prayers

When I was a little kid ithought that when you prayed you prayers went into a bubble and floated into heaven then when god wanted to hear them he would pop them. I was so afraid of sendim=ng him to many that he would be mad! So i only prayed a couple times a day until i was like 9!

Alyssa

During Mass in the Catholic church the priest would offer up prayers which we would respond, "Thanks be to God". I used to think that the response was "Thanks pretty God". It made sense to me. Why wouldn't we compliment God?

Natasha H

Upp untill I was about 7 every time I went to church I would say "almond" instead of amen because I thought that was what everyone was saying. One day my mum had some almonds and she asked me if I wanted one and I started crying because I thought she meant we had to go to church (I didnt like it)

L.W.

i used to believe that i was the anti-christ, i justified my belief under the idea that god created me for a purpose, so i cant be the bad guy.

Anon

In the church response, instead of "Thanks be to God," I thought it was "Thanks speedy God" because church goers were thanking Him for the reading being over quickly.

Erica

I used to believe that if I didn't pray to God every night, and specifically ask that the house not get burned down, that it would catch fire in the night.

Pixelfish

i used to believe that God was going to make me marry someone at school that i really didnt like and so u used to pray every time i decided i didnt like a boy "please dont make me fall in love with, or marry so-in-so when i grow up..nuts!

andrea

"Our father, who AREN'T in heaven."

Dead people went to heaven, but I figured maybe God lived some place even higher. But I still didn't understand the bad grammar.

Anon

at the end of a prayer in school assemblies i thought you had to say amen really loudly otherwise you would get in trouble with the teacher. We all used to sit on the floor in assemblies and i thought you had to bend over as much as possible (so your head was really near your feet) otherwise the teachers thought you weren't praying

bend and break

My parents each had funny misconceptions about certain prayers:

My father was confused by the line "Our Father who art in Heaven". He thought it meant "... who *makes* art in Heaven". He would envision God up there, painting a picture at an easel.

My (Catholic) mother thought the line about how Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate" was "suffered under a bunch of violets".

Katherine

I am now an old lady. My Mother or Father always said Grace at the dinner table. When I was a small child, my dad would always include in his prayer "Bless this food for its intended use" I always thought he was saying "Bless this food fritz and tenda juice" for the life of me I could not figure out what he was saying and wondered what he was talking about.
Altho I am old I think of this at least once a week, if not more.
It did take me a long time to figure out just what he meant. I now tell my grandchildren about this.

Anon

As a child 40+ years ago, my family would drive many hours on the New York State Thruway to the MA Turnpike to visit my 'Bubbie' (grandmother). She was an Orthodox Jew. I really believed that prayers I said to G-d on the MA Turnpike somehow had more power than those I said at the Temple, my home or the New York State Thruway. I thought my communications with G-d were really and truely only 'heard' by Him when I saw the "Welcome to MA" sign during my family's travels to Bubbie's house.

Cheryl

i was only taught how to say Hail Mary in Chinese, but somehow during the meal, my family always say it in English. As a kid, I tried to catch up as much as I could, and for quite a long while, my English version of Hail Mary was: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blesssssssss..... fruitssss...Jesus....ssssss.....death. Amen

anon

There's a line in the lord's prayer about Jesus being "crucified under Pontius Pliate". In my 3-year-old mind, "Pilate" became "Pilot", so I always had this image of the Red Baron circling in his bi-plane over the site of the Passion.

It was not until 6th grade social studies that I learned the true spelling of "Pilate", and that "Pontious" is not an adjective.

Liz

The Lords Prayer goes.. "our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name"... but when we were little, me and my brother and sister all thought it went... "our father who art in heaven, HOWARD be thy name"...

laurie

As a little girl I was brought up quite religious even to the point that in the month of October we all had to say the rosary every night, no matter what, but one night I was just too tired so I tried to sneak into bed when my mum shouted (get out of bed this minute and say your prayers even a cow gets down on its knees before sleeping).

bernadette

We were praying for somebody close to us that was sick. My daughter (at the time 6yrs) proceeded with "Dear Lord, abra cadabra..." whereupon we collapsed into hysterics.

D

I dont remember ever praying much as a young child. The only time I tought I needed to pray was when I was sitting on the toilet and was afraid of falling in.

Anon

When my brother was little he used to pray this before going to bed;

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, wake up cereal.

Alouise

I used to think that the prayer went:
Godice great, godice good, let us thank him....

Could never figure out what a 'godice'was, knew what a goddess was, but this was different...

Gen