"Do Not Pray For Me"

Why do some people who are supposedly atheists or anti-theists say, "Do not pray for me"?

Well, I used to be an atheist. When I was an atheist, I did not believe in God. Consequently, I did not believe in the effectiveness of prayers. I did not believe that God answers prayers and so I did not believe that prayers can change anything. If someone said that he or she was praying or going to pray for me, I would not care about it because I "knew" that it would change anything.

Then, why do some atheists say, "Do not pray for me" if they supposedly do not believe in God and God's answers to prayers? Well, I think it is because they actually admit that prayers can have some effect and they fear this effect due to some reasons. It may be a kind of irrational fear actually. They may say, "There is no God and so God does not answer prayers." However, there is something inside of them that tells them, "No. God does answers prayers." Since they outwardly deny God, they know that they are wrong with God. This is why they fear Him and fear His answers to prayers.

How to get rid of this fear? "20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:20-21, NIV). The way to get rid of the fear of God and of prayers is to be reconciled to God.

I have been reconciled to God and I have no fears of prayers of other people for me, whatever their prayers may be. Even if somebody is going to curse me in prayers and ask God to do something bad to me, I do not fear it because I know that God will answer only those prayers that are according to His desire. And, of course, if people pray for me in a positive way, I do appreciate it.