I just watched a music video by Justin Bieber, don't laugh, and the song was called "Pray". And it made me think about the actual action and thought of prayer. And I asked myself, why do people pray? I understand that praying may make them feel better that there's a higher being who will help them, that prayer gives people hope. To me prayer is mostly people asking whatever higher being they believe in to make everything better and then they wait for something to happen. But really nothing will. So what does prayer actually do?
Praying won't change your situation (and I mean meaningful prayer, not wishing you get something from your christmas list). It won't make your life better in any way unless you do something. Take action and make your situation change.
My mother thinks that people pray because it is positive. That if you can get a large group of people together to pray, then there is a force of positive energy that uplifts everyone. That with the positive energy and united feeling it would make that group of people more proactive. And then they would go out in the world and they would think that "we can do this" (whatever "this" is) and have the feeling that God is behind them. Which might in turn, make a better society. But how many people like that are there? How many people pray to God and then take action?
But there are still many people that pray and pray and just wait for something to happen. That kind of prayer is what I don't understand; why people pray if it doesn't change your immediate situation and might not change it at all. The person that actually makes things happen is yourself, not a higher being.
