As atheists, it is very easy to get sarcastic and even downright nasty when someone tells us they are praying for us or praying for anything actually. First off it is definitely presumptuous on the part of the person saying they prayed. Are we supposed to be grateful? Are we supposed to suddenly fall to our knees and believe in their god? Do they actually think telling us they prayed in any way shape or form increases the efficacy of the prayer?
Before we go any further I guess it is important to note I’m not talking about the people who throw, “I’m praying for you”, out as some kind of weapon or retort to something you said. Let’s get this straight right off the bat, those guys suck. They start with a long horrendous diatribe about how evil and sinful we are followed by a very hollow snide comment that they have asked their god being to help you out. Disingenuous and fake. There is no reason on earth to be nice to these types, and they are not who I’m talking about here.
- I’m talking about the people who actually think they are being helpful.
- I’m talking about the ones who believe prayer works in spite of all the evidence it doesn’t.
- I’m talking about the ones who actually believe you have a soul and it is in danger.
- I’m talking about your friends and your family. People who truly care about you.
You will have to decide for yourself what a person’s motivation truly is but when it is obvious they mean nothing but the best what do we do?
I think insulting and belittling people with good intentions is wrong, but I also don’t think we can just let it slide as that reinforces their belief. If we let it slide we are giving it our tacit approval.
You could politely point out that if their god was real and created all things then he made you this way. If he’s omnipotent he knew you would turn out this way. If he has an ineffable, infallible and unchangeable plan then he knew and wanted you to be an Atheist (even though he is going to send you to Hell for it later).
By the way, I am pretty sure Christians know their prayers don’t work also. That’s why they have to tell you about it. That is why they have to request the help of others as in the picture above. If they truly believed in the words of their god they wouldn’t need to do this. They would say a prayer between themself as Jesus instructed in the sermon on the mount. They would know it was going to be answered. They wouldn’t have to enlist surrogates to do this for them. Talking to God on there own would be enough.
You can try to explain that the bible says “Ask and it shall be given unto you.” The bible claims prayer works every time. Nowhere does it claim their god will say no. Nowhere does it say prayer will be answered only if it is their god’s will. However, if they don’t give their god the ability to say no and that it is all part of his plan then they have to admit that their god is not answering anything.
Mathew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks,it will be opened.
Luke 11:9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
John 16:24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. (To me this one is truly the one that they have to ignore. It doesn’t say ask for holy things or with a correct heart, it proclaims, “That your joy may be full!”)
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
My response has always been to say something to the effect of, “Thank you for praying for me, however, if your God is real and you believe in the power of prayer there was no need to tell me you prayed. As Matthew 6:5 says you should pray in private, and your god will reward you openly, the fact that you feel this need to tell me you prayed has probably hardened my heart against any actual effect your well-meaning gesture might have had.”
Deep inside I think they know that prayer doesn’t work. Deep inside they know the only response to their prayer will be whatever you choose to say to them at this moment. You can be a dick or you can be their friend… or you can be an example.
One thing I haven’t discussed yet is answered prayer. I know someone will read all this and claim their god does answer prayer.
Of course, prayer never worked when it was important. It didn’t work when my family needed money or someone we knew was dying. It never once saved the day, but it did let me play basketball that day and that’s an important lesson in how prayer works. You remember the times it worked and chalk up the times it didn’t to “God’s Plan.”
Some people, however, like to claim that a god actually cured them of something. They say their god healed their cancer or they saw a video or they hear anecdotal evidence that so and so was healed and accept it as a fact.
On examination of most cure claims, we find out that it was doctors who cured the. Trained medical professionals with years and years of college who treated and cured the.
Sometimes though a claim does look extremely miraculous and so that gets attributed to a god. To those people I’d ask the question, does God care about rats and mice?
Spontaneous remission and regression of cancer and many other diseases has been seen and studied in rats, mice, and many other animals. To the best of our knowledge, none of them were in prayer groups at the time. Did God change his plans to heal a rat?
Almost all other forms of faith healing are frauds. Just going to go ahead and say it. It’s been proven time and time and time again.
And, quite frankly, if I am wrong… if there is a god (any god) that can heal sickness, cure disease, and help the local sports team win the big game and still lets 14k children starve each day and allows others to die from brain tumors and other childhood cancers while failing to hear those prayers… that god is just a dick and unworthy of worship!