What is Prayer ?

Deidre said:

A somewhat certain hope that God is listening.

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You said a lot with very few words. I like it.

David1967 said:

You said a lot with very few words. I like it.

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Prayer is devotion to God

chinu said:

WHAT IS PRAYER ACCORDING TO YOU ?


According to me.. Prayer is Whim which comes out of human mind when in the danger of loosing something. For example: loosing exams, loosing any result, loosing rank, loosing near and dears, loosing business, loosing name-fame, loosing any treatment, or loosing body etc.

Such Whims aren't dependent of any particular time, place, posture, method, words, language, religion, etc. Its just the natural automatic happening process which happens during the danger of loosing something (As I mentioned above)

Atheist, or Theist, Everyone pray, ..When needed

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hi.
i realy admire you and your trying to find the truth and communicate with god.
i send five verses from the holy quran about closeness of god to his servant.
these are only some example in the holy quran.
god's mercy and love is extreme and infinite.
there are 114 chapters in the holy quran that 113 chapters from it, starts with this very beautiful verse:
in the name of god the most compassionate the most merciful.
the goal of creation is devine mercy according to verse 119 of chapter 11 in the holy quran.
in chapter 2, verse 186 we read:
And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.

in chapter 4, verse174 and 175, we read:
O people! surely there has come to you manifest proof from your Lord and We have sent to you clear light.
Then as for those who believe in Allah and hold fast by Him, He will cause them to enter into His mercy and grace and guide them to Himself on a right path.
in chapter 6, verse 54, we read:
And when those who believe in Our communications come to you, say: Peace be on you, your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself, [so] that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then He is Forgiving, Merciful.

in chapter 11, verse 90, we read:

And ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn to Him; surely my Lord is Merciful, Loving-kind.
in chapter 39, verse 53 the all merciful god addressed his servants with kind word and says:
Say: O my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving the Merciful.

Baladas said:

When I was a Christian, I learned many types of prayer. Ultimately, most of these were primarily meant to shift the mind's focus towards God. When I struck out on my own, I realized that my times of what my pastor called "contemplative prayer" I was in fact, meditating. Breathing deeply, and focusing my mind on the Divine, or simply allowing it to drift and be blank (which I have now come to realize is what many call contemplating "nothingness").

I still pray, in a fashion similar in many ways to the way I have always prayed. This prayer helps me to move into a time of meditation, at times leading to mystic experiences.

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I refer to this as 'centering prayer' which quiets the mind and body and prepares one for contemplation.