Prayer is not a selfless act.

[GRA]

According to these thoughts it is.

Praying is not a selfless act.

Why?

It does nothing for the thing you are actually praying for, it’s only makes the person praying feel better by relieving there conscious or easing their mind because they believe they are doing something that makes a difference. It a lot of causes it’s very selfish.

What about the intentions of the person who prays?

It doesn’t matter what there intentions are with prayer, but it’s factual to say it effects the person praying, and there is zero evidence that it effects anything else, and logically it shouldn’t, so yes it’s safe to say it’s not at all a selfless act but the contrary a selfish act. There has been many studies done and none have concluded otherwise. A rational person must come to this end.

[Echo]

Let me guess, is this from some atheist/anti-theist website? I remember seeing a YouTube video response years ago where the person responding showed clips of an young atheist saying someone who says they're a faithful person should be ashamed or something like that.

It's always something nasty or mean-spirited coming from these kinds of sites. Ironic, they are more obsessed with God and religion than they theists that they criticize.

[XavierSem]

Yes, it's complete atheistic and godless rubbish. Prayer is the most selfless act, the means by which we can benefit the Souls in Purgatory, Souls near death, and countless souls everywhere. Both prayer and action are necessary, but contra secularists, prayer is what brings grace. Our Lord Jesus, His Mother Mary and His Saints have shown us the importance and power of prayer and their lives too are witnesses of it.

[Augustinian]

It does nothing for the thing you are actually praying for, it’s only makes the person praying feel better by relieving there conscious or easing their mind because they believe they are doing something that makes a difference. It a lot of causes it’s very selfish.

There aren't words.

[BC]

What that critic is missing, is that prayer is not always about petitioning for some kind of result, but also as an act of adoration when it is directed towards God for His own sake.

So, that could not be described as selfish, as we are giving God what is his due.

[GangGreen]

Also the idea that you can measure whether prayer has an impact on anyone is nonsense. You can't say "well I had 5 people praying for you every day and nothing out of the ordinary happened in your life, therefore prayer doesn't work." This is a wrong way of understanding prayer. It could be that God did not grant the prayer request especially due to a defect for whatever reason. It could be that the prayer request will be answered at some other time in the future. It could be that God answers the prayer in some other way. It could be that the person was meant to get hit by a bus and due to those prayers they were not. It could be that the person got hit by that bus, but due to those prayers God gave the person the grace to pray a perfect act of contrition and be saved, when the otherwise they would have been damned. So many possibilities.

[Augustinian]

Also the idea that you can measure whether prayer has an impact on anyone is nonsense.

"If it isn't quantifiable, it can't real" - the typical response of the materialist

[BobCatholic]

So someone who believes that selfishness is good cannot understand an unselfish act. What's new about that? :)

[Nissa]

I'm impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a Forum that's both educational and interesting and thank you so much for sharing these amazing comments here in fisheaters everyone.