Prayer religion and self help literature

Is praying the ultimate form of self help? Did we even need self help or therapy in the past?

Is praying a form of self help?

I think you could say it could be, people were way more likely to die and so appealing to God might have been a lot more common. I think you could say this is true since so much of praying and believing is tied up with death and passing on. For example the crucifixion of Jesus is essential to Christianity and a huge essential part of 16th century literature. Without the passion and death of Jesus you cant have Christianity.

There is literature about making yourself more appealing, more influental and charming such as the book of the courtier by Castiglione in the Renaissance Era.

There is books about widsom such as Rouchefoucauld or Montaigne.

The Question is who can mimic the strangely personal and spiritual yet mundane diction of a self help book? In self help there is no passion, no dying. Just physical and mental exercises. There are things like becoming more charming and more wise but the religiosity is left out. Self help is mostly replaced by ideas such as becoming a better you or some other type of self improvement adage.

I can find none of the plain spoken verbage that would mimic the style of self help. The closest would be something like Rouchefoucald but Rouchefoucald gives advice and is candid not knowing all the answers. self help books ask us to undergo psychic review. A review that can feel akin to brainwashing and condescension.

Will Self help be around in the future?

Probably, people need to translate things through a spiritual plane. Something is needed that makes them happy and heals the spirit. Most likely it will morph slowly and imperceptibly until noone remember the old style of self help and the new one will take its place.

After reading enough self help my overall sense is, it’s mesmerizing to begin with but ends being boring, hollow and trite. Some books you can read them again and again and they become better. Self help books become more meaningless the more you read them.