How do you pray, if you do?

[Vanessa White]

This question is nagging at me today, and I couldn't find any thread on this topic in this area. It is just something I think of every time that I read the prayer list that we have created here. I mean, when I go to our church, I pray there, in an organized, group fashion, and also silently to myself. When I read our list of prayer requests at the forums, I pray silently at that moment, as I type my response, as I sit and ponder the suffering or concerns of another. I prayer for myself when I feel afraid, alone, joyful, whenever- as I look up at a blue sky, as I walk in a rainstorm, as I eat dinner with my family- I feel like I am actively praying almost every moment of my life. I feel like my presence of being here, on this earth, in this moment, is a form of prayer to me, of appreciation of what God has created for me, with me, and in me. I ALSO pray in a very organized, formal fashion, but rarely anymore is it on my knees with my hands folded and my eyes closed. It is almost always palms open, facing up, with my own face toward the heavens. It is intentional thought.

What do others of you think of this question. How do you pray, if you do?

[wmanion]

I must be an informal prayee. I could be doing dishes and praying, laundry, or in my bed at night with the covers over my head. I could be driving, watching a movie, or many other things that I do. I do not have a set time or pattern...I just pray as I go through my day.

Bill

[labguy22]

I am much like you Vanessa, I pray whenever or wherever I may be.
There is twice a day I actually kneel and offer praise and formal petition for help during the day and for my prayer lists.
My, but I am truly a chatter box with God throughout my day. I guess it is a spiritual Blue Tooth connection, my minutes must really be up there

Be Blessed,
Nick

[KennethJ]

To quote a favourite Dixie Chicks song ... "I ain't said a prayer since I don't know when."

Really though, I've completely reinterpretted what prayer is. I can no longer pray like i used to pray as a fundamentalist, since I've rejected that concept of God altogether. Now, instead of making requests to a diety, I meditate on the mystery and interconnectedness of all of life. This fills me with a sense of awe and wonder. It fills me with a knowledge that God is bigger than I or anyone else can define... and helps me to avoid seeing God as a Santa in the sky for adults.

[Daniel]

A year or so after I came out, I found myself on a spiritual journey. One of the things that I did was take a course called "The Silva Method of Mind Control", or "The Silva Method" for short.

When people here the word 'control' they often think of controlling other people. That is not what the course was about. Rather, it was about disciplining one's own mind. What I learned changed my life.

What did I learn? Simply put: to access the mind - become 'aware'- via conscious relaxation of the body. This is the basis of all meditation systems. If your eyes are looking around and you're fidgeting, you aren't going to be mentally calm. I also learned that I could change my perception by changing my breathing. ie- slow down the breathing and you slow down the mind. This is another component (one finds that in very deep states of mind the breath is almost suspended).

Put them together: the awareness of the breath and the relaxation of the body- and you have something that is the springboard to meditation, prayer, contemplation.

This is what I do before doing to bed- and if I can manage it- after I wake up- though I don't always succeed. On the days that I do both, everything goes differently- of at least it seems to. I will 'visualize' during this time- seeing other people being healed etc- choose a phrase like the Jesus Prayer to repeat- work on a problem- or just simply 'be'. But each time, I get into what I am doing by consciously relaxing my body and watching my breath. That gets me going. It makes me 'aware'.

And sometimes I think just being aware is praying.

But that's the Buddhist part of me talking.

[Zerbie]

Different ways.

I was not taught to pray when young, so had no style or foundation for it. When I wanted - ha! needed - to pray as a young adult, I made up my own forms for it.

College age, I used to light white candles, and set pretty rocks, shells, or flowers around them and inwardly speak to God.

Nowadays, I do different things: I'll just chatter away to God when I feel the need, like Tevye chattering at God in Fiddler on the Roof.

I also practice a couple different styles of more formal prayer - chanting in Sanskrit - that I've learned over the years practicing yoga. That is a more focused prayer, and has a stronger effect on me and my perceptions than just chatting at God when I'm say, walking around or driving around.
The more formal prayer creates a biological impression; it changes the functioning of the nervous system.

[NathanATX]

Originally Posted by KennethJ

To quote a favourite Dixie Chicks song ... "I ain't said a prayer since I don't know when."

Really though, I've completely reinterpretted what prayer is. I can no longer pray like i used to pray as a fundamentalist, since I've rejected that concept of God altogether. Now, instead of making requests to a diety, I meditate on the mystery and interconnectedness of all of life. This fills me with a sense of awe and wonder. It fills me with a knowledge that God is bigger than I or anyone else can define... and helps me to avoid seeing God as a Santa in the sky for adults.

I totally get what you're saying...

And I love what Daniel & Zerbie said too...

I find when I pray vocally it is more about affirming and ministering to the people who are listening to my prayer, instead of talking/requesting/etc. to God... I'm reminding them that they are in the heart of God, reminding them of the promises of God, reminding them of their own divinity, kind of a guided meditation...

When I personally get stressed/hurt/angry/worried/sick/etc... I don't really pray. I spend some time quietly reminding myself of God... reminding myself to be aware of God in and around me... remembering that people & circumstances are not my source of love/money/joy... thinking about what life in another person's shoes must be like, in order to find some compassion...

[u-dog]

anybody else have experience with praying a labyrinth? I was just at a youth conference where they had a labyrinthe set up and was reminded about how centering that experience is. I like to pray prayers of intercession or supplication (asking for things) on the way in, stopping at every turn, and to pray prayers of thanksgiving on the way out.

[Daniel]

There was one at St. John the Divine some years back- inside actually- the nave is very large. It was circular in form. Walking it reminded me of the Walking Meditation that Zen Buddhist's do.

I'd like to walk a labyrinth in a garden- tall hedges- very 'Harry Potter' and oh so English. The disorienting factor must be part of the experience, no? One doesn't get that tracing a pattern on the floor.

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Daniel

There was one at St. John the Divine some years back- inside actually- the nave is very large. It was circular in form. Walking it reminded me of the Walking Meditation that Zen Buddhist's do.

I'd like to walk a labyrinth in a garden- tall hedges- very 'Harry Potter' and oh so English. The disorienting factor must be part of the experience, no? One doesn't get that tracing a pattern on the floor.

There is a Franciscan retreat center that mows one into their meadow every year. that is very cool. being surrounded by the sounds and smells of the meadow is very meditative. Walking the pattern in the floor is not disorienting but the intricacy of the pattern makes it impossible to judge where you are in the process. One minute you seem to be almost to the center ... the next you are back out at the edge again. Not being able to anticipate when it will "be over" is definately part of the experience.

I think that the high hedge thing is more a feature of a maze. The difference between the labyrinth and the maze is that the labyrinth has only one path from outside edge to inner core. there are no deadends or false paths. You can get lost in your own thoughts in a labyrinth but that's all.

The labyrinth goes back at least 1000 years in the Christian Tradition but I would not be surprised if it came over from zen Budhism by some obscure path.

[rainbow7]

wow the variety of religious experience in this group is amazing.
I have found transcendental meditation to be extremely helpful in my learning to expand my consciousness and become aware of reciprocal communication with who I understand God to be. There are MANY ways to send prayers, but I find receiving a response to be more complicated.

Polly

[kara speltz]

Originally Posted by rainbow7

wow the variety of religious experience in this group is amazing.
I have found transcendental meditation to be extremely helpful in my learning to expand my consciousness and become aware of reciprocal communication with who I understand God to be. There are MANY ways to send prayers, but I find receiving a response to be more complicated.

Polly

I had the same thought. I love the diversity. I grew up Roman Catholic so I learned all the prayers, but they didn't mean that much to me at the time. I left the church for 20+ years and explored all sorts of spiritual paths, including Buddhism, Wicca, Yoruba, Huna, and a lot of the New Age stuff. So I've incorporated a lot of all of that into my prayer life.

I start my prayers in the morning in the shower where I say a Huna prayer and make all my petitions for the day for my family and friends. Then the rest of the day is just constant chatter with God, mostly in gratitude for all the amazing gifts.

I turn 70 on Sunday, and it's all been such a blessing. Even the really, really hard stuff in my life has eventually turned into blessings that I never would have dreamed of. When I was young, I studied a group of teachings called Arica and I remember they used to say, it's all perfect. In my youth that didn't feel right, but the older I get the more I'm able to see the perfection of life. We can either choose to be grateful or live in resentment. I prefer an "attitude of gratitude," myself.

Kara

[Zerbie]

Pray a labyrinth?????????????


This is like a garden maze????


What are you guys talking about, or have I got it?

You wander through a maze, lost, as a prayer ritual?

[BenL]

How do I pray? Interesting question.

I've gone through many phases in my prayer life. When I was young, my prayers were very busy. I usually had a long agenda to bring to God's attention about what needed changing and what God should do to help different people, including me. Now, my prayers are more like visits with the divine, who dwells in me anyways. Now I conciously try to open the "inner door' between him/her and me when I pray.

Like many of the previous posters, I find myself talking to God intermittently all day long. That's one way I satisfy my need to list the things that are bothering me. But I also say, "Thanks," and, more often, "Help!" during these informal "chats."

More and more the substance of my prayer is silence, where I still my body and quiet my mind so that I can commune in God's peace. The "small, still voice" that Elijah heard is my icon for prayer and contemplation, though I certainly don't pretend to the prophet's role.

Like some of you, I need the presence of others to fortify my prayer life. Liturgical prayer satisfies this need for me and helps structure my inner life. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

[Vanessa White]

This is all so interesting, the variation of practices/feelings of presence and what various, organized religions are represented here- it fascinates me!!! The idea of being fully present, calm, and peaceful is definitely one that rings totally true with me. The more present I am, whatever means I need to use to get there through thoughts, breathing, etc., then the more calm and serene that I feel. I used to think that asking God for what I need in my prayers was a bad thing, but then realized that God is there for that purpose, among others. I ask God when I don't feel like I clearly can see the way. I ask for God to remind me of my own strength. I guess how I came to realize within myself that it was okay to ask for what I needed, was knowing within that I also pray to God to express my gratitude, awe, and appreciation about so much in my life. Even the most difficult lessons.

Zerbie, I had never heard of the labrynth at all in terms of the Christian faith, nor in terms of a means to pray. Very interesting to me. udog seems to distinguish it from mazes, although I can envision the way in which it would help to create a focal point for prayer, if you will. It feels similar to a chant or word repeated in prayer, at least in my head.

Let's keep this up!! I am so interested in it.....

[BenL]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Pray a labyrinth?????????????


This is like a garden maze????


What are you guys talking about, or have I got it?

You wander through a maze, lost, as a prayer ritual?

Here's a page that explains labyrinths:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/discoverframe.html

Our parish has a copy of the labyrinth at Chartres cathedral, painted on canvas, that we spread on the floor of the nave every month for people to use for devotion. Sometimes there are meditations and/or music. Sometimes the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is celebrated on the labyrinth after everyone's individual devotional period.

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Pray a labyrinth?????????????


This is like a garden maze????


What are you guys talking about, or have I got it?

You wander through a maze, lost, as a prayer ritual?

A labyrinth is an intricate pathway design. it looks like a maze but is different in that there is only ONE path and there are no choices to make or deadends. you cannot get lost. but at the same time you cannot really anticipate where the path will lead you next. You only know that you are on your way to the center or on your way back out to the edge. There is usually a center area where you can kneel or sit to pray before beginning the journey back out into the world. There are lots of ways to pray the labyrinth. sometimes there are prayer guides you can use. some people read scripture passages and mediate on them as they move.

You can think of it as a form of "kinesthetic prayer" as a person with Adult ADD I find it VERY useful and helpful. When I sit down to pray my body keeps asking "Are we done yet? can we go now?"

We know that the Labyrinth is over a thousand years old because many of the medieval cathedrals have them inlaid into their marble floors. Where the idea originated is anyones guess.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by u-dog

A labyrinth is an intricate pathway design. it looks like a maze but is different in that there is only ONE path and there are no choices to make or deadends. you cannot get lost. but at the same time you cannot really anticipate where the path will lead you next. You only know that you are on your way to the center or on your way back out to the edge. There is usually a center area where you can kneel or sit to pray before beginning the journey back out into the world. There are lots of ways to pray the labyrinth. sometimes there are prayer guides you can use. some people read scripture passages and mediate on them as they move.

You can think of it as a form of "kinesthetic prayer" as a person with Adult ADD I find it VERY useful and helpful. When I sit down to pray my body keeps asking "Are we done yet? can we go now?"

We know that the Labyrinth is over a thousand years old because many of the medieval cathedrals have them inlaid into their marble floors. Where the idea originated is anyones guess.

Whoaa!! Coooool!!!

I have so totally never heard of that before!!!!!! That sounds awesome! I'd probably love it.

Sounds a bit similar to walking meditation or restorative yoga the way you use it.

[u-dog]

Here is a picture of the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth. This is the pattern I walked last week. its probably the most common but there are many patterns.

[nmwolfboy]

There are many ways that i pray, and which way is more common changes almost daily. When it comes to traditionally formal, lately i've been praying the Angelus three times per day, most days. Also, i often daily pray one of the following from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer or Compline. A few times a week i spend time repeating the Jesus Prayer.

Over the past couple of weeks i've also been exploring Centering Prayer, which i've felt a strong pull toward. This is the method that seems the most vital to me. The phrase i use to focus intention in this kind of prayer is either "Rest in God" or "Be Still".

i like to kneel when i pray, but these arthritic knees of mine really restrict that. Most often i prefer to be outside somewhere quiet, either seated or walking.

Frequently at night i fall asleep asking God's blessing upon a free-flowing impromptu list of people that i love.

Pax
scott