by Layla33 36 Replies latest jw friends
No, I haven't prayed since I left 10 years ago. I guess the part that stayed with me the most was that "My prayers would go no farther than the ceiling".
I want to, I feel a need to... just haven't got a clue anymore as to whom I would be speaking to.
It really wasn't the JW's or this board that has done my faith in.... it was and is, the "History Channel" and their segments on the Universe...!!! Awesome, to say the least.
Cas
No, I don't. I have a feeling of being a hypocrate if I do. My feelings are still out on the matter of there being a god anymore. I don't know if I even trust the bible for all the lies and misdirection that we have recieved forever. Do you follow my reasoning? Sorry.
NMG
Right after I left no. But then, little by little I started to listen to other Christian denominations, like Billy Graham, Paul Sheppard, Ed Young, etc. and I realized what it means to be a Christian.
Yes, I pray. It doesn't mean that all my prayers will be answered to my liking. Maybe the answear will be NO. But regardless, I like to tell Jehovah and Jesus, (yes, I also pray to Jesus), all the simple and reasonable things a mother, a woman in a stable and sound mind could hope for.
Not to any God or TM version of the same, so no Jehovah, no bible god, no allah. I don't call it prayer, but don't know what to call it. I 'pray' to the universe, my higher self, my subconscios, family and friends. Strangers too, like in traffic "Please don't hit me,". Maybe its just talking or communicating one way. I used to say "thankyou" to my dog or cats, kinda nutty but didn't hurt.
I do still pray - when I want too, which funnily enough is more now than when I was a witness, I don't pray at the usual times (before bed and meals - unless the people I"m with do it)
I pray to the One with whom I am one - so perhaps I am praying to myself in a way, my higher self.
As far as "formal" praying is concerned, only occasionally. But, as far as thinking of him, still being amazed daily at the complexity of creation, and wondering
where I fit in and where it is all going?......Yes, daily.
Bourne
Just like Bourne, occasionally. Nature, the stars and a good time, make me want to give thanks to the power above who actually attracts me, that being that cares about us and wants the best for us. Not the one that, no matter what you do, still tells you that is not enough, and that every day you have to strive for giving more and more. I feel I need that spiritual connection with a Higher Power, with God, Jehovah, however you want to call it, so in my transition from the Org., to the outside world I am still somewhat lost. Of course, JW's will say: "that is because you are not part of us anymore and you will always be lost". But I don't believe so, I am lost because I never felt that strong connection with God in the first place. Even when I was a Witness, I didn't pray every day. But I feel better now than I ever felt when I was a Witness. It scares me sometimes, because even though I don't agree with many things taught, I sometimes feel that I am doing the wrong thing by not attending, somehow I still think they are the religion chose by God. Don't chew me for that please, it's just how I feel.
I do not. If there's a God, I'm annoyed with him. Every once in a while I get really pissed and say 'sweet & sour baby Jesus'. That's as close to prayer as I get.
I can't separate 'need for spirituality' from being a Hoho with all its obsessive godliness and divine hatred for others.
Except for the 'sweet and sour' part, Pioneer Spit pretty much says it for me.
I do not pray. I am annoyed at God for letting me be in that mind-control cult for 20 years.
Anything spiritual seems to connect me to my JWism. Can't stand it.
My wife was asking me to pray over meals for some time, even occasionally still up to last month.
I would never say "Jehovah" in the prayer. I would include "encouraging us to search for the truth
no matter where it takes us" in various forms. For her sake, I would still end "in Jesus' name."
She stopped asking for my prayers, but never commented on them. They were not inappropriate,
but probably not what met her expectations.
