Do you Pray?

[Baz]

I likes some questions posted in the Holy Huddle, obviously addressing Christians, as I and others are not allowed to post in that forum, I would like to ask any site members of any belief the same thing;
1) Do you pray?
2) How do you pray?
3) How often to you pray?
4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?




Personally 1/ I do pray. 2/ I pray in different ways at different times, the most common being conscious thought, but in a mish-mash of points that you could not make into a structured sentence. Usually asking for some form of understanding. 3/ no fixed amount, when I feel like it, on average 3-6 times a week. 4/ I often think I see things differently as a result.

[Divine Insight]

I likes some questions posted in the Holy Huddle, obviously addressing Christians, as I and others are not allowed to post in that forum, I would like to ask any site members of any belief the same thing;

Since you've posted this in "Non-Christian Religions and Philosophies" I thought I'd take a stab at trying to answer your questions.

1) Do you pray?

I'm not sure. I suppose that can depend on your definition of prayer.

If you were to ask me, "Do you commune with God?", I would say yes, I do.

Does that count as prayer?

2) How do you pray?

Most of my communication with God is simply gratitude expressed from me to God. I usually express gratitude verbally aloud as if I'm actually talking to another person. I don't assume any special posture or hold my hands together or anything like that. I'll talk to God whilst I'm getting dressed in the morning, or cooking a meal, or doing anything. I talk to God just like I would talk to anyone one.

Other times I do perform specific rituals to commune with God. Sometimes these may take the forum of meditations. Sometimes I'll use shamanic journeying. And sometimes I'll cast a witch's circle and call up specific God and Goddess psychic archetypes through which I commune with God in very intimate and special ways.

I also commune with God through Faeries on occassion.

And sometimes I just talk with God directly in two-way conversations and She answers back.

3) How often do you pray?

Well, if the expression of gratitude counts as prayer I pray almost continually throughout the day, every day. This isn't done to appease God. This is simply an expression of how I truly feel about my current life. I'm very pleased with my currently life situation and I'm simply bubbling over with gratitude so it just comes out naturally.

In terms of meditations, shamanic Journeys, and visits with the faeries, it's hard to say. Sometime I get more into it than others. I tend not to plan that sort of thing, and allow them to come to me. Although, sometimes it pays off to initiate them intentionally. In fact, now that you have me thinking about this I'd probably do well to actively initiate these more often as they have tended to slip away lately in terms of being spontaneous.

Casting a full-blown witch's circle is something I haven't done for quite some time, and I really do miss it. So that's also something I really should be getting back into more "religiously" I suppose.

I dropped away from these things due to other factors in my life. But now it's time to get back into my spiritual mindset. So thanks for creating this thread and reminding me.

4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?

Well, I'm not sure if there is any result from expressing my gratitude. I just do it because I'm naturally bubbling over with gratitude and feel like expressing it. I think I would express my gratitude to a totally secular universe if I were an atheist. I express my gratitude to God since I personally believe in a God at least on an intuitive level.

The results of meditations, shamanic journeying, and visiting with the faeries are all similar to the results of having visited with real-life good friends.

The result of casting a witch's circle varies depending on the reason I had cast it in the first place.

The results of my direct two-way communication with God is usually laughter. Either her laughing at me, or me laughing at myself because of something She had pointed out. Sometimes I'll even laugh at Her. She doesn't take kindly to that, but She tolerates it because She understands that my laughter is sincere.

[SailingCyclops]

1) Do you pray?

I don't think so. I screamed out "oh shit" a few times in Vietnam when I thought I was about to be killed, but I don't think that amounts to a prayer.

[Divine Insight]

1) Do you pray?

I don't think so. I screamed out "oh shit" a few times in Vietnam when I thought I was about to be killed, but I don't think that amounts to a prayer.

Close enough.

Your position in Seventh Heaven is secure.

Besides, you've already been through hell, there's nowhere left to go now but up.

[HaLi8993]

@ Baz

Prayer has been made obligatory upon all the prophets and for all peoples, similarly the prayers were made obligatory upon the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the seal of the Prophets which God chose to convey his message to all of mankind, to worship none other than the One true God. For prayer to be accepted it must comply with how God has instructed us to pray, which is found in the final revelation revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Quran and Sunnah for all. No matter what actions one performs in his life the msot important aspect is one’s relationship with God. This relationship with God is both demonstrated and put into practice as well as improved and increased by the prayer. So to answer your questions:

1) Yes 

2) Muslims are obliged to follow the commands set by God in regards to how we pray and to follow the teachings of the final Prophet sent by God as an example for all. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in this respect was an example to all of mankind, therefore a detailed explanation of the prayer can be found in the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which is what Muslims follow. It consists of bowings and prostrations to God All-Mighty, seeking forgiveness, mercy, guidance and much more.

3) As for how many times a day we are required to pray, the obligatory prayers are five times a day, along with that there are many optional prayers also.

4) In Islam the prayers are a type of purification for a human being. He turns and meets with his Lord five times a day. This  repeated standing in front of God should keep the person from performing sins during the day. Furthermore it should also be a time of remorse and repentance such that he earnestly asks God for forgiveness for those sins that he committed. In addition the prayer in itself is a good deed that wipes away some of the evil deeds that he performed. 

[SailingCyclops]

Prayer has been made obligatory upon all the prophets and for all peoples ...

How do you know this is of your god or of the men who wrote about this god?

In Islam the prayers are a type of purification for a human being. He turns and meets with his Lord five times a day. This  repeated standing in front of God should keep the person from performing sins during the day. ....

So, a Muslim who does his obligatory prayers, and then straps on a suicide vest, and blows up some infidels, has been prevented from performing sins? Or is killing in the name of this god of yours not a sin?

[olavisjo]

So, a Muslim who does his obligatory prayers, and then straps on a suicide vest, and blows up some infidels, has been prevented from performing sins? Or is killing in the name of this god of yours not a sin?

It may surprise you to know that suicide bombing is no more of a Muslim doctrine than the KKK's lynchings are Christian doctrines.

[Divine Insight]

So, a Muslim who does his obligatory prayers, and then straps on a suicide vest, and blows up some infidels, has been prevented from performing sins? Or is killing in the name of this god of yours not a sin?

It may surprise you to know that suicide bombing is no more of a Muslim doctrine than the KKK's lynchings are Christian doctrines.

There's a problem here olavisjo.

You claim that these activities are not supported by these ancient rumors and myths, but the suicide bombers and the members of the KKK obviously believed their activities were supported by (or even commanded by) these ancient rumors and myths.

So this ultimately comes down to nothing more than disagreements in interpretations about fables of a jealous God who supposedly commands and directs people how they should act.

In the end, wouldn't we be better off to just not support any of these jealous God fables at all?

Why risk them being misinterpreted as commandments from a God?

Just dismiss their authority as being nothing more than mythological and then it doesn't matter how people interpret them there won't be any authority behind them at that point?

You could hardly form a group of followers based on tales of Peter Rabbit.

People simply wouldn't see that as being worth supporting.

The danger of these jealous God religions (that all CLEARLY contain commandments and directives to kill heathens and infidels at some point within the fables) is that they can indeed be used to incite violence in the wrong hands.

Renounce them all as nothing more than silly mythology and that danger quickly evaporates.

Keep supporting them as potentially being the "Word of God" and you continue to support even those groups that you see as "misinterpreting" them, even though you are in disagreement with their interpretations, you're still supporting that the doctrines themselves are credible.

[SailingCyclops]

So, a Muslim who does his obligatory prayers, and then straps on a suicide vest, and blows up some infidels, has been prevented from performing sins? Or is killing in the name of this god of yours not a sin?

It may surprise you to know that suicide bombing is no more of a Muslim doctrine than the KKK's lynchings are Christian doctrines.

Really? You mean the doctrine of martyrdom in a jihad, and the subsequent prize of heavenly virgins is not a Muslim thing?

See:

This article has shown us at least 3 things

That Islam teaches that the martyrs who die in Jihad get 72 wives (virgins)
That two of them are “from the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise and seventy of them his inheritance from the People of Hellfire�
That these hadith are considered authentic by many Muslim scholars

As far as the KKK is concerned, they like the Jehovah Witnesses, the Christian Scientists, the Mormons, or the Hillsborough Baptist church claim to be a Christian organization.

A Message of Love That way is the Christian way - law and order - love of family - love of nation. These are the principles of western Christian civilization.

The Klan has typically seen itself as a Christian organization

[HaLi8993]

@ Sailing Cyclops

How do you know this is of your god or of the men who wrote about this god?

There is only One God, Jesus (peace be upon him) came with that exact message also, " Your God and my God are One" there are many evidences that prove that the Quran we have before us is not just one or two pieces of evidence, rather it is proven by a vast amount of evidence that no fair-minded person can study without becoming convinced that it is exactly as God revealed it to Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). 

So, a Muslim who does his obligatory prayers, and then straps on a suicide vest, and blows up some infidels, has been prevented from performing sins? Or is killing in the name of this god of yours not a sin?

This would depend on the situation and the permissibility of the action. There are rulings to abide by in times of war and there are also rulings to abide by outside of war. In Islam any act that involves the killing of innocents is considered a Major Sin.

 In saying this there is no sin too great for God to forgive for the one who repents. But it is also important to note that God knows what you contain in the most inner depths of your thoughts and heart hence there is no fooling God. 

Repentance must be sincere and from the heart, not simply an outward show of repentance. It should not be understood to mean that we encourage sin and that it may be committed time after time, and that the Muslim should take the mercy of God and the fact that God accepts repentance as an excuse to commit sin. No, Islam encourages the sinner to repent time and time again. The mind of the Muslim who wants to come back to God is put at rest as the gate of mercy is open and Gods forgiveness is greater than his sin, so he should not despair of the mercy of God and he should keep turning back to Him in hope of His forgiveness.