and scoff at the idea of being prayed for. If we were face to face he might even tell me not to do that. He might even laugh at the very thought of being prayed for, or someone interceding for him with Jesus.
Just the same, I did that and invite others to do the same. He's not alone in his doubts that Christ ever existed. There are many like him who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ.
Click to expand...


Here you equate doubt with denial. Are you praying for those who doubt, or those who refuse to acknowledge? What would you say to those who believe a man named Jesus existed but not that he was divine? What evidence do you have that Jesus was alive? It might help more to present such evidence rather than to sit on a high horse and pray.

However, these "many" acknowledge His existence every year of their lives simply by abiding by the calendar that is based on Christ's birth.
Click to expand...
So this Dec. 25 (which is a day set aside to celebrate Christ's birth), the whole world will once again acknowledge Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Christmas story will be told again and again by many who do believe in this Man who changed the world and the lives of untold millions of believers.
By His very existence, Jesus has made it possible for us who do believe, to have an eternal presence with Him and God the Father. Jesus has changed the world as He has changed individual hearts, bringing peace and joy to the recipient.
Click to expand...
Your words are idealistic and do not reflect history or the state of the world today. What is the history of Christmas? When was Jesus born? It seems you devalue others when they have doubt perhaps because you have never had any of your own.

So whether this person who wrote the letter disparaging Jesus and His birth likes it or not, I am praying that God will soften his heart to receive the true Gospel message of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection and eventual return. Merry Christmas RIU.
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I have never known or seen any examples of someone getting angry because they were prayed for. Interesting that you attribute doubt of Christianity to a hardened heart instead of a heightened intellect and a skillful critical eye, which is virtually always the case. It doesn't take a scrooge to hear the story of Christmas and think it is extraordinary to the point of wanting evidence, and it doesn't take an atheist to look at your words and see condescension.
 
Nutes and Nugs

Nutes and Nugs

Well-Known Member
LOL Cn. The tread got at least 150 hits and I'm tickled at all the atheists that charmed in.
Just a simple prayer for mankind.
I'm not about to debate that German guy above your post. We've been through all that fighting before and I'll just let it rest at that.
I'm glad I have faith and won't condemn anyone who doesn't.
Hope all you RIU people had a nice Christmas.
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Nutes and Nugs said:
LOL Cn. The tread got at least 150 hits and I'm tickled at all the atheists that charmed in.
Just a simple prayer for mankind.
I'm not about to debate that German guy above your post. We've been through all that fighting before and I'll just let it rest at that.
I'm glad I have faith and won't condemn anyone who doesn't.
Hope all you RIU people had a nice Christmas.
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A Merry Christmas to you too, N&N. I am irreligious but try to be a good host. cn
 
tyler.durden

tyler.durden

Well-Known Member
While this seems like a nice step to take on the surface, OP, it could be viewed as condescending. When we take a close look at studies on intercessory prayer, we see that it really does no good for the person being prayed for. In the STEP double-blind study which is the most comprehensive study to date, prayer actually made things worse when the person knew prayer was directed at them -

The STEP project - A 2006 "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)" led by Harvard professor Herbert Benson was by far the most comprehensive and rigorous investigation of third-party prayer to date.[SUP][27][/SUP] The STEP, commonly called the "Templeton Foundation prayer study or "Great Prayer Experiment", used 1,802 coronary artery bypass surgery patients at six hospitals. Using double-blind protocols, patients were randomized into three random groups, but without measuring individual prayer receptiveness. The experimental and control Groups 1 and 2 were informed they may or may not receive prayers, and only Group 1 received them. Group 3, which tested for possible psychosomatic effects, was informed they would receive prayers and subsequently did. Unlike some other studies, STEP attempted to standardize the prayer method. Only first names and last initial for patients were provided and no photographs were supplied. The congregations of three Christian churches who prayed for the patients "were allowed to pray in their own manner, but they were instructed to include the following phrase in their prayers: 'for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications'.[SUP][28][/SUP] Some participants complained that this mechanical way they were told to pray as part of the experiment was unusual for them. Major complications and thirty-day mortality occurred in 52 percent of those who received prayer (Group 1), 51 percent of those who did not receive it (Group 2), and 59 percent of patients who knew they would receive prayers (Group 3). Some prayed-for patients fared worse than those who did not receive prayers. In The God Delusion, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins wrote, "It seems more probable that those patients who knew they were being prayed for suffered additional stress in consequence: 'performance anxiety', as the experimenters put it. Dr Charles Bethea, one of the researchers, said, 'It may have made them uncertain, wondering am I so sick they had to call in their prayer team?'"[SUP][29][/SUP] Study co-author Jeffery Dusek stated that: "Each study builds on others, and STEP advanced the design beyond what had been previously done. The findings, however, could well be due to the study limitations."[SUP][30][/SUP] Team leader Benson stated that STEP was not the last word on the effects of intercessory prayer and that questions raised by the study will require additional answers.[SUP][31][/SUP]‎

So it seems that your prayer may have been more effective if you didn't let us know about it ;)
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Nutes and Nugs said:
I'm glad I have faith and won't condemn anyone who doesn't.
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Excellent sentiment but some people may take being looked down on as judgment enough. I have not noticed any prayer involved in this thread. It seems you used the pretense of prayer as a platform to sound off about your feelings on a group of people whom you have embodied by the evocation of "a recent poster". I have no problem with the expression, but the pretense and abasement do taste bitter. I do however like and appreciate your latest attitude and hope you are true to it.
 
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