May 19, 2006
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Prayer
Prayer is a personal communion with God and there is no right or wrong way to approach it. I am just curious about your approach to praying. Why do you pray? And if you do, what is the basis of your prayer? What expectation may you have when you pray? How are your wills be related to the devine will? Do you pray in silence or aloud? When you pray, do you ask God to grant you wishes whether they are for your love ones, friends, neighbors, the unfortunates? Do you pray to give thanksgiving for God’s gifts and resignation to God’s will?
Think of the person that you don’t like. Do you pray for this person? If yes, do you pray for God to help this person to find God’s way or do you pray for God to help you to find God’s way in this person?
Comments (12)
I have learned so much about prayer from my kids. I love when they come talk to me. Yes, sometimes they ask for stuff, sometimes they simply say “I love you dad” sometimes we talk about deeper life issues. I try to approach prayer to my Heavenly Father the same way. Some days.. its a simple I love you. somedays its me yelling because of somethingthat happened. Thats the great thing about God.. he knows us, understands us and I dont think is so much concerned about how we pray.. but he just wants our conversation. I believe we were created for that relationship..
awesome post:) have a wonderful weekend.
Prayer is such an interesting topic for me. I was raised very militant Christian and taught exactly what form to pray in. It never felt right and I felt seperate from God. I went from agnostic to atheist with no prayer at all and today I believe in God and I pray quite often. Today I do not pray for things for me except for direction to help me grow and to help me be an instrument of thy peace. Sometimes I pray out loud in my car and sometimes I kneel, it does not seem to make much difference except for my own mental state and sincerity. I see prayer as an aid to attempt to align me with love or God.
I just realized after reading your last paragraph that I rarely pray for others and the probably is because I know it is me on not them that causes me my suffering. I try not to dictate my will to God in my prayers because I am trying to understand “thy will be done not mine”. I know that my will is short sighted and I would be shorting myself with my will.
This post really made me think, thank you. For me that is the definiton of a great post, one that causes reflection and contemplation.
Lenn
I’d say we should pray for all beings whether foes or friends. Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend, Anh! =D
I have a hard time praying for those I don’t like.
I really like your last sentence. The truth is I don’t pray very often. I feel like I just don’t know enough to ask for specific results. How do I know what’s truly best in any situation? It’s more important that I keep an open heart than to get a certain result. When I do pray I send love to an individual or family without asking for a result. I do like to meditate though. I like to listen and open up to the Divine. I think the highest result of prayer and meditation is the doing away of any sense of seperateness from others or God, so that there’s nobody that isn’t liked. Not a state of heart/mind that I’ve attained very often. But what a great journey!!
ryc: the family is more excited about going than I am.. they are ready for a change.. plus I told them they can have horses:)
Great post! When I pray, I try to avoid worrying about using all the “right” words or waxing eloquent. I just keep it simple and as straight from the heart as possible. I usually start out praising God for his amazing love, provision, blessings, etc. and then launch into petitions and so forth. I try to keep a disciplined prayer schedule, but not to the exclusion of firing up some “quickies” during the day as well. I guess I pray b/c it helps to put me back into my proper place, humbly at the feet of Jesus, and b/c we are taught to pray in Scripture (“you do not have because you do not ask,” etc.). I often pray in silence but when I am very heated/upset/emotional, I tend to speak out loud. Sometimes, when angry, I even raise my voice at God. One of my professors in college told me not to worry about that, for He understands the emotional toll life can take and that the most important thing is to keep talking to Him, period. And listening (that’s harder for me). And seeking His will. That’s mostly why I pray–to seek His will and to ask that I may graciously accept it, no matter what. Very difficult and nearly impossible to do without divine assistance.
I do pray for those I dislike, but that has not always been so. However, I have learned that through praying for them, I come to view them as God’s children and fellow sinners, imperfect even as I am imperfect. That perspective usually gets me off of any self-righteous throne on which I am sitting in judgement and even helps me let go of the offense….
Love the question. You have such an introspective disposition! I have to ask (but you don’t have to answer): what are your professional/personal goals? I’m curious….
Have a great weekend!
~Ann~
I know my feeling is not the normal one, but I feel every thought I think and action I create is a prayer. I’m not sure I can explain but I will try. There is not a private me vs the spiritual me. The only time God hears me isn’t if I think or say “Dear God” or “Our Father”. Anytime I think anything, God hears it. “I’m lonely.” God hears it. “Linda is in trouble.” God hears it. If I think, “I hate her.” God hears it. If I am jealous, God feels it. If I think, “No, I shouldn’t think like that.” and try to change my thoughts about something, God knows it. There are no secrets with God. Sometimes I think, “God help me (or someone else).” but I don’t think that it is the only type of thought that he hears. To me prayer isn’t a special attitude when God pays attention vs other times when he does not. To me, my life is my prayer. My thoughts, acts, feelings are my prayer. It isn’t my job to give God requests or orders or suggestions as to how I want outcomes to be. My job is only to “be”, and to “be” the best I can.
Please know that this is only how “I” have come to feel about it. I, in no respect, expect others to share the same opinion. I feel we are all on our own personal paths and this is what is working for me.
I pray just to be in the presence of God. I know that God is everywhere present, but it is my awareness of that presence that I come to communion with Him/Her, other people in my life and the whole world..
There are many kinds and many ways to pray and I’ve used them all. I’d love to believe that I’ve leave out a block of time to talk to God, but lately, it’s been more like I’m doing it out of habbit, which is really sad. Of course, I always ask to have what I pray for, unless it’s something impossible, then I pray for guidance, change of heart… And yes, I prayed for an ex before.
Hmm. After reading some of the comments and re-reading the post, I think I misread the question.
Yes. I often think the thought. What can be done to help this person? Or, a varient, How can I help this person? I also will frequently ask myself why I don’t like them and try to analyze it. While I may not always approve of a person’s opinion or something about them, that is not a reason to dislike them.
My hope is to always stand as a source of God’s love and acceptance for them. In my mind that doesn’t mean indoctrinating them in any way. It may mean being physically, financially, or emotionally available to them. Serving as sort of a spiritual signpost for them by example. I have to trust God to know what he is doing as each person seeks their own spiritual connectednes to him. Creating religious followers instead of spiritual seekers could easily complicate what God is trying to do.
I do sometimes talk about spiritual issues with people but try very earnestly to keep my opinions as just that, opinions.