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What role does prayer play in your life, if you are religious?

Lisa Sims

Lisa Sims

Not BORN AGAIN Yet, But I'm On My WAY!
I am curious about prayer habits and beliefs among the various religions as well as for individuals. How much time do you spend in prayer, if any? Do you have a technique or schedule? What benefits do you find that you gain from it, if any? What prayer guidance is given in religious texts that resonates with you?
 
sun rise

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
There's not "prayers" as such, but meditations on the name and form of Divinity. I have problems doing so but I'm motivated to "chant the sweet name of God". The other meditation is visual - looking at an image of God. In my case that's Avatar Meher Baba.

What do I gain? The big gain for me is loss. My lower "I me mine" self is slowly, very slowly diminishing. Also when you internalize his Prayer of Repentence it's in the back of my mind. For example, once I promised someone something and "repent for every promise given but not fulfilled" motivated me to actually do what I had promised. The gain was of course I made someone happy and I had one less thing to repent for.

What prayer guidance? Meher Baba asked those who follow him to make Him their constant companion. In addition, there's a universal chant that was and is sung: "Hari, Paramatama, Allah, Ahuramazd, God, Yezdan, Hu" that supports the thought that all religions are in essence "beads on one string" Beyond that he gave three primary prayers: Master's Prayer, Prayer of Repentence and a prayer for his disciples/lovers.
 
Link

Link

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Lisa Sims said:
I am curious about prayer habits and beliefs among the various religions as well as for individuals. How much time do you spend in prayer, if any? Do you have a technique or schedule? What benefits do you find that you gain from it, if any? What prayer guidance is given in religious texts that resonates with you?
Click to expand...
Salam

There so many wonderous prayers left by the family of Mohammad (s). The guides left a huge legacy of this, which is why I believe the ending of Surah Furqan (last verse) is a miracle when you in mind the emphasis on the path with the reward accusation (25:57) and the emphasis of the way through out the Surah and emphasis on the word sabeel, and the ending shows most of the way the family of Mohammad (s) link to God is through the prayers they teach us.

The ending is this verse:

Say: My Lord would not care for you were it not for your prayer; but you have indeed rejected (the truth), so that which shall cleave shall come.

A good website that contains a lot of the prayers taught by the chosen guides: Index - Duas.org
 
rocala

rocala

Well-Known Member
There was once a time when I felt very alone and very scared. I decided to pray for help, just doing it once a day. I was surprised in that quite quickly it became a source of comfort.

The main development came after a week or two. I started to really look at my requests. An example - if I wanted money, where would it come from? Would my gain be a cause of someone else's loss and perhaps misery? If I wanted something to change, would I be interfering with free will?

This sometimes got very deep yet could be very satisfying. Considering these pros and cons was sometimes like some weird game of spiritual chess.

I know nothing about prayer so maybe I was doing it all wrong, but I do consider that time to be quite an important step in my development.
 
Quintessence

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't tend to use the word "pray" in my tradition but if that we generally mean mindfully communicating with the gods, it's an important aspect of my practice. I would say the main purpose is to remind myself of the sacredness and glory of the world (gods) around me and give thanks and gratitude for all existence. For example, the simple act of stepping outside, raising my arms to Sun and singing of Sun. Or lighting a stick of incense in honor of passing Storm. Having moonthly chats with Moon reflecting on then and when. Being present and silent to listen to various Tree Spirits. Looks like a lot of different things.

Very little guidance is given in text - text gets in the way, honestly. Go out, experience, be, feel, sense.
 
The Sum of Awe

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Staff member
Premium Member
From time to time I will either pray in hopes that something will turn out fine and very often I pray in gratitude for what I have. Not sure if it is the reflection on what I have that brings peace, or the prayer itself, but it is beneficial.
 
Jainarayan

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
My "prayers" tend to be of two types:
  1. Verses (shlokas), hymns, mantras chanted in Sanskrit during my regular personal/home worship.
  2. Conversation with God/Gods. It's nothing with a lot of "thees", "thous", "wouldsts" and things like that. It's usually just a stream of consciousness, whining, complaining, thanking, brain farts and idle chit-chat. I sound like a nut when I seem to be talking to myself but it occurred to me that maybe it's my form of prayer. I believe the gods are always present (but not like peeping Toms or anything creepy like that) and willing to listen.
 
Kathryn

Kathryn

It was on fire when I laid down on it.
First of all, I do not pray enough. I should pray every single day or night or both in fact, and I admit I don't. But I do converse often with God, and He is on my mind a lot. So it's sort of throughout the day.

Then on Sundays there's group prayer and I do like that. I also enjoy praying the rosary sometimes, especially at the end of the day. I find that focusing on the different Mysteries is interesting and always brings to mind different things.
 
Truthseeker

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
Lisa Sims said:
I am curious about prayer habits and beliefs among the various religions as well as for individuals. How much time do you spend in prayer, if any? Do you have a technique or schedule? What benefits do you find that you gain from it, if any? What prayer guidance is given in religious texts that resonates with you?
Click to expand...
I say a short obligatory prayer between noon and sunset even though I am over the age where it is obligatory. I get something out of it, so I do it anyway. It is easy to observe the requirement this this time of year where sunset is late. Sometimes I pray when I get up.

Before the obligatory prayer I wash my hands, which to me stands for purity, then splash water on my face which to me seems like a mini baptism. This is called ablution in my faith.
 
Jimmy

Jimmy

King Phenomenon
I talk to God and tell him how grateful I am for this glorious life that he’s given me, for my family whom I love deeply, for me and my family’s good mental and physical well being. I ask him for help with joy and keeping my spirits up. I ask him to help those in need. I thank him, praise him and tell him that I love him.

I kind of think about God 24/7.
 
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Lisa Sims

Lisa Sims

Not BORN AGAIN Yet, But I'm On My WAY!
I want to thank you all for your honest, thoughtful and revealing descriptions of your prayer life--so much diversity! I have read back through all of the posts several times and, even though we are of different faiths and believes, each time I do I feel a soul connection with each one of you. Many blessings, Lisa
 
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