Prayer - What is it to you?

[Windwalker]

I'm interested in hearing and discussing the subject of prayer in our various spiritual practices. How do you understand it's purpose or function? How does it affect you? What value do you derive from it? What sort of prayers do you perform; petitionary, sending positive energy, etc?

 

[ratikala]

dear wind walker ,

I'm interested in hearing and discussing the subject of prayer in our various spiritual practices. How do you understand it's purpose or function? How does it affect you? What value do you derive from it? What sort of prayers do you perform; petitionary, sending positive energy, etc?

to me it is speaking with god sharing thoughts of happiness , it can be like singing for joy , or crying from the depths of the heart , it can be for myself , for another or to the lord himself .

it is also a glad accknowledgement of his pressence .

what do I derive from it ?...... great peace and certainty .
sending positivity ? .... requesting that he rain down blessings on all :namaste

 

[Jainarayan]

Sometimes I say formulaic prayers, that is, prayers from scriptures that are praise and asking for blessings. I think most of the time though I just think my thoughts and address them to God. Of course, he has to be allowed to answer, so you have to know when to shut up and let him talk.

 

[Windwalker]

Wow. Both these responses are beautiful. I agree for myself as well.

:namaste

 

[Harrytic]

Prayer can just be speaking your thoughts to God. It can also be making some kind of a request for him or thanking and praising him in some way.

I think there are things though that we must be weary of when praying.

1) That our requests are not selfish
2) That we are not using God as a cosmic errand boy.
3) We are not asking him to help us cheat at sports, examinations or other things that we should be achieving based on our efforts. Asking for help in these things would give us an unfair advantage over others, particularly when it comes to sports. I find it highly dubious when people thank God for helping them win at sports. They are pretty much admitting to cheating. If they were taking performance enhancing drugs, they would be disqualified, so the same should apply to those who claim to have gained supernatural power from God.
4) We are not asking him to violate another person’s freewill. This is huge and many many prayers are asking for such things. Eg to soften another person’s heart. Or to gain certain favours with people, such as getting a job or some kind of help. For instance asking God to help you obtain a job over other candidates would require God to violate the freewill of the employer by forcing him to choose you over another candidate.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Prayer can just be speaking your thoughts to God. It can also be making some kind of a request for him or thanking and praising him in some way.

I think there are things though that we must be weary of when praying.

1) That our requests are not selfish
2) That we are not using God as a cosmic errand boy.
3) We are not asking him to help us cheat at sports, examinations or other things that we should be achieving based on our efforts. Asking for help in these things would give us an unfair advantage over others, particularly when it comes to sports. I find it highly dubious when people thank God for helping them win at sports. They are pretty much admitting to cheating. If they were taking performance enhancing drugs, they would be disqualified, so the same should apply to those who claim to have gained supernatural power from God.
4) We are not asking him to violate another person’s freewill. This is huge and many many prayers are asking for such things. Eg to soften another person’s heart. Or to gain certain favours with people, such as getting a job or some kind of help. For instance asking God to help you obtain a job over other candidates would require God to violate the freewill of the employer by forcing him to choose you over another candidate.

Of course, God should be bright enough to see through problems like that, and choose to say "NO!" to our prayers. Just because we ask doesn't mean we'll get what we want.

 

[F0uad]

Prayer to me is that God touches me

 

[Dingbat]

dear wind walker ,


to me it is speaking with god sharing thoughts of happiness , it can be like singing for joy , or crying from the depths of the heart , it can be for myself , for another or to the lord himself .

it is also a glad accknowledgement of his pressence .

what do I derive from it ?...... great peace and certainty .
sending positivity ? .... requesting that he rain down blessings on all :namaste

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

 

[Quintessence]

I really don't like the word prayer. Not just because the mainstream meaning of the word (e.g., supplicating and begging the gods for stuff) has little place in my path, but because the word itself is just awkward and ungainly to say. It's not as bad as the word "handsome" - which is such an ungainly and ugly word that when I say it I mean it as a snide insult - but it's still pretty bad and on my list of words I don't like saying because of how they roll off the tongue. *chuckles*

So in many respects, I don't really have a clean answer to this topic, because I don't use the word. I use lots of other words that in some other people's paths, may describe similar phenomena. It often seems to me that what others call "prayer" really gets separated into two distinct practices in religious Witchcraft. On one end, you have worship of the gods, and on the other, you have spellcraft. They do not have analogous functions, effects, or value. Worship is other-centered, spellcraft is self-centered. Worship refines connections to things greater and is expressly religious, spellcraft refines the self and its own comforts or desires. There's much one could say on the interplay between the two, but that is best saved for elsewhere.

 

[Koldo]

4) We are not asking him to violate another person’s freewill. This is huge and many many prayers are asking for such things. Eg to soften another person’s heart. Or to gain certain favours with people, such as getting a job or some kind of help. For instance asking God to help you obtain a job over other candidates would require God to violate the freewill of the employer by forcing him to choose you over another candidate.

Actually, Exodus 9:12 gives sufficient reason to do requests such as 'soften another person's heart'. Even if the accurate reading is not literal, it may be literal, so it is worth a shot.

 

[Windwalker]

Prayer to me is that God touches me

Can you describe that for you?

 

[4consideration]

I'm interested in hearing and discussing the subject of prayer in our various spiritual practices. How do you understand it's purpose or function?

For me, pray is most often a conscious re-focus on the connection with God/Love. I do not think that the connection is ever completely severed, even when we do not feel it. But, our attention can be so dis-focused as to result in an experience of disconnection. For that reason, centering my attention on the heart-center is necessary. The purpose for me is primarily to still the mind, and to listen to the stillness. I do, at times, include my preferences and desires in prayers. However, over the years, I see it's purpose as less of a petition and more of an aligning my own will to the will of Love. I believe that Love/God to be a power, rather than an emotional sentiment.

How does it affect you?

I find it peaceful. But, only when I do it as I described above. If I am feeling agitated and attempt to pray through the mind -- like simply complaining, or reviewing my fears, or something like that, it seems useless to me.

What value do you derive from it?

It provides an in the present moment sense, or experience, of re-connection with myself and with God/Love.

What sort of prayers do you perform; petitionary, sending positive energy, etc?

Depending on the situation, I probably do some of just about any kind. I have not completely abandoned petitionary prayers, but I have changed the nature of them over the years.

I offered my own "agreement" to God, that it is my desire to respect the free-will of others, just as it is my understanding that God does not violate free will. So, I have an underlying request that my prayers become neutral if they would violate another's free-will, or if my request is anything other than in the highest and best good for all concerned. I know that I cannot ever fully know all of the reasons for a situation or condition to exist. So, I cannot with any confidence, assume that what I think should happen ought to be the outcome. The way that I deal with that is to offer my energetic support to Love that Love brings into being whatever supports the wholeness of the person and best outcome -- and I don't even have to try to figure out what that is -- since I don't really have enough information to figure that out anyway.

On occassion, though, I will pray for the well-being of someone on a particular issue, and end it with wording like, "provided it is their highest and best good." Sometimes our life challenges are part of lessons we need to learn, and I would not like to rob a person of a lesson they may eventually benefit from, just to make me feel better about the momentary situation.

Most often, though, my prayers include examining my own intentions and actions. Sometimes this is done in a momentary reflection, even in mundane daily life activities as to whether or not my motivation in the moment springs from my ego, or from my inner source as Love. I would include this as prayer, as well.

 

[h05531n]

Prayers, the help leverage the sorrows and problems.

 

[Windwalker]

For me, pray is most often a conscious re-focus on the connection with God/Love. I do not think that the connection is ever completely severed, even when we do not feel it. But, our attention can be so dis-focused as to result in an experience of disconnection. For that reason, centering my attention on the heart-center is necessary. The purpose for me is primarily to still the mind, and to listen to the stillness. I do, at times, include my preferences and desires in prayers. However, over the years, I see it's purpose as less of a petition and more of an aligning my own will to the will of Love.

This is all very true in our experience of being aware, and then getting wrapped back up into the mundane of the world to the point that is all we see, and then that is all that our experience of reality is. We lose sight. I have found it is us who moves away from that, never that which withdraws. It's always there, and we just have to learn how to see past the distractions our minds put up in our own path.

Yes, prayer in this way is a way to refocus our awareness on that which is greater, freer, and eternal than our world inside our heads. It's funny, a favorite criticism of modern skeptics is to say "it's all just in our heads". The ironic reality of it is, it's not. The false reality is.

I believe that Love/God to be a power, rather than an emotional sentiment.

I heard a great expression some Christian mystic had said that I'll paraphrase. God is not an object of our devotion, but the subject of our love. Now that's great! A good thought to ponder and let open into experience.

I find it peaceful. But, only when I do it as I described above. If I am feeling agitated and attempt to pray through the mind -- like simply complaining, or reviewing my fears, or something like that, it seems useless to me.

Absolutely. I think this is one of the difficulties with a typical petitionary prayer which seeks for God to do something for you, "take this away from me". The focus becomes on "me" and those issues. The real key to finding 'help from God" (or it should really be said as "through God"), is to release them into God, and let God become your center. Then in that Peace, answers resolve themselves.

It provides an in the present moment sense, or experience, of re-connection with myself and with God/Love.

As well it does. It is our true Nature. We find that within. We find God 'who' is always there. It's only us that moves away.

 

[chinu]

Prayer is the key to sucess.

I hope this enough to describe the term prayer

 

[Treks]

For me, prayer isn't about asking for anything. It's more like introspection, and an anchor. Sikhs have scriptural prayers to recite on a daily basis - the focus is on remembering the Creator and the efforts of other people who have been generous and sacrificed a lot yet kept going. It reaffirms a communal direction of high morality and awe for the Creator.

Sikh prayer is much more about remembering than it is about asking for anything except to realise we are all connected.

I'm very lazy with prayer.

 

[Vouthon]

For me on a personal level, prayer is becoming more and more a contemplative practice. I'm engaging less in oral or reflective thought processes during prayer these days. I prefer to simply be silent and let God act in me. Sometimes I might be moved to say a few spontaneous words of praise or pray for his guidance that day through reading scripture or through others. Far less however than a few years back.

The only way I can explain it is like a "comfortable" silence. We all know times when we have uncomfortable silences, when we're at a table and can think of nothing too say and feel awkward. And then there are comfortable silences. Two people don't need to talk at all. They can simply share silence with each other, comfortably, maybe looking at each other and smiling. That's something special and I think that's what I now have with God. I don't need to talk and yabble on about my everyday problems. I can just rest in Him and He in me.

That is what prayer is like for me, sharing a few minutes of silence with God each day.

The only reflective prayer I tend to do is the rosary or the Jesus Prayer. However even then my fingers move along the beads, as I recite the prayers, without really thinking. Its more a repetitive practice to prepare me for silence. The Jesus Prayer likewise, is a repetition to control my thoughts and help me stop focusing on them, in preparation for silence.

Certainly, this practice is important to me. I wouldn't feel right any longer if I didn't retreat into myself each day and commune wordlessly with my Lord. It's like a recharge of my batteries. Sometimes I get a burning pain in my chest, a pleasurable heat sensation, and it leaves me feeling rejuvenated and ready to emerge back into the world full of love and joy to give to others.

Another practice of mine when reading sacred scripture or mystical writings is Lectio Divina. When I do this, I do think and reflect, yet ultimately it too ends in an outward and inner silence.

It was the mystic known as Guigo II who first delineated the systematic schema of lectio divina that we know today comprised, as you outlined above, of Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio & contemplatio.

I would like to quote an excerpt from his spiritual classic, The Ladder of Monks which gives the 4 stages, because he explains it far better than I could:

"...THE LADDER of MONKS
by
Guigo II (1140-1193)

ONE DAY while I was occupied with manual labor

I began to reflect on man’s spiritual work,

and suddenly four steps for the soul came into my reflection:

reading,

meditation,

prayer,

[and] contemplation

lectio

scilicet meditatio,

oratio

contemplatio


THIS is a ladder for monks

by means of which they are raised up from earth to heaven

It has [only a] few separate rungs, yet its length is immense and incredible:

for its lower part stands on the earth,

while its higher [part] pierces the clouds and touches the secrets of heaven.

JUST as its rungs have various names and numbers,

so also so they differ in order and merit;

and if one diligently searches out their properties and functions - what each [rung] does in relation to us, how they differ from one another and how they are ranked-

he will regard whatever labor and study he expends as brief and simple compared with the great usefulness and sweetness [he gains].

Reading is careful study of [Sacred] Scripture,

with the soul’s [whole] attention:

Meditation is the studious action of the mind

to investigate hidden truth, led by one’s own reason.

Prayer is the heart’s devoted attending to God,

so that evil may be removed

and good may be obtained.

Contemplation is the mind suspended -somehow elevated above itself - in God

so that it tastes the joys of everlasting sweetness.

HAVING assgned descriptions to each of the four rungs,

we must see what their functions are in relation to us.
...

IN order to focus more clearly what we have already said at length, we will gather it into a summary. In what was said above it has been shown through examples how these three rungs interrelate with each other, and how they precede one another another in both the orders of time and causality.

Reading, like a foundation, comes first: and by giving us the matter for meditation, it sends us on to meditation.

Meditation diligently investigates what is to be sought; it digs, so to speak, for treasure which it [then] finds and exposes: but since it is of itself powerless to obtain it, it sends us on to prayer.

Prayer, lifting itself with its whole strength to God, pleads for the desired treasure - the sweetness of contemplation.

[Contemplation’s] advent rewards the labors of the other three; it inebriates the thirsty soul with the sweetness of heavenly dew.

Reading accords with exercise of the outward [senses];

meditation accords with interior understanding;

prayer accords with desire;

contemplation is above all senses.


The first degree pertains to beginners,

The second to the proficient,

the third to devotees,

the fourth to the blessed..."

 

[YmirGF]

I do not pray, nor would it ever occur to me to do so. I much prefer to swim in the ocean rather than stand there talking to the ocean. But, that's just me... (I do appreciate the psychological need for others to offer prayers to their "god" however and to an extent, respect that.)

 

[Windwalker]

For me on a personal level, prayer is becoming more and more a contemplative practice. I'm engaging less in oral or reflective thought processes during prayer these days. I prefer to simply be silent and let God act in me. Sometimes I might be moved to say a few spontaneous words of praise or pray for his guidance that day through reading scripture or through others. Far less however than a few years back.

The only way I can explain it is like a "comfortable" silence. We all know times when we have uncomfortable silences, when we're at a table and can think of nothing too say and feel awkward. And then there are comfortable silences. Two people don't need to talk at all. They can simply share silence with each other, comfortably, maybe looking at each other and smiling. That's something special and I think that's what I now have with God. I don't need to talk and yabble on about my everyday problems. I can just rest in Him and He in me.

That is what prayer is like for me, sharing a few minutes of silence with God each day.

The only reflective prayer I tend to do is the rosary or the Jesus Prayer. However even then my fingers move along the beads, as I recite the prayers, without really thinking. Its more a repetitive practice to prepare me for silence. The Jesus Prayer likewise, is a repetition to control my thoughts and help me stop focusing on them, in preparation for silence.

Certainly, this practice is important to me. I wouldn't feel right any longer if I didn't retreat into myself each day and commune wordlessly with my Lord. It's like a recharge of my batteries. Sometimes I get a burning pain in my chest, a pleasurable heat sensation, and it leaves me feeling rejuvenated and ready to emerge back into the world full of love and joy to give to others.

Another practice of mine when reading sacred scripture or mystical writings is Lectio Divina.

Beautiful. This is a description of communion. I agree that to pray, does not need to mean asking for something, but rather an offering of yourself to the other. And in that, is a return of the other to you. What is given, is offered in return. This to me describe well what prayer is.

 

[Windwalker]

I do not pray, nor would it ever occur to me to do so. I much prefer to swim in the ocean rather than stand there talking to the ocean. But, that's just me... (I do appreciate the psychological need for others to offer prayers to their "god" however and to an extent, respect that.)

When you chant a mantra, chant the name of God, isn't that prayer?