Prayers from Your Religion

[Debater Slayer]

Today a friend urged me to try doing the Islamic prayers "with an open mind and heart" to see how I will feel. I tentatively agreed.

If someone managed to convince me to do Islamic prayers and play the role of a Muslim while doing so, I'm pretty sure I can give prayers from other religions a shot.

So, post prayers from your religion that don't require going to a house of worship or being in a group. Please note that asking other members to do or say those prayers is against the forum rules--specifically, Rule 8.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Here's the metta prayer from Buddhism -

“May all beings be well and safe, may they be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be, whether moving or standing still, without exception, whether large, great, middling, or small, whether tiny or substantial,
Whether seen or unseen, whether living near or far,
Born or unborn; may all beings be happy.
Let none deceive or despise another anywhere. Let none wish harm to another, in anger or in hate.”

http://www.wildmind.org/metta/introduction/metta-prayer

Have a good one!

 

[Katzpur]

Today a friend urged me to try doing the Islamic prayers "with an open mind and heart" to see how I will feel. I tentatively agreed.

I'd like to know the result of your experiment.

I'd post some Mormon prayers for you to try, but the only two that are always offered verbatim are the prayers on the "Sacrament" (aka Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, etc.), and they are always done in a church setting. My guess is that Mormons pray just about a often as Muslims do. It's just that our prayers are always just more of a conversation with God than anything recited by rote.

 

[RAYYAN]

Today a friend urged me to try doing the Islamic prayers "with an open mind and heart" to see how I will feel. I tentatively agreed.

If someone managed to convince me to do Islamic prayers and play the role of a Muslim while doing so, I'm pretty sure I can give prayers from other religions a shot.

So, post prayers from your religion that don't require going to a house of worship or being in a group. Please note that asking other members to do or say those prayers is against the forum rules--specifically, Rule 8.

I am confused about what this means!
A prayer should be done with hearts and bodies, lips movement doesn't really mean anything if there is no belief and no convection. How can I do Christian's prayer for example if I don't belief in the concept?

 

[Politesse]

I approve of your experiment!

My favorite Pagany-Christian prayer is St Patrick's breastplate; there are quite a few versions, but here's mine:

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His coming at the day of doom;
His riding up the heavenly way;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
The purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
the sun with its brightness,
the snow with its whiteness,
the fire with all the strength it hath,
the lightning with its rapid wrath,
the wind with its swiftness along its path,
the sea with its deepness,
the rocks with their steepness,
the Earth with its starkness
These I place by help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Careful, it is an invocation, so while you need not believe anything to use it, many would maintain that the words themselves have power

 

[Katzpur]

I am confused about what this means!
A prayer should be done with hearts and bodies, lips movement doesn't really mean anything if there is no belief and no convection. How can I do Christian's prayer for example if I don't belief in the concept?

I get what you're saying, but I do wonder one thing... If I have a sick loved-one and pray for his or her recovery, and if you have a sick loved-one and do the same, and if both of our loved ones recover, who was responsible? Your God, my God or no God at all?

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Here's another interesting prayer site - covers quite a few faiths -

http://www.worldhealingprayers.com/3.html

Namaste

 

[Laika]

why pray to a higher power when you can be the higher power?

Spoiler: May Contain Atheism and Swearing

 

[RAYYAN]

I get what you're saying, but I do wonder one thing... If I have a sick loved-one and pray for his or her recovery, and if you have a sick loved-one and do the same, and if both of our loved ones recover, who was responsible? Your God, my God or no God at all?

We will never know that, but for me as a Muslim, God is responsible.
for me, it doesn't matter what people say, it doesn't matter if people believed in God or no, there is only one God, and that He created everyone

 

[Katzpur]

We will never know that, but for me as a Muslim, God is responsible.
for me, it doesn't matter what people say, it doesn't matter if people believed in God or no, there is only one God, and that He created everyone

Well, I would have to agree with you; there is only one God. Personally, I believe that the God Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship is the same individual, even though we may all understand Him differently. So my own answer to the question I asked you is that the one God we both believe in would have answered both of our prayers. Whether you address Him as "Allah" and I address Him as "Our Father in Heaven," just one God is in control of the universe. He loves each of us equally.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our G_d, the Lord is One.
In an undertone:

Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

V'ahav'ta eit Adonai Elohekha b'khol l'vav'kha uv'khol naf'sh'kha uv'khol m'odekha.
And you shall love the Lord your G_d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

V'hayu had'varim ha'eileh asher anokhi m'tzav'kha hayom al l'vavekha.
And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

V'shinan'tam l'vanekha v'dibar'ta bam
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them
b'shiv't'kha b'veitekha uv'lekh't'kha vaderekh uv'shakh'b'kha uv'kumekha
when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Uk'shar'tam l'ot al yadekha v'hayu l'totafot bein einekha.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

Ukh'tav'tam al m'zuzot beitekha uvish'arekha.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

[Aset's Flames]

Today a friend urged me to try doing the Islamic prayers "with an open mind and heart" to see how I will feel. I tentatively agreed.

If someone managed to convince me to do Islamic prayers and play the role of a Muslim while doing so, I'm pretty sure I can give prayers from other religions a shot.

So, post prayers from your religion that don't require going to a house of worship or being in a group. Please note that asking other members to do or say those prayers is against the forum rules--specifically, Rule 8.

We focus more on introspection and action than prayer but we do have some for non-Asetians, it may seem less than elegant in English however.

"I am part of the first and the last, I am a bringer of change.
We are part of the Active and are both body and soul.
May the entity of the Passive, Aset, awaken the flames within.
And may we bring improvement both within and outside our selves."

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Prayer is supposed to be about talking to God. Why do you need to use a prayer that someone else wrote and you repeat it over and over.? Doesn't it make more sense to just tell God what is on your mind? Pray like you are talking to a friend on the phone. Would you ever call up a friend a read something someone else wrote? Why should God be any different? Throw away all the prepared prayers and just tell God what is on your mind.

 

[Vouthon]

"...Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with Your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in Your name..."

- Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1663) Catholic mathematician, physicist and philosopher​

 

[Oldsoul]

Prayer is supposed to be about talking to God. Why do you need to use a prayer that someone else wrote and you repeat it over and over.? Doesn't it make more sense to just tell God what is on your mind? Pray like you are talking to a friend on the phone. Would you ever call up a friend a read something someone else wrote? Why should God be any different? Throw away all the prepared prayers and just tell God what is on your mind.

This is how I have been praying outside of church since age 7..

Talking to God as if I were talking to a revered friend on the phone...

I'm wondering if he blocks me sometimes..
Only because I'm a hand full..
Lol

 

[Vouthon]

"...True prayer requires no word, no chant
no gesture, no sound.
It is communion, calm and still
with our own godly Ground
God far exceeds all words that we can here express
In silence He is heard, in silence worshiped best..."

- Angelus Silesius (1624 – 1677), German Catholic mystic


"...The most powerful form of prayer, and the one which can virtually gain all things and which is the worthiest work of all, is that which flows from a free mind. The freer the mind is, the more powerful and worthy, the more useful, praiseworthy and perfect the prayer and the work become. A free mind can achieve all things. But what is a free mind?

A free mind is one which is untroubled and unfettered by anything, which has not bound its best part to any particular manner of being or devotion and which does not seek its own interest in anything but is always immersed in God’s most precious will, having gone out of what is its own..."

- Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1327), Catholic mystic & priest (Talks of Instruction 2 in Davies, 1994)
​

 

[Vouthon]

"...A man may go into the field and say his prayer and be aware of God, or, he may be in Church and be aware of God; but, if he is more aware of Him because he is in a quiet place, that is his own deficiency and not due to God, Who is alike present in all things and places, and is willing to give Himself everywhere so far as lies in Him. He knows God rightly who knows Him everywhere...

People often say to me, 'Pray for me'. And I think, 'Why do you go out? Why do you not stay within yourself and draw on your own treasure? For you have the whole truth in its essence within you.' That we may thus truly stay within, that we may possess all truth immediately, without distinction, in true blessedness, may God help us..."

- Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1327), Catholic mystic & Dominican priest​

 

[Vouthon]

"...If the only prayer you say in your life is “Thank You” that would suffice..."

- Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1327), Catholic mystic & Dominican priest​

 

[Vouthon]

One more:

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman:

From Meditations and Devotions,
"Meditations on Christian Doctrine,"
"Hope in God—Creator", March 7, 1848

1. God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all {301} created to His glory—we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God's counsels, in God's world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.

2. God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

3. Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He {302} may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me—still He knows what He is about.

O Adonai, O Ruler of Israel, Thou that guidest Joseph like a flock, O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I—more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfil Thy high purposes in me whatever they be—work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument. Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see—I ask not to know—I ask simply to be used.​

 

[Politesse]

Prayer is supposed to be about talking to God. Why do you need to use a prayer that someone else wrote and you repeat it over and over.? Doesn't it make more sense to just tell God what is on your mind? Pray like you are talking to a friend on the phone. Would you ever call up a friend a read something someone else wrote? Why should God be any different? Throw away all the prepared prayers and just tell God what is on your mind.

Because ancient prayers are beautiful, and move the soul as improvisation would not. Of course God will answer an everyday prayer that you just came up with. But it's the difference between texting someone and sending them a proper letter; just coming up with emotional stuff to talk to God about does less to bring you closer to God than a prayer that is tried and true; you didn't have to work to find and and memorize it, you took no advice from the scriptures, you just winged it. And maybe that is fine, but there is room for all kinds of prayer, the emotive and the beautiful.