I am not a very religious person but I pray alot. It will not change my destiny, but I only pray for strength to get through each day and be the best I can be, seems to work

To me, it is not that our life is "pre destined to our fate", its that God has us in His book of life, and in that, we know to follow His comandments, and do His will. Prayer is our way of humbling our selfs and showing Him by mouth that we realize that we are all sinners and need his guidence to live the most God like life that we can. With that, knowing we have Him on our side, it makes your every day life go by easier and more smoothly.

If our destiny was predetermined wouldn't that sort of conflict with the idea of free will? http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2005/1/15/article_02.htm

If you spend your time before the altar, praying, there is no chance you'll get hit by a car out there in the street in the meantime.

It's a placebo effect. It is ironic that people who believe in praying for Divine Providence also tend to believe in Destiny; they either don't know, or just ignore, the fact that those things are obviously incompatible. But at least they'll "feel" better, knowing that they "tried". http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/753496.html

The gods are funny and love to have their ass kissed by all the beginning their sheep bestow upon them

No. When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. (Sirach 15:14) God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him." In other words, God has set down a law of love and He (or She) has been written this law onto our hearts. We have been given free will and responsibility. We can choose to follow the law of love, be happy, and be with God forever. Or we can choose to break the law of love, be miserable, and be separated from God forever. God will respect our free will choice. + Prayer + Prayer is the elevation of the mind and heart to God: + In praise of his glory + In petition for some desired good + In thanksgiving for a good received + In intercession for others before God Through prayer the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church. "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." (St. Thérèse of Lisieux) "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." (St. John Damascene) But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1) He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, part four: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt4sect1.shtml Some basic Catholic prayers can be found at: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm http://www.churchyear.net/basicprayers.html Daily prayer site: http://www.sacredspace.ie/ With love in Christ.