How Do You Pray?
When do you pray and Why? To whom do you pray? What are your favorite prayers? Where do you pray? Have you thought about attending religious services of other faiths?
9 Responses to “How Do You Pray?”
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October 11th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I don’t pray but I have attended religious services of different christian faiths as well as those of the jewish faith. I find them interesting and actually very similar in their attempts at drawing people together and in the ways that they do this. For me, the sense of community is the best thing about the services.
October 12th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I prefer mantras over prayer. Here are my two favorites:
1. Breath in faith, breath out fear
2. Don’t panic, remain calm, you will have all the love and support you need
The reason I call these mantras is I repeat them to myself as many times as I can everyday.
October 12th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
I pray anytime. I pray to the collective energies of the universe, to my spirit guides, to my family and friends on the other side, to god. My most prayed prayer is to surround my kids and me with the white light of the holy spirit and to protect us from evil and all harm and to put a white light of protection around us to keep out all the bad and keep in all the good. I am not interested in attending services. i feel religion is different from spirituallity in that religion is a means to control the masses and spirituality is ones faith and belief in the collective energies of the universe, of god, of all that has been and all that will always be…
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:12 am
My favorite prayer remains The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, … ). Through the tumultuous spiritual changes I’ve been through, that prayer has always provided comfort and closeness to God.
October 29th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Yes I have attended meetings of various faiths. Yes I pray regularly. Sometimes those prayers are made while I am on my knees, literally, but most often they are uttered to my Heavenly Father whenever my soul yearns to communicate with Him; it could be in the shower or in the car or when I am out for a walk. I try always to let Him know of my gratefulness for the MANY blessings in my daily life and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit so I can be sensitive to the needs of those around me and therefore be His tool in helping all of God’s children. I ask for knowledge to be a better mother, grandmother, friend and spouse. I ask for an understanding of the scriptures as I study them daily. I feel God’s love for me when I pray and when I see and feel answers to those prayers.
December 1st, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Prayer is such a personal thing!
My doctor, after doing my physical exam before going on a mission to Africa, asked me, “How many times a day do you pray?”
“Once, ” I quickly replied, “I start when I wake up in the morning and pray until i got to sleep at night.”
“What?” he quickly responded.
“My day is spent praising the Lord for the beauty around me, thanking Him for all the blessings of living in this beautiful country America and all the other blessings He sends my way. I pray for others…as I drive in my car, walk down the street, visit friends in need.” I responded.
“I pray sitting, prone on the floor, walking and marching around, quietly, out loud, in church, at home, at work, even in the doctor’s office!’ I continued.
I have prayed to the Lord in synagogues, outside mosques, in juju priests homes, so many places. Did God hear my prayers….of course. He cares about my heart condition not about where I pray or my anatomical position. He is bigger than that.
I pray in in my tongue, English, and in my prayer language which is from my heart to God’s ear…not for others to hear.
Prayer is a “heart” condition, from a heart in love with the Lord.
December 20th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
The very act of reading these entries seems like a form of prayer! Thank you all so very much for sharing. I feel like printing out these pages and carrying them ar9und with me all day…to the supermarket, my yoga class, in trains, planes and automobiles, and certainly to doctors’ offices! Please keep sharing - I am making up for lost time! As I wrote in the book, I never talked about God or prayer with anyone before I met Ranya and Suzanne. Now I am inspired by you and everyday life experiences to think of many new, creative ways to pray and express gratefulness, humility and love.
Priscilla
December 25th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
I pray by myself and in the synagogue. I pray scripted prayers in Hebrew and in English and in English spontaneously from the heart. I pray lying down, standing, and sitting.
There is one common prayer near the close of Yom Kippur services that some Jews in some congregations prostrate themselves on the floor to pray. (I know prostration is a common posture among Muslims). I’ve never attempted this but someday I will try it just for the experience and the experiment of it.
Do I ever have the sense that someone is listening to my prayer? Rarely. But I pray anyway.
Incidentally, I think it one of the geniuses of Hebrew that the word ‘avodah’ means both ‘work’ and ‘worship.’ In other words, work is a form of worship, worship is a form of work.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:32 am
I pray all throughout the day. When i wake up, with my mom on the way to school, when we begin each class we open with prayer, before each meal, we start off volleyball practice in prayer, when I am walking around or exercising… I just love to just be in conversation with God. Whenever I see something beautiful, as simple as it may be, I thank God for everything he has made and everything he has blessed me with. I always thank Him for my health and I also pray for my friends and family’s health and safety. And everyday, as cheesy as it may seem, I pray for my future husband, that he is safe and on the right track with God. I pray anywhere and everywhere but when I am home I always make sure to go to my quiet place to be with God. Which is my sacred and holy place with no distractions, just a one on one with God. No, I do not have any favorite prayers, but i love to ask Him questions. Yes, I have thought about attending religious services of other faiths, especially since starting this book I have been very intrigued and eager to learn more and more about other faiths.