Best Responses To "please Pray..."

[TrueFreedom]

Fellow closet ex-Christians,

 

I'm looking for the best non-woo responses to prayer requests. I'm getting better at it, but it can still be quite awkward at times. What do you say when someone asks for prayer?

 

Here are a few to kick this off. They don't seem quite as intimate nor elicit the same warm fuzzies as, "I will pray for you," but they do say that you care:

 

"I'll be thinking about you."

 

"I'm so sorry to hear that! ((HUG))"

 

"Hope it turns out ok!"

 

 

Do any of you still tell them that you will pray? Do you pray?

[ToonForever]

Fellow closet ex-Christians,

 

I'm looking for the best non-woo responses to prayer requests. I'm getting better at it, but it can still be quite awkward at times. What do you say when someone asks for prayer?

 

Here are a few to kick this off. They don't seem quite as intimate nor elicit the same warm fuzzies as, "I will pray for you," but they do say that you care:

 

"I'll be thinking about you."

 

"I'm so sorry to hear that! ((HUG))"

 

"Hope it turns out ok!"

 

 

Do any of you still tell them that you will pray? Do you pray?

 

We'll keep you in our thoughts.

 

Our hopes are with you.

 

Those are my two tropes. Nobody questions it. I think Christians certainly value such responses far less, because you're not actively trying to change god's mind (nevermind all the mental cock-ups that presents) but it's at least honest.

[florduh]

"Well, I don't do that (prayer) but my thoughts are with you. Please let me know if I can help in any way."

[ToonForever]

"Please let me know if I can help in any way."

 

That's what I need to add

[Positivist]

I'm not out with my family and some fundies so I'll say, in response to "Please pray..." either:

1. I'll be thinking of you--please let me know how I can help. OR,

2. I'm really struggling with the notion of the efficacy of prayer right now, so maybe it's best if I do something practical to help you.

[London]

I usually say;

 

"Well you're fucked now, aren't ya?"

 

no seriously, I usually say,

 

"It will all work out in the end, you'll figure it out."

 

Because, it usually does work out in one way or another and people do usually figure it out. Plus I like to get people to think about solving the problem as opposed to "hoping" that it will magically change.

 

Then again my smart ass response does apply at times, I just never use it.

[Voice]

I've been thinking of you (but only if you really have been)

 

Otherwise just listening helps. Not saying anything is great if you can pull it off. Hand on shoulder.

 

Truthfully, for me that's sometimes an awkward moment when it catches me by surprise. It helps when I've already been thinking of that person, which happens enough.

[Guest wester]

My mom constantly tells me she'll pray for me. Like it is actually doing something useful for me like sending new socks or putting money in my bank account. Anymore I just give her blank stares and total silence. As if one single prayer that she said was ever answered in over 50 years. You'd think that by now she'd understand that it is a total waste of time - and on some subconscious level she knows this, but because of the ideology, she can never admit it no matter how ridiculous it really is.

 

She used to be a human, but now she is a Christo-bot. This religion thing has put a gigantic wedge into the middle of all her relationships including with me. You're either with her (or with the totalitarian misogynists in her church) or you're going to hell.

 

I'll see you in hell. Cheers.

[LivingLife]

I usually ignore prayer requests. They are really a "poor me plea, does anyone care?"

 

Saying "my thoughts are with you" is as non helpful as "I will pray for you" - both are little white lies and maybe the person just need an attaboy, hang in there mate.

 

Really not a good time to say, "life's a bitch and then you die". As has been said, shit tends to work itself in the end.

[ToonForever]

I usually ignore prayer requests. They are really a "poor me plea, does anyone care?"

 

Saying "my thoughts are with you" is as non helpful as "I will pray for you" - both are little white lies and maybe the person just need an attaboy, hang in there mate.

 

Really not a good time to say, "life's a bitch and then you die". As has been said, shit tends to work itself in the end.

 

I actually kind of disagree. Often when people are sharing their problems, they're just looking to vent, for some validation, for a shoulder to cry on, for someone to just listen to them. Saying "I'll be thinking of you" is an honest expression of empathy and let's someone know they're not alone, that you care, and that they can probably give you a call and vent if they need to.

 

Offering to pray, however, is a pretend solution, an assertion that you basically have magical powers to affect the outcome of a situation in a supernatural manner. It's a lie. That is certainly a lot less helpful

[Akheia]

Offering to pray is also a cop-out. It always felt to me like this clip:

 

 

"I wish I could do something, except I don't really want to actually DO anything, so I'll act like I'm going to do something, you'll act like the offer means something, and everybody will be happy."

 

Also, I can tell you from personal experience that when I told someone I would pray for them, I inevitably forgot to do it. Eventually I just stopped saying it because I didn't like being deceptive. And I know my Evil Ex sure as fuck wasn't praying for anybody even though he constantly told people he would. Our church thought he was this massive Prayer Warrior for Jesus, which I'm capitalizing because he literally started a student group on our college campus, named it thus, and called himself by this title. Meanwhile, I just had to laugh because I knew he never prayed at home. I mean EVER. Unless it was in the potty, anyway. (Did anybody else think that praying on the toilet was massively disrespectful?)

[LivingLife]

This kind of potty prayer?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmABw1iz0JM