i am a christian but..?

Question

i really admire muslims for their way of praying, i mean not the way they do it but the number of times they talk to whom they believe. because many claims 'hey im a christian', but when is the last time they prayed to God surrendering all and spend time for His words?
..but this makes me thoughtful..
for muslims, are you praying to who you believe because you really want to and you believe that there is really an allah that hears you, or do you consider it as just a routine? im not questioning you coz i want to argue, im just curious..

and for my fellow christians, what do you think of it?

i mean do you really have the faith and considers allah as your personal savior that you can count on to? (for muslims)

yes BamBam, but for those muslims, is there that kind of a relationship that they talk to Him personally? i mean is the prayer they are reciting varies to the things they want to say to their God?

as to Azra, i like to pick your answer to my question coz i found a bit of answer but i still want to accept other`s ideas.. God bless too.. =)

Sarah T = ...oh i see... thanks a lot... God bless.. =)

forerunner7 i agree with you, in fact i have a lot of mislim friends, but i still choose to cling on to my faith.. i just really admire them..

muslim* .. just mispelled,

Answer 1

I don't pray because of routine, because then my prayers wouldn't be accepted. You see, in Islam prayer is considered as a good deed towards yourself, and no good deed will be accepted unless it comes from the heart. I think God is very clever by ordering me to pray to Him 5 times a day, because that way He 'forces' me to think of Him at least 5 times a day. Anyway, I'm not sure if you know this but there are two types of prayers in Islam - obligatory ones and what we call du'a (nearest translation would be supplication). Du'a is made when one simply talks to God and is completely up to person, so that's what you Christians would call 'having a relationship with God.' By the way, I'm not limited to 5 prayers a day, I often pray even more, depends on my state of mind really.

Blessings :)

EDIT: I just read your entire question. Obligatory prayer is nearest to what we would call praising the Lord, while du'a is talking to God. Hope that helps.

Answer 2

It's kind of a mix for me...sometimes I just do it because I'm supposed it, but most of the time I feel connected to my faith. I really try to feel the words I'm saying and feel the symbolism of my movements. Either way, I finish feeling better. I've never gotten up from prayer and felt worse than the way I did before I started.I disagree slightly with Azra, because when I pray "because I'm supposed to", my effort for doing it is what makes it come from the heart. This kind of thing is subject to personal interpretation, and only God knows what is really in my mind and heart.
I don't "talk" to God the way I see on TV, instead I read special prayers and insert my wishes into them.

Answer 3

i'm a christian,and im not saying this in the mean of judging or anything else, this is what i see in my life in Indonesia.

first i'll talk about christians.
if christians pray(i mean christians who really prays everyday)they should be able to feel the presence of God when talking to Him, when coming to Him wholeheartedly, and feel the peace God gives and assurance that He will be with us no matter what and there is nothing we could do to make Him love us less.Its an awesome feeling to be in His presence, experiencing His amazing love.

I go to school where every noon, the islam students must pray (shalat) and meanwhile,the christians meet to pray and study the bible.pretty religious,right?

and there are some muslims who does it really,i mean really wholeheartedly.at first, i dont know this, but one of my friend, who prays 5 times a day plus personal ones(not written in Quran ones, the one with their own words). and i've heard muslim said what christian says like "i love God",or"my heart feels so much peace when im praying" or stuffs like that, make me wonders,are we feeling the same thing?

Because i know what i feel.When i pray, i felt his presence.The feeling of God's great love, His mercy towards me, its not something i would trade for anything in my life.
But Then a question came into my mind.
Then what are they feeling?and why are only one or two muslims that ever told me this before?maybe if you're a muslim you could explain it to me.and i'm open for questions also.
thx and God bless

Answer 4

I am a Christian who prays spontaneously, sometimes many times, sometimes not. The beauty of a tree I'm passing on the road could be enough to inspire me to pray.
Mind, I do not have to pray at any set time, or in any particular pose or set direction.
I've been a Mom for 37 years and a Grandma for 17. I've raised seven kids of my own, and had a great many more pass through my life.
I love it when my kids did things like pick me dandelions just for the heck of it, or surprised me with something they'd made themselves. Those kinds of presents are much more valuable than roses sent by messenger from the flower shop because it is mother's day and the kid is too busy to call, or some fancy present under the Christmas tree that the kid put there because it was his "duty". Give me peanut butter kisses all day long, but do it because you really love me...not because it is "expected".
I think God would rather hear a sincere "I love you" on the fly than five prayers a day that have become empty ritual.
That's my feeling about it, anyhow.

Answer 5

We pray to God because it is a form of worship. It is commanded of us and pleasing to God. Praying 5 times a day is obligatory for us and not doing it is a sin. We also can pray more than that if we would like and we do receive rewards for doing so it just isn't obligatory to pray more than five times a day.
P.S. The word Allah is the arabic word for God. Arab speakers are not only muslims, they are jewish, christian, sikh, etc etc and use the word Allah.
Also, we don't say the same thing over and over again for every prayer. We recite a certain part of the Quran each time and then any other part we would like. We also make personal supplications during our prayers.

Answer 6

Prayer (Salat) is the connection between the Lord (ALLAH)and the slave. We believe in the prayer that, we are talking to Allah and we should concentrate in every single word we say in the Prayer as our beloved Prophet tough us.
This is why the Muslims scholars say that yielding (Khosho'o) in the Prayer is an important condition.
We do really feel so comfortable after prayer (if it is done in sincere) and in addition of considering it as a religious duty for all Muslims, it gives us a kind of soul regeneration.
Without it I do not know how my life would be.
Thanks to Allah.

Answer 7

first I want to thank you about how you respect us it's just very nice to hear it, for me I pray because I love god and I really feel connected to him when I pray , we pray to god because we believe in him and it should come from the heart because god knows what's in every man's heart , so the five time prayers are for reasons i will list it at the end of my answer, if a person stop what ever he is doing to pray to god , I don't thing when he go back to his life it would be easy to sin? so prayer prevent the Muslim from sins , to Darth we don't pray so others can see us, usually in Muslim countries we have plenty of mosques, and at work we have a special room for praying and also in shopping centers, but if we are in a country which does'nt have that kind of facility then we had to pray anywhere or it will be as,"we can't pray to god because people would see us", this is how our religion is we didn't made it up..

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/salah.asp
http://islam.about.com/cs/prayer/a/prayer_times.htm
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ln=eng&QR=65877

Answer 8

As a Christian, I agree that prayer is commendable.
But I also think that God only hears those prayers that are heartfelt, not routine.

When we pray at a certain time everyday as a routine, it can be just that - a routine. Something we don't take to heart or think about much, we just do it. Like getting ready for bed. You do the same thing over and over, it just doesn't phase you anymore.

But when you take the time to actually have a conversation with God, and pour your heart out to him, I think that means a whole lot more to him than praying from a script or just because you are supposed to at this or that time.

When Jesus left the model prayer for us to follow, he didn't say recite it. He said it was a model. Showing us what the appropriate things were to pray for. And at James 4:8, it tells us to draw close to God and he will draw close to you. So how can you draw close to somebody with saying the same thing over and over again? You just can't.

Answer 9

It isn't wrong to adopt someone elses practices. If you admire the way they pray, maybe try going to a muslim service with some other muslims.

Answer 10

Muslims are very committed to their faith. I would say that there is a much higher percentage of Muslims who are committed to the Qur'an then there are Christians who are as committed to the Bible.

Christians can learn a thing or two about prayer and submission to God from Muslims.