A Prayer for an Atheist

By Shana Ogren

I do not trust God.  It's like we are still getting to know each other—faith and reliance takes time.  

What is a prayer for an atheist?  A prayer for an atheist is like being grateful for something that ended horribly.  It's a strange oxymoron or contradiction.  How do you gratefully receive a beautiful tragedy?

Why do people pray?  Is prayer different from making a wish on your birthday while you blow out those candles on the cake? 

Prayer sometimes appears to work.  The reason why depends on your religious denomination.  Some people believe that prayers somehow communicates with a god and that if they spend enough time and spirit focusing on God and asking for God's help, they might receive it.  But do those who are atheist pray?

Sometimes I think I'm bad praying—asking for the wrong results, in the wrong way.  Are all prayers answered?  Or only the prayers that are asked correctly?  It seems that many people join different religions based on the idea that a certain form of prayer will work more successfully than other prayer forms.

What is a bad prayer?  So many religions seem to have a prayer process.  There is often a physical aspect to the process.   For some, prayer is a process that happens on your knees. For others, prayer is best communicated with eyes closed or hands held.  There is a speech process.  Some prayers are not said aloud, whereas others are loudly said in tongue.  There are names that seem significant, whether they are names for a god, saints, or of dead loved ones. 

What if I prayed for the devil?  Is it wrong to put prayer energy into helping those that harm me?

Maybe these are the best prayers—the ones that are hardest to make.  The ones that ask for hope or faith when the environment is built on doubt.
Everybody deserves prayer.  Even the sinners.  Perhaps mostly the sinners.  Aren't prayers for those who need them?

Ball Python image on banner by Richard Chambers