Let's talk about prayer!

[Eddi]

In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said:

When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:5-6 CEB)

But let’s bring it all out into the open...

Let’s talk about prayer!

(In particular personal private prayer, as opposed to mass prayers said aloud in a place of public worship)

Some questions to get going:

What is your religion?
Who do you pray to?
How do you pray?
What do you pray about?
What do you pray for?
How do you address The Almighty?
Do you feel any closer to God when you pray?
Why do you pray?
What do you get out of praying?
Have your prayers ever been answered?

Basically, tell us all about your prayer life!

(I’ll follow this OP up with an account of my own prayer life)

 

[Eddi]

I’ll go first:

I’m a Protestant Christian

I try and pray every night before I go to bed, I’m trying to cultivate a ritual of doing so and I normally do unless I’m massively tired

I put my pillows on the floor and kneel on them by my bed, resting my arms on the mattress

I often put on some ambient, soothing music to get me in the mood

I then think out loud something like “hey God, it’s me again”

I then thank him for everything and pray for the people in my life who are important to me. I then pray for the disadvantaged and the oppressed. I then reflect on how much of a good or bad person I’ve been. But I also practice mental silence too. I sometimes go for long periods with complete mental silence in which I empty my mind of all activity. The more I do this the better I get at it and it feels blissful.

I then say “Amen” and go to bed.

I’ve found that having prayed helps me get off to sleep.

I hope others will share details of their prayer life, and not just me, that would be embarrassing

And no, I don't think comparing notes violates the rule regarding "showy prayer"

 

[crossfire]

I'm a Buddhist and Mercuræn Luciferian. (As well as a Pastafarian)
This can be done in public or in private:
The goal is self-transformation first, then you extend this out to others.
If you get down to the nitty gritty--you could say I'm talking to myself. It may or may not also get through to the Jungian collective unconscious.

 

[Spirit of Light]

In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said:

When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:5-6 CEB)

But let’s bring it all out into the open...

Let’s talk about prayer!

(In particular personal private prayer, as opposed to mass prayers said aloud in a place of public worship)

Some questions to get going:

What is your religion?
Who do you pray to?
How do you pray?
What do you pray about?
What do you pray for?
How do you address The Almighty?
Do you feel any closer to God when you pray?
Why do you pray?
What do you get out of praying?
Have your prayers ever been answered?

Basically, tell us all about your prayer life!

(I’ll follow this OP up with an account of my own prayer life)

What is your religion? Buddhism
Who do you pray to? None
How do you pray? I do not practice prayer
What do you pray about? Nothing
What do you pray for? Nothing
How do you address The Almighty? I do not
Do you feel any closer to God when you pray? No
Why do you pray? I do not
What do you get out of praying? Nothing
Have your prayers ever been answered? No​

 

[LiveBetterLife]

I started praying for stuff around February this year.

I'm a lapsed Catholic so I started with the sign of the cross and spoke to god as if he were a person then closed with the Lord's Prayer.

Literally EVERYTHING I prayed for this year was given to me!

And not just do all my prayers get answered and have I been getting everything that I ask god for, but the level of detail is astounding.

I even prayed for something this week and it happened.

My only technique I suppose is that I ask for things within reason and with a grand sense of humility and a genuine hope that I act according to god's will.

I've said like 30+ prayers this year and all of them have been answered positively by god.

I must have really good karma or I'm really mature or spiritually brilliant or something.

I don't know what's going on.

 

[Oliver Twist]

In my prayer I pray "with the help of the Holy Spirit I work eternal with money to all my friends, all my enemies, all my naibours and all mankind" in the namn of Jesus. Amen.

 

[LiveBetterLife]

What is your religion?
Who do you pray to?
How do you pray?
What do you pray about?
What do you pray for?
How do you address The Almighty?
Do you feel any closer to God when you pray?
Why do you pray?
What do you get out of praying?
Have your prayers ever been answered?

Oh yeah the questions:

What is your religion? Lapsed Catholic - Baptized/Confirmed but I really don't like Catholic institutions so idk

Who do you pray to? God I suppose. The way the universe is unfolding. Something higher than me.

How do you pray? Standard lapsed Catholic form. Sign of the Cross; ask god for stuff, explain why, apologize for mistakes then say the lords prayer.

What do you pray about? Usually I want something for myself or people I love. I make promises that I rarely keep but I am sincere in my contrition.

What do you pray for? Lots of ****.

How do you address The Almighty? "Lord"

Do you feel any closer to God when you pray? When god answers my prayers I feel intense closeness with the universe, jubilation and sometimes an awed disbelief that god would help me out.

Why do you pray? Cause I fear certain trivial things in my life.

What do you get out of praying? The **** I ask for.

Have your prayers ever been answered? Yes.

 

[PureX]

What is your religion?

Not religious, but philosophically aligned with taoism and Christianity.

Who do you pray to?

I don't know.

How do you pray?

I express my gratitude for the gift of being, and of being human.

What do you pray for?

Continued 'grace'.

Why do you pray?

It improves my mental and spiritual health.

Have your prayers ever been answered?

The prayer is it's own 'answer'. I don't pray because "God" needs to hear anything, I pray because I need to say some things, every morning, to help set my mind aright for the day.

 

[Eddi]

Have your prayers ever been answered? Yes.

I've never really asked for specific, concrete things so I have no idea if my prayers have been answered

So I have no experience of having my prayers answered, even if they may have been answered, just not obviously

I pray for more vague things like peace on Earth etc.

But I suppose I could ask for more tangible stuff, what's the worst that could happen?

I've always had an aversion to asking for stuff, but I don't think I should:

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? (Matthew 7:9-10)

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8)

 

[LiveBetterLife]

I've never really asked for specific, concrete things so I have no idea if my prayers have been answered

So I have no experience of having my prayers answered, even if they may have been answered, just not obviously

I pray for more vague things like peace on Earth etc.

But I suppose I could ask for more tangible stuff, what's the worst that could happen?

I've always had an aversion to asking for stuff, but I don't think I should:

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? (Matthew 7:9-10)

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8)

I think I've become blessed over the years.

I didn't used to be blessed before though. It's a recent development.

 

[Oliver Twist]

What is your religion?
Sola scriptura

Who do you pray to?
Usually the father

How do you pray?
Not by might, not by Power but by my Spirit says the Lord

What do you pray about?
I do things in my prayer holding the Word that one Day my work will bare fruit.

What do you pray for? Wellfare, healing and health

How do you address The Almighty? The Father

Do you feel any closer to God when you pray?
Yes

Why do you pray?
Salvation

What do you get out of praying? Hope

Have your prayers ever been answer ed? No

 

[Eddi]

I think I've become blessed over the years.

Don't let it get to your head!

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away (Job 1:21)

 

[LiveBetterLife]

Don't let it get to your head!

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away (Job 1:21)

It kinda worked in reverse.

I got heaps of **** taken away from me and then I started praying and god started giving **** back to me.

 

[LiveBetterLife]

It kinda worked in reverse.

I got heaps of **** taken away from me and then I started praying and god started giving **** back to me.

Or not back to me but starting giving me other ****. **** that I hadn't needed or wanted before but needed it this year. I didn't get much of the **** I lost back.

 

[Oliver Twist]

In my prayer I pray with the help of the Holy Spirit that I will finance all mans liberty and freedom. In my prayer I pay eternal with money to mankind.

 

[LiveBetterLife]

In my prayer I pray with the help of the Holy Spirit that I will finance all mans liberty and freedom. In my prayer I pay eternal with money to mankind.

What's all this money stuff about?

 

[Oliver Twist]

In my prayer I pray that with the help of the Holy Spirit I let the Authorities inquire all my debts. I let the authories punish me free from guilt and debts. And in my prayer I hang my self and in my prayers I raise again, i heal myself from the injury of have done so. In The namn of jesus

 

[Eddi]

I used to know a guy who once seriously prayed to Jesus Christ to pay off his overdraft

(Whilst spending all his cash on drugs)

He was a total scumbag

And I'm sure Jesus would know better than to have anything to do with this person financially

 

[Spirit of Light]

I am not a christian but is it not only needed to pray is the Lord's prayer? Did not Jesus teach it like that?

 

[Eddi]

I am not a christian but is it not only needed to pray is the Lord's prayer? Did not Jesus teach it like that?

When Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer he wasn't providing us with an actual prayer

Rather, he was going over all the things a prayer should cover, he offered it as a model prayer

If my understanding is correct