How Do You Pray?

[Anonymous]

I often pray silently in specific circumstances with nothing more than a “thank you” with mind pointed upward.

[Anonymous]

My prayers sometimes are short and sweet. I usually pray for other people.

I used to say a prayer of thanksgiving in the morning and asking things in the night.

I feel that He is truly my Heavenly Father, which means I can say anything to Him. When I’m mad at Him, I tell Him. When I am happy I do the same. I just say whatever I feel like. I use language I feel is appropriate, not per se the special language of prayer, but only as long as it feels respectful to me.

Sometimes before I pray, I make a list of things I want to pray about. It helps me as well.

[Anonymous]

RMsister wrote:

I just say whatever I feel like.

that’s a great answer!

[Anonymous]

Brian wrote:

Most of the time these days, I tend to pray without words, neither mentally nor spoken out loud. I like to get into a state of mind where I feel connected to “the divine,” and then I picture my family members in my mind one at a time and try to feel thankful for them with my whole being. I hold them in my mind for a good minute or more each, and think about what I like/love about them. Or I do that same thankfullness contemplation with other people or ideas (like picture where I work, etc.). I feel like my whole body/soul is singing as I feel thankful. I think of it as singing with my soul to God (or the universe, or whatever).

This is cool.

I also like Heber13’s approach:

Quote:

Sometimes I just need time to be still, and unplug from the world.

Quote:

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God

I’ve been experimenting a bit myself. I try to talk (usually form mental thoughts rather than out loud, though sometimes, depending on circumstances, I’ll whisper or mouth words) in the language I use normally (so no Jacobean English for me).

I’ve also been doing some experimentation with set prayers, despite my inborn Mormon aversion to “prayer by rote.” I find that set prayers are a nice way to center or direct my thoughts on a particular desire, need, or thing I’m grateful for. The Upper Room, a Methodist Ministry, has nice little daily devotionals: a scripture reading and a personal story followed by a brief, suggested prayer. A couple of interesting Christians, part of the New Monasticism movement, put together a liturgy for, as they somewhat preciously say, “ordinary radicals,” called Common Prayer. Each day on the Common Prayer site, they post that morning’s devotional (with links to midday and evening prayers). Some of the stuff is well beyond my comfort zone, but I still find some spiritual connection in doing some of it.

And, as grating as I find pat Sunday School answers couched in this sort of high Mormonspeak, and as much as I don’t care for Elder McConkie, I still think this description in the LDS Bible Dictionary is quite lovely:

Quote:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

[Anonymous]

All great thoughts and information. Keep them coming!

[Anonymous]

Andrew,

You had me with you up until this last part – “The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.”

Although this does not resonate with me, I still see great personal value in the bible dictionary definition prior to this point.

[Anonymous]

Well, here are just some random thoughts…

I’m a prayeraholic. I pray at my bedside morning and night, and then in a less formal way throughout the day as I feel I need help. I think that of all the things a person could possibly have a testimony on, prayer is probably the area where my testimony is the strongest. Sometimes when I start my prayers, it’s with an apology that goes something like this: “God, I’m really sorry to say the same things and to say them in exactly the same order every time I pray. But I’m really thankful for the same things every time I go to talk to you, and most of the time, I really feel like I need the same things, so please just realize that I’m not trying to make this a ‘vain repetitions’ kind of thing.” Then I proceed to say the same things, in the same order that I do every time I pray.

Once in awhile, if I’m really not in the mood to pray, I will actually begin by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. It seems to help me get in the mood, and it serves as a reminder of how my Savior told me I should be praying. I think, “hallowed be thy name,” and it reminds me that I am addressing the most holy being in all of existance. When I say, “thy will be done,” I am reminded that no matter how justified I may feel in asking for certain blessings and even for help and guidance, it’s ultimately going to be up to God whether to grant me what I’m asking for, and if I truly want to show Him that I am trying to be humble, there is no better way to do so than to accept His will, no matter how difficult it may be. “Give us this day our daily bread” always reminds me of one of the songs in Michael McLean’s “Forgotten Carols.” The words to that song are as follows:

A mansion on a hill, a love like in the movies,

Perfect little dreams where no one has a problem.

Instead of all those things I thought I really wanted,

I’ve been given what I need.

Even when I didn’t understand,

When I thought you had no heart,

Thank you for rejecting my demands

And always giving me the better part.

All I ever wanted, all I ever I dreamed of,

Everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for

Couldn’t hold a candle to what I’ve been given.

I’ve been given what I need.

I’m reminded that no matter what I pray for, God will always give me what I need. Many times He blesses me with things I don’t really need, but that I want nevertheless. But by praying for “our daily bread,” I know that all I really should expect from Him are the necessities of life. “As we forgive our debtors,” is a hard phrase for me to say because I have a hard time forgiving my debtors. When I say that, I’m reminded that I have a ton of sins I need to be forgiven of and the only way that’s going to happen is for me to forgive others. “Deliver us from evil.” To me, this just means, “Help me to be a better person tomorrow than I was today.” That’s something I pray for every night. Now, I have to admit that when I think of the words to the Lord’s Prayer, I often think of the song, and when it gets to the ending, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” I hear the creshendo of the music in my mind. By then, I’m normally ready to offer my own personal prayer.

Once in a great while (maybe two or three times a year is all), I will say a prayer of thanksgiving only. I don’t ask for anything, not even safety for my loved ones or that I’ll be given the strength to be a better person. You would be surprised at how hard this is. You get so used to asking for things, that it almost becomes second-nature. When you are forced to just think of your blessings, it really humbles you.

Sometimes I almost fall asleep when I pray, or find that my mind wanders. I hate myself when that happens, and I think how Heavenly Father must feel to know that my mind is off in la-la land when He’s listening to me. Other times, I am really, really focused. If I’m worried about something or am feeling unusually emotional about something, I’ll cry and cry as I pray. As far as my language goes, I go back and forth between using “thee” and “thy” and using “you” and “your.” I honestly don’t think it matters one way or the other to God.

Well, that was a ramble and a half. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Katzpur wrote:

Sometimes I almost fall asleep when I pray, or find that my mind wanders. I hate myself when that happens, and I think how Heavenly Father must feel to know that my mind is off in la-la land when He’s listening to me.

This happens to me too! (the mind wandering part, not the sleeping part 😆 ) I tend to look at it as an opportunity for God to answer me and inspire my thoughts. Almost as though I am saying, “Father, here are my thoughts. Help me to shape them.”

[Anonymous]

My picture of God is like a father figure. I would want my own children to approach and talk to me in what ever way they felt comfortable as long as it was not blatantly disrespectful. So I don’t really stress about it and instead approach prayer like I would a talk with my grandpa.

I don’t know if it really does any good or if God literally listens to every word, but prayer is an excellent way for getting your feelings out of your head. By asking for forgiveness you know what you want to change in your life. By asking for blessings, you know what you want to achieve and what or who is most important. It helps recenter your focus, I guess it what I am saying.

[Anonymous]

Katzpur wrote:

I’m reminded that no matter what I pray for, God will always give me what I need.

To me that seems like you might as well not ask for anything because you will only get what God was already going to give you. I am not trying to criticize, it is just that the logician in me has a hard time with these kinds of statements.

[Anonymous]

Brown wrote:

To me that seems like you might as well not ask for anything because you will only get what God was already going to give you. I am not trying to criticize, it is just that the logician in me has a hard time with these kinds of statements.

Well, maybe it would help if you simply looked at prayer as an opportunity to do some spiritual exercises to get your radio in tune so God can talk to you. Maybe prayer is a time to practice our faith, our hope, our gratitude, and our charity.

Faith: “Help me to stand firm against the temptation to sue that fellow at work.”

Hope: “Help me to keep a good attitude.”

Gratitude: “Thanks for the pillow I lie down on tonight.”

Charity: “Bless my boss, my spouse, and my creditors.”

[Anonymous]

Brown wrote:

Katzpur wrote:

I’m reminded that no matter what I pray for, God will always give me what I need.

To me that seems like you might as well not ask for anything because you will only get what God was already going to give you. I am not trying to criticize, it is just that the logician in me has a hard time with these kinds of statements.

I can see where you’re coming from, but I try to think of my relationship to God as being similar to my kids’ relationship to me. I have always tried to give my kids what I felt they needed, but sometimes I would also give them something they really didn’t need at all, but wanted very much. I did this for two reasons: (1) I love them and wanted them to have the things that will make them happy, and (2) — I think this is the key element — if they actually asked me for something they would not be able to get on their own, I recognized that they were acknowledging that I was in a position to be able to give it to them. One of my favorite scriptures is that very, very short one which says simply, “Be still and know that I am God.” I think God wants us to recognize that He is the source of every good thing we have. When we ask Him for something that we really want, and know that He can make it happen, I think He will often give it to us just as His way of saying, “Thank you for appreciating the fact that I am God and that the decision whether to give you what you want lies solely with me. Thank you for trusting me in this.” When I don’t get what I want, I try really hard to accept that there must have been a reason why it was denied. I’m definitely not saying I am successful at this. Most of the time I really kind of suck at it, so I’d have to say that it’s a goal for me more than anything else. I think that what God wants is a relationship, and when we are willing to be gracious in letting Him call the shots, He appreciates our trust and faith and rewards us accordingly. I don’t know if that made one ounce of sense. 😳

[Anonymous]

Makes perfect sense – and I agree, for what that’s worth. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Tom Haws wrote:

Brown wrote:

To me that seems like you might as well not ask for anything because you will only get what God was already going to give you. I am not trying to criticize, it is just that the logician in me has a hard time with these kinds of statements.

Well, maybe it would help if you simply looked at prayer as an opportunity to do some spiritual exercises to get your radio in tune so God can talk to you. Maybe prayer is a time to practice our faith, our hope, our gratitude, and our charity.

Let’s assume that prayer has no effect on external matters and events would have unfolded in the same manner anyway. What is to be gained by prayer? How might prayer affect you?

The act of prayer is an exercise in humility, complete with kneeling and bowed head.

Prayer usually includes expressions of gratitude (for what you have) and sets you up for more gratitude in the future (when you get at least some of what you asked for). Gratitude is an important ingredient to happiness.

Prayer can lead to confidence and strengthened faith. Some may discredit this as a false sense of security but we all operate under false security to differing extents and it is useful in living our lives unafraid (as long as it isn’t taken to the extreme, like dancing with dangerous snakes etc.)

Prayer can be motivational for change. If you pray for help getting a job or to resist a certain temptation, you may afterwards have additional motivation to work towards those goals.

Prayer is an important element in establishing trust in and a relationship with God. Even if God didn’t exist there seems to be a need in many humans to believe. Through prayer you would be going a long way towards meeting that need and not feeling so alone or insignificant in the world.

In summary-

Tom Haws wrote:

Well, maybe it would help if you simply looked at prayer as an opportunity to do some spiritual exercises to get your radio in tune so God can talk to you. Maybe prayer is a time to practice our faith, our hope, our gratitude, and our charity.

[Anonymous]

Roy, you’re a stud. Excellent words. Help me understand further, because prayer has not been a staple for me lately.

I’ll share some comments to your post.

Roy wrote:

Let’s assume that prayer has no effect on external matters and events would have unfolded in the same manner anyway. What is to be gained by prayer? How might prayer affect you?

The act of prayer is an exercise in humility, complete with kneeling and bowed head.

Prayer usually includes expressions of gratitude (for what you have) and sets you up for more gratitude in the future (when you get at least some of what you asked for). Gratitude is an important ingredient to happiness

I do assume prayer has no affect on external matters. Realizing this was part of my crisis of faith. Therefore, spending time to kneel and be grateful to remind myself to be grateful seems less critical for me now. Maybe I can just be grateful as I commute into work and reflect on things?

Roy wrote:

Prayer can lead to confidence and strengthened faith.

I feel I was burned by this false sense of security in the past. I’m not sure about this for me and my situation.

Roy wrote:

Prayer can be motivational for change.

This is a great point. I still use prayer for this. I feel it helps to just talk to my God about what I need help changing … and I’m not sure why I find that comforting. But I do. This is probably my greatest reason why I pray when I do.

Roy wrote:

Prayer is an important element in establishing trust in and a relationship with God.

This one, I’m not sure I buy into yet. If God is not intervening, I’m not sure how it establishes “trust”. If God’s ways are higher than my ways, I can’t trust or predict or figure it out. I’m better off just letting things happen, and I’ll see God’s will when it happens. Prayer doesn’t seem to be a part of that equation.

Help me see it differently.

[Author]

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