"Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that He expects each of us to follow? I doubt it. I believe some people--lots of people--pray through the witness of their lives, through the work they do, the friendships they have, the love they offer people and receive from people. Since when are words the only acceptable form of prayer?"
Dorothy DayPrayer
http://www.worldprayers.org/index.html
Prayer can be our intimate, private connection with the sacred or the way in which a community unites in public expression of its faith. Prayer takes many forms, from profound wordless meditation to attempted bargains made in moments of crisis. The habit of prayer provides a center for spiritual life, a proven way of deepening into the sacred. Praying for others develops compassion and weaves a living web of connectedness.
A repeated prayer, technically known as hesychasm, is the Christian form of mantra. The "Jesus Prayer" was popularized by the anonymous devotional classic, "The Way of the Pilgrim" in which the pilgrim travels from place to place searching for the meaning of Paul's words to the Thessalonians: "Pray without ceasing." One teacher tells the pilgrim that the meaning is an admonition to pray the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me." He finds that a ceaseless repetition of the prayer makes him feel close to everyone he meets as if they were "my nearest relative." In time, the prayer becomes second nature to him.
The Way of the Pilgrim
Now I did not walk along as before, filled with care. The calling upon the Name of Jesus Christ gladdened my way. Everybody was kind to me, it was as though everyone loved me.... And that is how I go about now, and ceaselessly repeat the Prayer of Jesus, which is more precious and sweet to me than anything in the world. At times I do as much as forty-three or four miles a day, and do not feel that I am walking at all. I am aware only of the fact that I am saying my Prayer. When the bitter cold pierces me, I begin to say my Prayer more earnestly and quickly get warm all over. When hunger begins to overcome me, I call more often on the Names of Jesus, and I forget my wish for food. When I fall ill and get rheumatism in my back and legs, I fix my thoughts on the Prayer and do not notice the pain. If anyone harms me I have only to think, "How sweet is the Prayer of Jesus!" and the injury and the anger alike pass away and I forget it all.
Here's how to do the Jesus prayer: constantly repeat "Lord Jesus Christ,
have mercy on me," or "Jesus, mercy," or simply "Jesus."
(Or, as St. Francis did, "Jesu, Jesu, Jesu.") Some insert "Son
of the Living God" after the word Christ.
At first you may set aside a time in morning and evening--say ten minutes--to repeat the prayer. First, call upon God to be with you in your meditation, then slowly and reflectively say the Jesus prayer over and over. Think of the words themselves, not the images they evoke. You may say the prayer in rhythm with the in-breath and out-breath or with your heartbeat. Once you've established a habit of repeating the Jesus prayer in meditation, begin to use it during the day. When you feel stress, when you're waiting in line, when you're dealing with other people, repeat the Jesus prayer to yourself. In time, you become the prayer itself, embodying the compassion, nonviolence, and love of Jesus.
This passage on prayer comes from a Presbyterian Sunday School lesson my grandmother taught many years ago.
Next
to the gift of God to mankind of His Son, our Savior, God's greatest gift to
the world is prayer. The privilege of talking to our Heavenly Father, about
anything, at any time, anywhere, with the assurance that He hears and answers
is a heavenly gift, so loving, so gracious, a power available to His earthly
children everywhere--and all He requires is to feel our need of Him.
Only through prayer can a soul have communion and keep in touch with the divine
power of God and the spirit of Christ. We can conceive of a Christian without
a Bible--though it is hard to do so--or a Christian who can love and obey God
yet cannot see to read--but we cannot imagine a Christian without prayer. If
Christ felt it necessary to pray, how infinitely more necessary is prayer for
us. Prayer has been called the power which unlocks the doors of heaven; through
it we have access to the heart of God. Without prayer there can be no communion
with God, no fellowship with Jesus Christ.
There has never been a race or tribe, civilized or uncivilized, that has not reached out to a supreme being.In the Orient prayer is open. The Mohammedans pray on the streets and like to be heard above other noises. The Chinese write prayers on streamers and let them wave in the breeze. The public praying of Jews at their "Wailing Wall" in Jerusalem is one of the sights visitors do not like to miss. At certain sacred shrines pilgrims sometimes gather by the tens of thousands to pray, kneeling and prostrating. I have read that there are places where nuns in relays pray all day and all night.
But while prayer is a natural instinct, and God-given, in Jesus' time a great deal of praying had become meaningless and vain, so Christ initiated a new form of prayer. He made it a secret rite, a private act, a confidential communion with God, not a public exhibition. Jesus held a school of prayer for His disciples and taught them the true meaning of prayer, and he demonstrated it by his example. He retired to the solitude of the mountains or the quiet of the garden for communication with His Father, and warned His followers against professional religion, criticizing sharply the Pharisees--many of whom were snobbish and self-satisfied, in their desire to exploit their religion. Jesus told His disciples to take the opposite course by shutting out the world or anything which might divert their thoughts--to shut themselves in a private chamber to be alone with God....
As
we face problems, trials, conflicts, and fears without number, pity indeed the
one who attempts to live a single day without the comfort and support which
comes from a Higher Power through prayer. Jesus said, "All things whatsoever
ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." But prayer is not
begging. Too often God is thought of as a glorified Santa Claus, giving to people
whatever they ask. The spirit of prayer, as Jesus defined it, is not to help
us get what we, out of our human wisdom, want, but rather to help us accomplish
what God would have us do. The secret lies not in pleading to change God's will,
but in our trying to understand what God's will is for us. In every prayer we
should include: "Not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done." We can
then be sure that He will always give us something better than we ask for if
we are submissive to His will.
M. Lily Hodges
Keep a journal in which you write out your prayers and collect thoughts and
feelings--yours and others--about prayer.