When do you pray and for what reason?

Question

In the morning? At night? Everyday? Every other day? Only in church? Before meals? Only before dinner? With family? Alone? Only in moments of sadness and trouble or in happy moments too?

Do you ask? Do you thank? Do you repeat words by heart? Do you talk? Do you listen?

I pray in the shower, before bed, driving, and any time I feel like. I also pray with my family before dinner. I pray in my husband's church and I pray in my spiritist's meetings. I ask and be thankful. I always listen to the answer that sometimes comes in dreams.

What is your experience with prayer?

Blerchus4incapet, what makes you think I don't read books? I read books, I watch movies, I have my passions just like anyone else... you missed the point of my question totally. By the way, I make sex too... I am normal, I am not a saint...

I loved all the answers so much, that I am not going to choose the best. Every one of them are the best for me. I'll let you guys vote.
Thanks

Answer 1

I pray always.......

At my desk.....silently (in my mind...for guidance)
On the road in my car.....(for protection)
Before I leave the house.....(again...for protection)

I pray in the good times and in the bad. God truly does hear you when you are His own (a Christian)

Edit:
You people have got to be kidding me with the thumbs-down crap........get a life.

Answer 2

When I saw the beginning of your question I wanted to answer. the thing is the extra info you added is what I was going to say. Not to copy but thats what I do.

I walk along and see the beauty of the animals and nature and thank God for blessing us. I find it hard sometimes to deal with the tragic situations we hear of. So as to not drive myself crazy or try to blame anyone, I ask for the innocent to be safe in His love and for His protection to keep us safe from mans evils. I pray that people can work together to make a better world for our childrens children.

The innerconnected gifts of Spirit are our roots and connections to above. That light inside of us is our church and we can go to Him anytime, anyplace. He is always there and our answers come throught in different ways, but we do get our reply, if only we could turn and hear.

I am not religious but I am a believer and I see the difference between 'religions' wrongs and natural spirituality. They cannot tell you do this do that, but they could tell more about the symbolic meanings from the messages in The Bible and scriptures. There is much more to everything than meets the eye.

If we send a thought with love, it will get there and make a difference even if we dont end up seeing the result. Good intent is the key to sorting ones self out.

Respect to Love!

Peace

Answer 3

Assalamu alaikum. I do pray on a daily basis by way of fact of numerous motives (a million)that's mandatoty a minimum of five circumstances an afternoon as reported interior the Qur'an and defined in hadith (2)to glorify Allah swt and thank Allah for plenty subsistences and conveniences (nik'mat)that have been regular (3)to make a surrendership to Allah as an instantaneous verbal replace for keeping off/battling undesirable doings (maksiat) and advertising solid doings for the sake of Allah.Praying is the pillar of Islam which must be accounted for at the start on the day of judgement (4)praying will make me healthful and cleanly bodily and spiritually as component to my existence on a daily basis (5)praying is a submission to Allah which would be ended with salam and then make du'a to Allah and ask for Allah's forgiveness (6)praying will make me closer to Allah and strengrhen my eeman or faith. Insya allah if i will obey to all of Allah's instructions and prohibitions,i ought to enter the heaven in afterlife.

Answer 4

Well, Janet - you received some excellent responses to this question.

Prayer should be so very important to every human being on this wonderful planet.

Whether one prays daily or monthly or with each passing moment is not as important as the fact that one does indeed pray.

In prayer, we acknowledge God as The Creator, The One True God, there is non-other before Him. In prayer we accept Him as our Lord. We come before Him with heads bowed, in respect.

Tis' better to pray honestly and constantly and to be thankful for all of our blessings. But me thinks God is still pleased by the occasional prayer from one who seldom prays.

Many above (this answer) have said it better than I.

In short, pray like your soul depends on it.

The Ol' Sasquatch Ü

Answer 5

I pray 5 times a day toward Mecca in Arabic as is required in my religion. Unless I'm on my period then I don't pray. I just say a few short prayers and say a few verses from the Qur'an. My prayer involves bowing, sitting and prostrating. I pray Fajr(2 units), Zhur(4 units), Asr(4 units), Maghrib(3 units) and Isha 4 units.

Answer 6

Prayer is like the solution which neutralize the wobbling chemical and calms it down giving useful mixture.
The prayer shall be done at the time you wish. But every day prayer will lead you some schedule of works, activities in a best format that will lead to success.
The prayer by the others shall be always hounoured. If you can't participate with them, never disturb them.
The prayer shall not be for some goal or any achievement. it shall be for piece, comfort and love, not for individual but for all

Answer 7

Many people use prayer as a "bargaining chip" with God (I'll use the term for convenience even though Buddhism is non-theistic)--you know the type; "God, if you grant me xxxx, I'll pray yyyy times a day." This would relegate prayer to a superstitious level. This type of prayer is almost as if a Supreme Being needs to rely on prayer for sustenance and existence (perhaps there is some truth to that concept). Unfortunately, I think this is the way many Christians and people of other faiths pray.

My prayers are not specifically directed to any supreme deity or for any personal purpose. My prayers are directed as a method of reinforcing the attributes to be exemplified. They are primarily my aides in meditation and are offered to the benefit of all sentient beings.

Let me share a beautiful prayer written by the Tibetan master Sogyal Rinpoche which epitomizes the true essence of prayer as I understand it to be.

By the power and truth of this practice...

By the power and the truth of this practice,
may all beings have happiness,
and the causes of happiness.
May all be free from sorrow,
and the causes of sorrow.
May all never be separated
from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless.
And may all live in equanimity,
without too much attachment
and too much aversion,
And live believing
in the equality of all that lives.

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:
May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.
Let no one deceive another,

Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment
Wish suffering on anyone at all.
Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward
through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

May all be at peace.

John

Answer 8

It seems at times I PRAY all the time, sometimes when I really tune in, when my heart is in need, heart felt prayers, the answers comes very fast, sometimes spirits and angels show up. I pray for mainly the things that I cannot control, for help, protection, and for others. SOMETIMES just asking God questions, and expecting an answer back, sometimes he does communicate back and gives me the answer right off.

Answer 9

I struggle with prayer. I've never been one to pray on a regular basis. I don't kneel at my bedside. I pray to say thank you when something goes well. I pray to ask for safety for my son (16 years old and driving, so I pray A LOT! :) Most of my praying happens in the car, although we do pray as a family before meals.

Answer 10

I pray all the time. The Bible says to be in a constant state of conversation with God. Talking to Him should be as easy and natural as a conversation with a friend.

I find that diligence in prayer is far more effective than off-handed prayers while driving to work. And every night I have a prayer time for our elected officials and family or friends that are dealing with tough times.

Answer 11

Every evening, and at mealtimes. I've decided that once school starts, I'm going to say a prayer before I get my girls up... hopefully the day will start off more peacefully!

Sometimes it's a memorized prayer... grace, Lord's prayer, Luther's evening prayer. Other times, I follow ACTS
A - Adoration
C - Confession
T - Thanksgiving
S - Supplication

And always ending in the name of Christ.

I do find that I do much better when my prayer life is active.. I tend to remember who is in charge!