I just had my 29th birthday and this is the first birthday where I decided to pray because since 2017 I have hardly prayed at all. For me, praying is a stupid activity. Praying is debilitating. Praying has no function. Since long ago, life has been accompanied by prayer, but it still feels like this . Was his prayer heard? Do we have to pray? If prayer really has the power to change, why are so many people still poor, still suffering, and still praying, perhaps even until they die? Thoughts like that always pop up in my mind after I study science about the universal law of cause and effect. Because I live in a very religious environment, I never told this story to anyone in my circle because I doubted that prayer would be considered heretical and perhaps it was . But I'm sure this isn't a fallacy. This thought is just my attempt to reach an understanding that is more than just believing. I think that's not without reason. In philosophy there is the principle of causality which states that every event or effect must have a cause. Meanwhile, Sence also operationalized the principle as a framework for explaining and predicting phenomena. And the result is that we find that every effect must have a cause, so what is the use of praying? Now try to imagine it like this. Someone drowned in a very fast river. Instead of swimming, he positioned his hands. H he prayed, "Lord, O Allah, help me, O Allah." In fact, water doesn't care, gravity still works according to its rules. And Newton's laws cannot be negotiated with prayer, even with tears. And that is a fact. But, Bro, religion teaches that prayer will be in vain without effort. Yes, the point is effort, right? So, effort alone is actually enough, right? There's no need for prayers. There are also many people who are not religious, don't pray, but are just successful. Then people who are not Muslim are also successful. Could it be that God is different? Then their God is better than the God of Islam. That was my thought in the past, and I myself was honestly afraid of having such thoughts. Finally, because I was afraid, I studied it again, trying to find what I didn't understand. But the more I searched, the more I thought that prayer was really useless. The problem is that praying too much makes me a person who is quite behind the times, quite strange, and quite lazy. Not just me, but if we admit it, maybe all of us. Do you realize that prayer has the effect of a really stupid spiritual narcotic? Can you imagine something like this? Most people are more diligent in asking for their fortune to flow than learning financial management. Many people are more devout and hamit. Homat Hamit asks for safety rather than wearing a helmet and obeying traffic rules. Not only that, we also often think like this. For example, we have a desire and fail. It's not that I think I failed because I was lazy, because I was afraid, because I did n't try hard enough, but many people prefer to say things like this. Maybe God has n't allowed it yet. And that sentence seems to give a sense of peace. And because of the habit of associating everything with God from childhood , when we experience failure, we don't realize that we have become such weak human beings . The work is just a little effort, after that, oh God, I have tried, I have made an effort. Make all the paths smooth for me to achieve my goals, O Allah. Because of our prayers, we often forget that God created this world and the laws that apply to it, namely the law of cause and effect. But what happens now? Not necessarily us, but just me. If I fail, I say, "Well, maybe it's not the way. Maybe God has a better plan . Maybe God hasn't allowed it yet. Maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe everything maybe maybe continues until I don't realize that I've become a person with minimal effort but too much prayer. Stupid, right? So is prayer really that important? Can prayer work? Now let's talk honestly without having to act holy. The fact is, this universe is not built on a pile of mantras or prayers, but on the law of cause and effect. Period. You can mumble until your mouth foams, but the law of gravity will never be willing to negotiate with your piety. If you drop a glass on the floor, it will break. It's impossible for the glass to suddenly float because you are an expert in prayer or diligent in worship or an expert in worship. Why? Because this universe obeys the laws of physics, not prayer. So what is clear is that every movement will have an impact and that validates the sentence whoever tries will get the result. but it doesn't validate the sentence. Whoever prays will succeed. There is no such thing. A simple example, if we throw a stone, the stone will be thrown. And in fact, the stone does not can be thrown away with prayer. Even according to Richard Dkin, an evolutionary biologist known for his harsh criticism of religion, he said, "Prayer is a form of empty hope. If you pray for rain, it won't cause the clouds to gather. Even if it rains, it's just a statistical coincidence." Now let's create a scenario. Imagine this. 1 million of the holiest people in Indonesia gather at Monas. They prostrate themselves until their foreheads turn black. Wailing for prayers. Oh God, please make this Monas into three. Oh God, show your greatness, Oh God. Blah blah blah blah . What happens? Zero, nothing. God won't answer. The sky remains silent and Monas remains standing tall and proud alone. God will not destroy the laws of physics that He created just to prove Himself to a group of humans. Even though it's holy, let's now change the scenario to effort and prayer. Suppose those million people start collecting money, hiring an architect, and praying for the project to go smoothly. The result, y, Monas can become three. But is it because of their prayers or because of the architect and their efforts? The efforts are certainly not important, right? But if we use the next scenario, there's no need to pray and it's just pure effort. The million people who stepped aside earlier, the groups of The architects are united. The 3 Monas project is a state project where, let's say, there's no need for prayer at all. Even the money used to build the three Monas is the proceeds of corruption. Or perhaps the architects aren't Muslim but rather atheists. With the law of cause and effect, logically, the three Monas will still be realized. Cement doesn't need heaven's blessing to harden. So why pray? Isn't prayer just delaying, slowing down, weakening, and so on. But it's not that simple. That was just my thinking in the past. The thinking of a beginner who's just learning logic and thinks he can overthrow God's throne. I used to think I was smart just because I knew that a stone can't be thrown with prayer alone. But I finally realized that if I stopped there, at that thought, I'd be nothing more than a quick atheist who thinks he's the most rational. But I was just too lazy to dig deeper. And now my thinking is different. That's why I said earlier that this is the first anniversary of my decision to pray. Because I don't want to be someone who finds a little insight, immediately agrees, and immediately feels right. In the end, I forced myself to do it. I'm learning again. It's impossible for prayer to be useless. Maybe I just haven't found the rationale. Furthermore, Allah also writes in the Quran repeatedly, perhaps hundreds of times, in different verses to pray to God. If so, there must be an essence to prayer that I haven't yet understood. And this is the journey of deep thoughts from my journey. After searching, it turns out I found an answer that goes back to the law of cause and effect. All causes will have consequences. Including the consequences of praying and the consequences of not praying. The research I've gathered scientifically shows that prayer is not a tool to change the laws of nature, but a tool to change humans. And it is from this change in self that ultimately changes destiny. The science is like this: Prayer changes the brain, the brain changes decisions, decisions will change life. In the neurosyns I've read, there's one thing that can't be denied: mindset will change choices, choices will change actions, actions will change the outcome of life. It's a logical chain that no atheist logic can deny. Prayer restructures the brain. The brain revises decisions, decisions change reality. When someone prays with... Seriously, what's happening? Activity in the head called the amygdala, such as fear, anxiety, and panic, decreases, and motivation increases . Negative impulses decrease, and courage increases. Scientifically, this is called the neuroplasticity effect. So, it's true that prayer won't move the universe, but prayer will move our minds, and our minds will move our world. And what's really important is that prayer must be done in a healthy way. Simply put, if we pray in a healthy way, it will definitely give rise to greater perseverance, greater patience, and much more stable emotions. There's definitely research on that, and I'll explain it later. All of that is the main fuel for our efforts. But unhealthy prayer is like people who always say things like this. Their habit is to make a little effort and then give up, saying maybe God hasn't allowed it yet. That's not a prayer defect, but a mental defect. There's a sharp difference between healthy prayer and foolish prayer. Healthy prayer becomes fuel. It enters our nervous system to create more crazier perseverance, more ironic patience, and more stable emotions. A person with healthy prayer will get up seven times if he falls. Maybe because they feel they have a reserve of energy or that someone is protecting them. But on the other hand, unhealthy prayer is just an escape. An escape. So it's like you're actually using prayer as a drug to avoid the pain of self-evaluation and the pain of realizing that you're really this stubborn. Weak people call it sincerity, strong people call it a mental defect. Prayer is like a sword. In the hands of a knight, it cuts through rings. In the hands of a coward, it's only used to threaten God to give instant results. Furthermore, prayer is n't asking for a miracle, but prayer is tidying up the heart. This is a point that people rarely fail to realize. Philosophically, prayer is a process of tidying up the mind. Prayer sentences like "make it easy," " strengthen me," "give me guidance," " open my heart." These are actually self-suggestions that build a new mentality. That's why people who pray diligently become emotionally stronger. People who never pray often become dry, easily broken, and easily shout. If we go back to the beginning, prayer can't change the law of gravity. Prayer can't turn Monas into three. Prayer doesn't make someone Suddenly rich. But prayer can change the way we think. It helps us bounce back after failure because we have time to surrender. It provides calm when panic sets our hearts on course and reduces stress. And people who aren't stressed have clear minds, stable emotions, strong wills, and are more logically able to navigate life's challenges. It's important to understand. Let's talk data. There's a study by Andrew Newberg, director of research at the Marcus Institute. His research examined the brains of people who engaged in spiritual practices, such as prayer, compared to those who didn't. The results showed that people who were indifferent to prayer practices and other practices had a more passive frontal loop, or the logical and emotional control center, and a more hyperactive amygdala. What does this mean? Without prayer, we are all slaves to our own stress hormones. We may have high IQs, but our inner selves will be dry. We will easily break down when expectations don't meet reality. We are prone to outbursts, depression, and emptiness. Why? Because we lack a mechanism to reduce fatigue in life. The philosophical logic is this: prayer is like grounding, like an electric current, or in psychology, what's called a locus of control. People without prayer tend to be trapped in a toxic internal locus , feeling that everything... The weight of the world rests on their own shoulders. When they fail, they end up with no anchor to lean on. They have no place to put their pain. And that's just one study, and there are certainly many others that I couldn't possibly show in one video. Essentially, at that point, I started thinking about this life, this life often faces failure, loss of direction, and often we don't know what else to do. Basically, it's very stressful, and clearly, without relying on or praying, we can become stressed, we can go crazy, we can die. And this is where God is great and amazing. God knows, knows, knows, knows that humans are biologically weak and mentally fragile. Humans are not designed to carry the burden of the universe alone. That's why He says hundreds of times in different verses , pray. It's not a selfish command from God to be worshipped, but because God knows and clearly knows, we are the ones who need it. Basically, humans do need prayer, need respite, need protection. William James, an American philosopher and psychologist, is known as the father of American psychology and a pioneer of the philosophy of pragmatism. He said that prayer cannot change God, but prayer can heal the soul. almost broke. Prayer can't stop cancer, can't stop war, can't stop people from being laid off. Prayer will stop us from committing suicide when the world feels unfair. So, for those of you who may not be aware of religion but don't pray enough, start praying in a healthy way. And it's important for me to convey this, to convey my journey without any intention of doing anything else, but I want my wrong journey not to be repeated to all of you. And the last news is that this content might be the last content I make on the Cibu 1618 channel. Yes, this might be the last. I actually really like making content like this. Moreover, there are probably more than 20 DMs that come in asking questions and sharing stories. I feel like I have an interaction with them. And I actually want to continue this channel because I love thinking. But honestly, I have a wife and children who really need money. So I will change my focus back to work and film content that was previously on another channel so that my family's life is not too messy or shaken. Because this busy content can be said to be a failure and doesn't produce anything at all. Maybe also those who watch this At most 10 or 20 people. But hopefully, if this thought is true for you, it can be shared. Whatever it is. Thank you for everything. Don't forget to pray, bang your head on the ground if necessary, and see you at an unspecified time. And hopefully we'll meet again, whether in this content or in another. The point is, I'm not quitting, but I'm being patient and looking for a stepping stone to life. To live. Bye bye.