In order to even consider what God is, we must limit Him severely. For instance, I just said "Him," when it's definitely not a male anything, not a person, not a being, but something beyond our comprehension.... I think all religions are our way of trying to touch and connect with something way beyond "our philosophies," as Shakespeare put it.

Every religion is wrong, because every religion puts God in a box of some sort. Every religion is wrong because people must act out the will of God, and none of us can possibly comprehend it. I think, to bring up a word that we don't seem to have any use for, anyone who says they know what the will of God is, is blaspheming. They are saying that they understand the Unknowable, that they totally get the Thoughts of the Omnipotent, the Omnipresent, the Omniscious. That's a bit of a stretch for any actual human!

Every religion is right, because every religion seeks to connect with that huge something that can and does make us better in ourselves and in our relationships with all humanity. Every religion is right because it creates a framework for people of particular leanings to pursue this thing bigger than themselves...and the different frameworks are needed because people can't always get there the same way. Anyone who SEEKS to know the will of God will be open to seeing and doing the thing that is best for everyone in a situation, not just for the moment or just for themselves.

If Sarah Palin prayed to win and did not include the disclaimer "Thy Will be done, Oh Lord," then her spiritual understanding hasn't developed enough for her to understand that what we want is not always the best thing. To pray for one's desires alone is terribly immature. And you might actually get what you ask for, but you won't even understand that you're getting it ad you might hate it.

For instance, if you pray for patience, you will get it. But you'll get it by running into one thing after another where you have no patience by you get a chance to exercise and develop your patience. This is not the thing we would choose: we'd choose to magically become patient. But since patience can only be developed, our prayer for patience is answered by opportunities to practice.

Just as an experiment to see if prayer works, try the essence of prayer, which does not even need a religion, just needs constant attention and focus. Write on a card "I want patience." Look at that card, and pull it out and read it aloud once every two hours during your work day. In no time, your prayer will be answered: crap will come at you that gives you the opportunity to develop your patience muscles. Try that for two weeks. I think you'll see that the essence of prayer actually works.