All of the great spiritual traditions pray and prayer can take many forms. A prayer is a heartfelt intention that can express gratitude, devotion, and/or a need for forgiveness or healing. It is an act of reaching out to what is greater than ourselves and affirming our connection with that reality, regardless of what name it is given. Prayers may take on physical as well as verbal forms: Muslims kneel, Sufi Muslims may whirl, Orthodox Jews sway their bodies to and fro,and Native Americans dance and sing. In some cases, prayer can be silent as in the Zen Buddhist meditation tradition, the Quaker tradition and in the monastic centering prayer tradition from the Catholic Church. Verbal prayers may be spontaneous or they may be repeated phrases such as in the Catholic Rosary and in Hindu and Buddhist mantras. Singing could also be considered a form of corporate prayer in the Christian tradition.
This site features links to sites that have various types of prayer forms and two prayers are included in their entirety on this site, The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father, and the Serenity Prayer. There are two featured videos, one which covers Orthodox Christian prayer and another on how to pray the rosary.
The Serenity Prayer
- God grant me the serenity
- to accept the things I cannot change;
- courage to change the things I can;
- and wisdom to know the difference.
- Living one day at a time;
- Enjoying one moment at a time;
- Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
- Taking, as He did, this sinful world
- as it is, not as I would have it;
- Trusting that He will make all things right
- if I surrender to His Will;
- That I may be reasonably happy in this life
- and supremely happy with Him
- Forever in the next.
- Amen.
- --Reinhold Niebuhr
The Lord's Prayer
- Our Father, who art in heaven,
- hallowed be thy name.
- Thy Kingdom come,
- thy will be done,
- on earth as it is in heaven
- Give us this day our daily bread.
- And forgive us our trespasses,
- as we forgive those who trespass against us.
- And lead us not into temptation,
- but deliver us from evil.
- For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen
Note: The last line is excluded from the Our Father in the Roman Catholic tradition.
Recommended Links
Orthodox Christian Prayer
The practice of prayer in Orthodox Christianity helps the individual to develop a relationship with God. Members are encouraged to pray seven times a day.. This regular practice helps foster development of a personal relationship with God. The practice begins and ends in the home. Items that are important to the prayer practice of Orthodox Christians are icons of Christ and the Saints, holy oil, the Bible, and the Coptic Prayer Book. Elements of the prayer service include Psalm 50, the Lord's Prayer, meditation on the Psalms, the kyrie eleison prayer, and spontaneous prayer which is directed to Christ and the Saints. Women must cover their heads when praying in the Orthodox Christian Tradition (I Cor. 11:5).
How to Pray the Rosary
Essential steps for praying the rosary within the Roman Catholic Church Tradition are described in this video. You start and end the rosary by making the sign of the cross and then reciting the Apostle's Creed. Meditations on each of he five mysteries then proceed beginning with an Our Father, then Ave María (10X), and a Glory Be. The prayer finishes with an Our Father and Ave María (3X) and another Our Father. You can pray the rosary with rosary beads or you can use your fingers to keep count. Other religious traditions which use prayer beads include Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism.
References
Fast Facts
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'''Types of Prayer'''
Adoration, Forgiveness, Love, Petition, Thanksgiving, Active and Passive Meditations, Hymns
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'''Oldest Written Records of Prayer'''
5,000 years ago
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'''Approaches to Prayer'''
Educational, Comtemplative-Rational, Experiential (mysticism)
