Prayer

We discussed prayer at Church Sunday afternoon. I was not surprised by the number of woman who feel like their prayers aren't being answered. I admit that sometimes I feel the same way. But, I have a fundamental belief that flies in the face of this premise. I believe that God, our Heavenly Father always hears and answers our prayers. The trouble is our ability to recognize those answers for what they are. I can illustrate this point with a story from my life. When I was 20 I started to pray for a baby. I didn't actually have a baby for 5 years, and when she was born she was so premature that she died an hour later. Were my prayers answered? Yes, they were answered by a loving Father who knows what I need better than I do. His answer was "no." His answer was "wait." His answer was, "'Having' a baby may not be what you had in mind." His answer was, "I have things in mind to teach you that don't involve babies right now." And so it is with each of us.

I think we human beings think that if we don't get the answer we want, or we don't see angels then our prayers aren't being answered. Sometimes finding the answers just requires a little bit of meditation on our part, and perspective. Today I'm meditating and trying to gain perspective on prayer itself...so I look for all the wisdom I can gather on the subject.

Prayer is handled in a variety of different ways across the world. Many Christians say the same prayer every day, The Lord's Prayer, as recorded in the Bible. It is beautiful.

The Lord's Prayer Words

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.

Muslims say 5 Obligatory Prayers each day. These prayers are also beautiful, here is an example of a daily Muslim prayer.

God is great. (x4)
I bear witness that there are none worthy of worship except God. (x2)
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. (x2)
Come to prayer. (x2)
Come to felicity. (x2)
[Fajr only] Prayer is better than sleep. (x2)
[Iqama only] Our prayers are now ready. Our prayers are now ready. (x2)
God is great. (x2)
There is none worthy of worship except God.

Buddhists pray, however, "the purpose of Buddhist prayer is to awaken our inherent inner capacities of strength, compassion and wisdom rather than to petition external forces based on fear, idolizing, and worldly and/or heavenly gain. Buddhist prayer is a form of meditation; it is a practice of inner reconditioning. Buddhist prayer replaces the negative with the virtuous and points us to the blessings of Life." I'm a big fan of strength, compassion and wisdom...I hope to have more of all those things on a daily basis.

My favorite author, Carol Lynn Pearson wrote a poem called Prayer:

This radio set

Called prayer

Is designed

For remarkably

Simple repair.

When the lines fail

There is no doubt

Which half

Of the set

Is out.