praying- Love of GOD Vs fear of GOD

I was inspired to post this after i've been seeing some strange and rude posts of late. I want to ask you should you pray to GOD out of love of GOD or should you pray to GOD out of fear of GOD???????

If you pray to GOD out of fear ,can you be true while praying?????Can you mean your prayer from your heart?????? Can you feel the love or will fear consume you that you don't feel the love of GOD???

You are praying because you feel GOD will someday distort your face and make you look horrid or because he will boil you in hot oil, or some other very frightfull tortorus methods!!

My question to those who spread fear of GOD , IS GOD really this mean, vengefull entity that you could offend by not praying or following things listed by man that will bring you closer to GOD?????
OR is this GOD a benevolent , loving kind , forgiving entity who like your father or mother will love you no matter what. All you need to do is open your heart.

I thought of this post as some members are spreading fear of GOD all around and i wanted to post this debate.

Excellent Topic Aparna Di 😛

I thankfully, come from a family which has never forced me to pray. My parents have always told me,and reminded me from time to time, whats right and whats wrong, and then left the decision to me. I never prayed because i was told to do so. I did so because i saw both my parents praying 5 times a day,they were always this good example sort of thing for me.

Religion,Sprituality,i think cmoes from within.You should not do things just for the heck of it, but because u realize and understand the importance of those things.

Which is wht, i think we should pray because of the love of God. I agree with this statement completely;

[quote=Aparna_BD]OR is this GOD a benevolent , loving kind , forgiving entity who like your father or mother will love you no matter what. All you need to do is open your heart.[/quote]

-Eisha

Aparna wrote-
My question to those who spread fear of GOD , IS GOD really this mean, vengefull entity that you could offend by not praying or following things listed by man that will bring you closer to GOD?????
OR is this GOD a benevolent , loving kind , forgiving entity who like your father or mother will love you no matter what. All you need to do is open your heart.

-----
I personally don't know how to pray God our of fear. But can God be that mean? Well this can be answered by someone who really have lots of complain in their lives. I think sometimes..yes! God/nature/fate/whatever you tell can give you hard situations in life that makes you hate God (as you don't know who else could be responsible for it). Like when life is going just fine, someone gets raped, sometime like in tsunami child is left all alone and his whole family is destroyed....if we are one of those people I don't think I could still worship God to be frank.

Today I worship God to Thank him for such blessed life. I really appreciate him and he is the person I worship for every thing in my life.

Now Praying God out of "fear" is something I can never digest. I mean why would someone want to worship for "fear". God is there or not we don't know. God is overall "good" figure that we are tought don't expect anything from you. Now, unless you are taught and believe that God is someone who can take actions against you once you are dead or whatever you fear and try to worship him/her. It's just like you do what your "boss" at work tell you to do 'coz you are scared of getting fired. To be frank, no one knows the truth. There could be God who would punish us if we don't pray him like many people believe 😕 there could be God like I believe who don't get upset with people instead try to be with them when they need them. He is soul power who help those who help themselves.

So basically, it does boil down to your "belief" what deep down your soul believe.

Great topic!
I think it depends on the person.
One can't force another to pray out of love or fear. Many are motivated out of fear- take a look at Johnathon
Edwards fire and brimstone sermons in Colonial America. He told the people that God was going to hang them over a flame like a spider if they were not fervent in prayer and faith.
Others find God to be a form of solace, a place to find comfort.
I think a third option should be for those who only pray out of want.
To me, the greatest prayers are those done out of love and thankfulness. Thankfulness for every good moment lived and everyday that passes without sadness. Thankfulness for anything and everything. That is love to God.
What is the worth of a prayer said in fear? It shows that one does not care for God, but is only scared and so prays in order to avoid punishment.
I think though, that we all pray for these 3 reasons unconsciously at one point or many points in our life.

good topic i think da perosn should pray out of love for god becuase praying out of fear is not really prayin becuase a real prayer is one that comes from the heart not the brain

I don't think anyone should pray to God out of fear.

Me personally the main thing I do when I pray to God is to thank him for what I have. I don't think God can be as horrible as some show Him to be. No matter how many horrible things happen, I think I would still pray to God because He is the one who gave you this life.

and even though bad things happen in our live we have to remember that it could be worse, so when I pray I always remember to thank God for giving me whatever I have in life. I think that's what makes me love God and not fear Him, the fact that he gave me this life, and everyday I live is because of Him.

When you pray out of fear I don't think you can really mean it, you are just doing it for the sake of it and it means nothing.

hmm..very interesting topic..
i'll cum bak 2 this post but all i can say 4 now is that if ur praying die 2 fear then u can't love God truely 4rm the bottom 4rm ur heart..it's kind of like your being forced to pray 😕
Loving God without free mindedly and loving God due to pressure are two totally seperate things..but God knows the difference b/w true prayer and prayer that doesn't come from your heart 😳
but no matter what..God will always love you..no matter what kind of person you are..to tell you the truth..even if you are a murderer..i'm sure that somewhere or another God will have love for you in his heart..God's love is unpredictable 😛
The reason i pray to God is because i believe there is someone up there..someone who watches each and every step you make, is with you and each important decision of your life, they created you, not because i'm scared and i fear God..well on the other side..it's a MUST..we have to fear God, my mum says that these natural disasters happen because of God, all the evil in this world, in a way i agree with her..because the world has changed and developed soo much, maybe for the worse, or maybe for the better 😕
Now here is something for which i'm not so sure on..if you don't believe in God then will you go to hell? This is what christians believe and i think it says it in the bible too..so even in hinduism or muslim people..is there a punishment in their religion for people who do not worship God? I'm not sure about hinduism..can someone confirm what it says in the Sanscrit please? 😳
In the end, no one can force you to believe in God, it should come from yourself, the trust and faith that God does exist and he's always there..

i cant seem to put my answer into words at the moment so will come back later. but it really depends on what kind of person you are.

i pray out of love for Allah, but the acts that you describe that can happen are not an act of evil (this is my belief) I believe they are a test for us, as is this life, to see how we respond.

it depends on which religion you follow to be honest. sorry about my vague reply (its 3:34am!) i'll be back though 😊

an amzing topic!
im soo confused about what to say actually,both my parents have different views about it and in the bargain im thorougly confused,
i just finished my exams recently and for me to do well,my mother "gave up" a lot of things she liked for sometime,like for instance she prayed to god that i shd do well and in return for that she wont eat her favourite things and stuff like that,so that god would be moved by her sacrifice,on the other hand my dad doesnt believe in giving up but rather just being pure at heart and thanking god for everything without asking for anything and leaving everything to him,bcoz he says after all he knows what is best...i kinda tend to believe wat my dad says and i dont do half of the things mum does,(in fact i must say im really selfish i tend to pray to ask 4 something but yes,i do thank god also),and sometimes when i have done sum mistake,like lied or used foul language i get scared and immediately go and apologise to god...yes in that case i do fear god but otherwise i dont consider god as someone fearful ready to punish always..most of the time i consider god a friend and talk to him like anyone else.. 😊

God never punishs u for something which u have done and which iz not wrong - We all shud have fear of God so that we can obey him well- But while praying we shud have fear and love both in our hearts- and i pray to God juz like thiz- with 50% fear and 50% Love