It is essentially the time we spend being conscious of being in the presence of God, and of desiring to know and love Him more each time.
Prayer includes respect, love, pleading and faith. Through a prayer a devotee expresses his helplessness and endows the doership of the task to God. Giving the doership to God means that we acknowledge that God is helping us and getting the task done. Prayer is an important tool of spiritual practice in the generic spiritual path of Devotion.
If we can see praying as not only something we set aside a particular time for each day but as something we can do as we work, run, eat, converse, wait for appointments and yes, even sleep then God will be our constant companion. We then shall be able to turn to Him so easily when we most need Him in those most difficult and discerning moments.
Although we can pray at any time, there are two times that are very important in our Christian journey: the first is the first thing we do on awakening. We commend ourselves into God's care for the day and ask Him to teach us and show us what His will is for us and to give us His grace to do it, and we thank God for the rest of the night. The second, is at the end of the day when we view the day, thanking God for it, confessing our failures and sins, forgiving any injury to us, and commending ourselves into His and the angels' care for the night.
KINDS OF PRAYERS
1. Public Prayer
When we join our fellow Christians in Church and in the course of the service we prays severally together as a congregation.Before leaving we make sure we have said thank you for the Service and to be conscious that as we have received the Lord's message, we should act as He would always want us to.
2. Private Prayer
This consists of various kinds of prayers
a). PRAISE - when our hearts are full of joy and love for God and His abundant bounty.
b). THANKSGIVING - when our hearts are full of appreciation for God and His immeasurable gifts of love and goodness, often from others.
c). CONFESSION - when our hearts are full of contrition for our sins against God, our fellow sisters and brothers, and even against ourselves.
d). INTERCESSION - when our hearts are full of concern about the plight and need of others.
e). PETITION - when our hearts are full of concern for our own situation.
3. Silent Prayer
This kind of prayer allows us to listen to God to be conscious of God within and in a sense just soak in God.
It is indeed a very precious time, and without it we do not make much progress in our prayer life. So it is something we should do each day. Many find the best time is early in the morning when the world is still relatively quiet, and the bustle of the day's routine is still in the future. When we first begin silent prayer or contemplation as it is called, it is best to practise it in the context of saying the Morning Office, or our Morning Prayer or Meditation
4. Prayers at Meals
Sometimes referred to as grace.
To help us to recognise that God is the provider of all we have we ask God to bless our food before eating
To help us to recognise that God is the provider of all we have we ask God to bless our food before eating
5. Meditation
We meditate when we read passages of scripture or holy
writings in a prayerful way.
That is we seek God's guidance to understand what we read, and to give some insight to our daily lives and to our own spiritual journey.. Usually when we spend time meditating or reflecting we pray first, then read the passage, reflect upon what we have read, make some resolution in regards to ourselves and or situation, and pray for grace to fulfill that resolution. It is one of the ways which helps us to know the mind, teaching and will of Christ and His Father better
That is we seek God's guidance to understand what we read, and to give some insight to our daily lives and to our own spiritual journey.. Usually when we spend time meditating or reflecting we pray first, then read the passage, reflect upon what we have read, make some resolution in regards to ourselves and or situation, and pray for grace to fulfill that resolution. It is one of the ways which helps us to know the mind, teaching and will of Christ and His Father better
6. The Lord's Prayer
The very best prayer to pray is the prayer Our Lord
taught His disciples.
Learn to say it slowly and with meaning.
Other PrayersLearn to say it slowly and with meaning.
Within worship is a conversation, but sometimes the words dry up when we start talking to the creator of the universe! At times like this it can be useful to dip into prayers that are written by other people or by ourselves, as they can often inspire us and open our minds to new ways of praising and worshiping our God.
