Prayer? What does it mean to you? Be honest and open!?

Answer 1

Prayer is a means by which we draw nearer to God. God states that we should pray for the following reasons:
1. That the Lord God Himself should be honored through worship. (Isa. 57:15; Jonah 2:9)
2. For our spiritual blessing, as a means for our growth in grace. (Psa. 116:1)
3. For our seeking from Him the things which we are in need.

But consider the following:

A Christian hunter is hunting bears in the woods. While walking up a hill he grabs a branch for leverage and it breaks sending the hunter tumbling down the hill, gun flying off elsewhere. When the hunter dusts himself off he sees a huge bear charging him. The hunter begins running, but trips and falls, landing on his knees. Seizing the opportunity, and being a good Christian, the hunter begins to pray, "Lord, make this bear a Christian."

The woods are quiet, the hunter turns and, Hallelujah! He sees the bear on his knees, paws together, praying! Listening, he hears the bear praying, "Father, bless this food to my body."

The key message here is that God answers prayers of the righteous, but the answer you get may not be the answer you want, but it will always be the right answer. Prayer is a coming to God, telling Him your need (or the need of others), committing your way unto the Lord, and then leaving God to deal with the case as seems best to Him.

How should one pray to God?

I speak to God in the same manner as I write these words to you now. That is, I have a plain conversation (no “thou’s” “thine’s”, “thy’s”!) with Him each day, especially out under the stars late at night as my family sleeps. My prayers are conversations that follow a pattern. I start every prayer with the following: "Most merciful God, not my will, but yours, be done." I repeat that phrase often during my prayers. Sometimes I will do so for tens of times just to quiet my mind and make it open to hearing from my Creator.

Use the following pattern in all your prayers and you will see them answered: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. See the links below for more information. (acronym: ACTS)

http://www.prayerguide.org.uk/actsmodel.htm
http://www.powertopray.com/howto/ACTS.html

Answer 2

Prayer to me is an open place where you can talk personally to god, with nothing to hide. (well i mean you cant hide anything from him)
It's a state of comfort.
It's a time to be be one with yourself and god.
You are able to ask for things to happen in your life that you cant do on your own.
(not like "i'm poor give me money" but "dear lord i pray you give me the strength to keep going and i pray that i am blessed with a better life then i've been leading"
etc.
Hope it's enough :]

Answer 3

with prayer anything can happen. my mama prays and good things always happen when she prays. prayer is an amazing thing. praying to God gives me strength and comfort. I just lost my best friend a few weeks ago and have not stopped praying for the strength i need to heal and cope. prayer can do wonders.

Answer 4

Prayer is my time to be close to God. When I am happy, I make requests, praise Him, sing and dance for Him. When I am sad, I just want to sit, have Him wrap His arms around me, listen to Him and feel His love. I try to remember to pray without ceasing daily.

I just love almost everyone's answers. They were so inspiring. I liked the one about the bear. Funny.

Answer 5

Expressing my concerns, gratitudes, desires, needs to my Father in Heaven knowing that I will be heard and that the Spirit will anser me according to my needs. It is important to maintain that celestial communication link in order to keep my life balanced here on earth. I feel the guidance and comfort of the spirit in response to my petitions. Prayer keeps me humble knowing that I am not ever the know-all of humanity.
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.

Answer 6

I believe it is the intimate communication between the heavenly Father and his child.

I believe in the priesthood of the believer and that any person can pray to God at any time, and God will hear...you do not need an intercessory, priest or lofty language...just need an earnest heart...one need not be "saved"....one need not be religious...one just needs to truly want to speak to God...

Psychologically, I think it is a way to believe in something bigger than us that will guide our path and help us out...it is also a way to come to terms with guilt and to confess our sins...and a way to express happiness at all of the good things that have happened.

Lastly, I believe it is a way to have peace.

Answer 7

Spending time with the Lord- speaking to Him and knowing He is listening- casting your cares upon Him, and also giving Him praise! Knowing that He loves the heart of the righteous and is attentive to their prayer, as it says in Proverbs. He is indeed!
It draws us closer to Him, and builds us up spiritually in Him!

Answer 8

Prayer. My favorite word. For me, it's when I talk to God. I genuinely talk to him. Sometimes I argue yes, but He's always right, so I don't know why I bother. :) I tell him everything, and talk to him about EVERYTHING. Not just when I need something. I talk to him like I am talking to a trusted best friend.

Answer 9

Prayer is:

1. Begging an invisible man to do things you are either to lazy to do yourself or think you can't do!

2. Begging an invisible man for special treatment!

3. Begging an invisible man that has a plan of what is to occur to somehow change that plan to fit your own personal whims!

All in all it is nothing but pointless begging!

Answer 10

Prayer to me, is a direct line to God. He hears me, and answers me. There have been times when I asked God about something and I could just literally hear his voice. It is so awesome to know that he actually listens to me. I LOVE JESUS