Reply #9: Even if God is real, the problem with prayer

[Speck Tater]

is that the same people that pray, claim that God knows everything, is all powerful, knows everything that will happen in the future, and has an ultimate plan for the unfolding of all creation.

That being the case, how can they expect to say a few words and expect God to change His mind, alter His grand plan, and change the whole future? If God knows everything, He knows what you want before you even start to pray, and what you want has already been factored into the grand plan. Telling God something he already knows cannot possibly cause Him to change a plan that is based on what He already knows. You simply can't tell God what to do; His mind is already made up, and was made up a thousand billion years ago when the plan was put into action.

I much prefer the point of view that says we choose the circumstances of our current incarnation in order to learn things we would like to learn. Sometimes life can be damn difficult. Sometimes an advanced calculus course can be damn difficult. But if we want to earn that engineering degree we knowingly sign up for that damn difficult course because we know the course will provide us with much needed knowledge in the long run. Likewise, when we chose this incarnation, with all its difficulties, we knowingly signed up for a life whose difficulties will provide us with the experience, knowledge and wisdom we know will stand us in good stead in future incarnations, and in whatever comes after we've graduated once and for all from the round of earthly incarnations.