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Comment by sigi45 | Hacker News Reader

On one side you are apparently in full control of your life and on the other side you pray?

To whom? Why? For what?

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13855957 and marked it off-topic.

The rubber duck doesn't talk back either[0] but he always helps me solves my problems when I explain them properly to him.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

Not OP, but as a person raised in Christianity - personal prayer is talking with God; it's not really about asking for supernatural favours, but about maintaining your personal relationship with the Almighty. Reflecting upon your own life is often a part of such a prayer.

I can't speak for him, but I can read his comment. The paragraph structure of his comment suggests to me that, to him, prayer involves self-reflection, not handing the wheel to Jesus.

I get what you mean, but I think it's interesting to think about the seemingly simple question "do you believe in the power of prayer?"

My reflex was just to say no, because I don't think anyone hears you and offers help. On the other hand, I believe strongly in the power of thinking and visualization of goals, and isn't that a lot of what prayer is?

As per definition "Prayer (from the Latin precari "to ask earnestly, beg, entreat")[1] is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication." i would say no.

If you talk to yourself/think about your life, i would call it something like 'time for self reflection' or something but not prayer.

What you're talking about is 'intercessionary prayer', which is one type of prayer recognised by Christian theologians. There are also 'affirmation prayers', 'prayers of confession', amongst others.

I figure prayer is essentially meditation. There are many distinctions to be made between them, but no difference that I can see.

It makes perfect sense when for example one defines God as the best part of oneself.

That's not very Christian though.

Perhaps not Christianity as practised by literalists and derided by militant atheists.

But it’s perfectly compatible with forms of Christianity that have always been widely observed, which are far more symbolic and metaphoric, and primarily focused on maintaining inner strength and compassion, similar to Buddhism or Taoism.

Jordan Peterson (University of Toronto Psychology Professor) is someone worth following for deep insights on this topic.

That's not your place to decide.

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