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When facing something I perceive to be beyond my control praying is something that gives me ease. No doubt it can be argued that prayer is objectively useless. Subjectively speaking it feels useful.
Shall we expand immediately to the various types of prayer?
Spells, incantations, mantras, etc.
When I was younger, rosaries were everywhere.
But Scripture makes note not to pray in repetition.
I agree.
I reserve my intention to those moments when need is pressing.
I don't like to bother the Boss, unless I really need to.
Even so, prayer is more of a cognitive 'shout' or 'whisper', depending on the need at hand.
Prayer is talking to God. Whether or not you believe in God, you can talk to Him. If you don't believe in God, it is like, I suppose, talking to yourself. And if you do believe in God, then it is like having a conversation with someone you love.
And what use do you see in prayer, ChristineES?
For me, personally, I use prayer to talk to God. Sometimes I do the ritual thing of bowing my head and and so on, but there are times when I just look up and talk to Him. Anyone seeing me would think I was talking to myself, but since I say "God" or "Father" when I do it, they may know that I am talking to God. The ritual way is requests and stuff and the other way is just one-way conversation (or two-way, depending on how you look at it) and it makes me feel as though someone is listening to me (my husband and children always interrupt me, making me feel as though they don't listen to one thing I say to them. My mom used to dominate all conversations, also, when I was a kid).
What is the use of prayer?
I admit that I find that a curious way to phrase the question. Does everything we do have to be viewed in terms of how it's useful to us?
In it's most basic sense, prayer is an act which allows us to connect to and communicate with the divine -- in my case, that would be my gods.
It allows us to make a connection in which we communicate and pour out our thoughts, our hopes, our dreams, our needs, our shortcomings, and everything else. And it provides us with a chance to receive back insight, understanding, and advice.
In my faith, prayer really is a two-way street. I don't just talk to my gods. They talk back to me. Sometimes, they do so all but literally. At other times, they provide their input in more subtle ways, such as a moment of inspiration or a moment of serendipity.
Prayer strengthens me. Prayer changes me. Prayer even challenges me. Because those are the results of contact with the gods.
To answer this question, I give you the paradigmatic Christian prayer, the so-called Lord's Prayer. I give you the version at it appears in the Gospel According to St. Matthew in the New Revised Standard Version translation:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.
What are the purposes (uses) of this prayer? Well, the first line centers us and reminds us of the reality in which we move. For the Christian, God is "our Father". That is already redolent with connotations, but then there is also "in heaven." There is intimacy and authority and sovereignty expressed here. As we pray the rest of the prayer, we do so keeping these things in mind. Thus one purpose of prayer (this prayer at least) is to serve as a reminder of what is truly real: God is in heaven; he does as he pleases; he is our God, and we his people.
The second line is our heart's cry that things would be so on earth as they are in heaven. That is, just as all things go according to God's loving design in heaven, we express our longing that it should be so in our experience. This is the "petition" side of prayer. The question was asked why we should do this if God is omniscient. Well obviously we don't "inform" God about anything. He knows our needs before we ask. But by permitting us to ask, God invites us to participate with him in the provision of answers to prayer. God does in fact do things because his people ask. (Of course he's always free to act unilaterally.) And finally, because we are always in the position of asking (rather than commanding, willing, etc.), we cultivate humility. Nothing is more grotesquely distorting and self-congratulating than the delusion that we are in control of our fates.
The third line again expresses our dependency upon God. It serves as a reminder to us once again that everything we have comes from the hand of God. This is a useful reminder and dovetails neatly with the previous petition for God's will to be done on earth as in heaven.
The fourth line asks God to forgive us our debts. This is both literal (speaking of financial debt) and metaphorical (speaking of sins, what might be considered moral debt). But notice that our debts are to be forgiven AS we forgive others. I cannot expect God to forgive my debt if I hold a grudge against my neighbour. This part of the prayer therefore serves to remind me of both my moral failings and the hope that they can be overcome. This prayer is the vehicle through which both gifts come to me.
The last petition is simply a prayer that we be able to live our lives without persecution. We ask that we would be rescued from the evil one, which may mean being rescued from physical harm, from temptation to sin, or from evil people. We ask this even though we know that living a godly life will bring us no shortage of trouble.
So what use is prayer? Well, at least in the case of this prayer, it forms us as a people (that is, if we actually pray it and take it seriously). It changes us into the sort of people God intends us to be. So prayer is not merely about getting stuff I think I need. Prayer is about cultivating character, especially such virtues as faith, humility, patience, love, hope, and gratitude.
If God wanted to talk to you, wouldn't He be able to do so directly?
Does prayer, for you, help to establish a rapport with God that does not exist outside of prayer?
It seems obvious to me that a theist would find some use in prayer, otherwise, why would the practice continue after thousands of years?
What is the use of prayer?
Is it useful as a way to vent emotion and feelings? Is it useful as a way to intercede with God, so God would notice the plight of the subject/s of the prayer? Do you consider prayer useful in some other manner?
Or Is prayer entirely useless?