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in prayer.]] Prayer is an effort to communicate with God , or to another Deity or spirit, either to offer Praise , to make a request, or simply to express one's thoughts and emotions. APPROACHES The great spiritual traditions offer a veritable treasure trove of devotional acts. There are morning and evening prayers, graces said over meals, and reverent physical gestures. Christians bow their heads and fold their hands. Native Americans dance. Sufis whirl. Hindus offer sacrifices. Orthodox Jews bob their heads back and forth. Quakers keep silent. Among these methodologies are a variety of approaches to understanding prayer:
The existence of prayer is attested in written sources as early as 5000 years ago. Anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent modern humans practiced something that we would recognize today as prayer. THE ACT OF PRAYER Praying has many different forms.
PRAYER IN WESTERN RELIGION S Prayer in the Bible In the common Bible of the Abrahamic Religion s, various forms of prayer appear; the most common form is petition. This in many ways is the simplest form of prayer. Some have termed this the "social approach" to prayer. In this view, a person directly confronts God in prayer, and asks for his or her needs to be fulfilled; God listens to prayer, and may or may not choose to answer. This is the primary approach to prayer found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, most of the Church writings, and in Rabbinic Literature such as the Talmud . See also: Tanakh , New Testament , Prayer In The Hebrew Bible & Prayer In The New Testament Jewish prayer See Also: Jewish services Jews pray three times a day, or more on special days, such as the Shabbat and Jewish Holidays . The Siddur is the prayerbook used by Jews the world over, containing a set order of daily prayers. Jewish prayer is usually described as having two aspects: ''kavanah'' (intention) and ''keva'' (the ritualistic, structured elements). The most important Jewish prayers are the Shema Yisrael ("Hear O Israel") and the Amidah ("the standing prayer"). Christian prayer Jesus provided a model for prayer in the Lord's Prayer . The Lord's prayer is not actually a new covenant prayer. Christians in the new covenant are instructed, by Jesus, to pray in the name of Jesus. Many Christian denominations also have their own methodologies, including everything from spontaneous and heartfelt prayers to liturgical rituals and prayer books. This activity includes both public and private forms, with each prayer ending "In Jesus' Name." In a sense, this is recognition that one is praying in the authority, spirit, and presence of Christ. Christians often personalize and devise their own prayers, but the common elements tend to include these four areas:
Another commonly-used series of elements includes:
Prayers said by Christian s are described in the article on Prayer In Christianity . Islamic prayer praying at the Hajj , Mecca .]] Main article: Salah Muslim s pray a brief ritualistic prayer called Salah in Arabic , facing Kaaba in Mecca , five times a day. The "call for prayer" is called Adhan or ''Azaan'', where the "Mu-dhan" calls for all the followers to stand together for the prayer . There are also many standard Dua s or supplications, also in Arabic, to be recited at various times, e.g. for one's parents, after Salah, before eating. Muslims may also say dua in their own words and languages for any issue they wish to communicate with God in the hope that God will answer their prayers. Bahá'í prayer Bahá'u'lláh , the Báb , and `Abdu'l-Bahá have revealed many prayers for general use, and some for specific occasions, including for unity, detachment, spiritual upliftment, and healing among others. Bahá'í s are also required to recite each day one of three Obligatory Prayers revealed by Bahá'u'lláh . The believers have been enjoined to face in the direction of the Qiblih when reciting their Obligatory Prayer. The longest obligatory prayer may be recited at any time during the day; another, of medium length, is recited once in the morning, once at midday, and once in the evening; and the shortest can be recited anytime between noon and sunset. This is the text of the short prayer: ''I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.'' Bahá'ís also read from and meditate on the scriptures every morning and evening. PRAYER IN EASTERN RELIGION S In contrast with Western Religion , Eastern religion for the most part discards Worship and places devotional emphasis on the practice of Meditation alongside scriptural study. Buddhism praying at Wat Phra Kaew , Tailand .]] In certain Buddhist sects, prayer accompanies meditation. Buddhism for the most part sees prayer as a secondary, supportive practice to Meditation and scriptural study. Gautama Buddha claimed that human beings possess the capacity and potential to be liberated, or Enlightened , through Contemplation , leading to insight. Prayer is seen mainly as a powerful psycho-physical practice that can enhance meditation.
But beyond all these practices the Buddha emphasised the primacy of individual practice and experience. He said that supplication to gods or deities was not necessary. Nevertheless, today many lay people in East Asian countries pray to the Buddha in ways that resemble Western prayer - asking for intervention and offering devotion. Hindu Prayer by lighting Incense sticks at the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai .]] Hinduism has incorporated many kinds of prayer, from fire-based rituals to philosophical musings. Prayer was part and parcel of the Vedic lifestyle, and as such permeated their books. Indeed, the highest sacred texts of the Hindus, the Vedas, are a large collection of mantras (sacred hymns of Hindus, later adopted by Buddhists) and prayer rituals extolling a single supreme force, Brahman, that is made manifest in several lower forms as the familiar gods of the Hindu pantheon. Hindus in India have numerous devotional movements. Hindus may pray to the highest absolute God Brahman, or more commonly to Its three manifestations namely creator god called Brahma , preserver god called Vishnu and detroyer god (so that the creation cycle can start afresh) Shiva , and at the next level to Vishnu's avatars (earthly appearances) Rama and Krishna or to many other male or female deities such as Laksmi (goddess of wealth) or Saraswati (goddess of knowledge). See the article on Prayer In Hinduism for more details. Prayer in Jainism Although Jain s believe that no spirit or divine being can assist them on their path, they do hold some influence, and on special occasions, Jains will pray for right knowledge to the twenty-four ''Tirthankaras'' (saintly teachers). Neopagan prayers Many modern Neopagans pray to various Gods. The most commonly worshiped and prayed to Gods are those of Pre-Christian Europe, such as Celtic , Norse or Graeco-Roman Gods. Prayer can vary from sect to sect, and with some (such as Wicca) prayer may also be associated with ritual Magick . PHILOSOPHICAL PARADOXES OF PRAYER There are a number of philosophical paradoxes involving prayer to an omnipotent God , namely:
Many of these questions have been discussed in Jewish, Christian and Muslim writings from the medieval period onward. The 900s to 1200s saw some of the most fertile discussion on these questions, during the period of Neo-Platonic and Neo-Aristotelian philosophy. Discussion of these problems never ceased entirely, but they did fall mostly from the public view for several centuries, until The Enlightenment reignited philosophical inquiry into theological issues. All of these questions have been discussed in many Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious texts. There was much intellectual cross-fertilization between Jews, Christians and Muslims during parts of the middle-ages, and so there is much convergence among some of the rationalist philosophers of that era. Many of these texts offer proposed resolutions to some or all of these paradoxes. The educational approach In this view, prayer is not a conversation. Rather, it is meant to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, but not to influence. Among Jews, this has been the approach of Rabbenu Bachya, Yehuda Halevy , Joseph Albo , Samson Raphael Hirsch , and Joseph Dov Soloveitchik . This view is expressed by Rabbi Nosson Scherman in the overview to the Artscroll Siddur (p.XIII); note that Scherman goes on to also affirm the Kabbalistic view (see below). The Kabbalistic view of prayer Traditional Kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism) embraces the social approach, in which prayer is viewed as a dialogue. It further refines the approach by presenting exact kavanot, directions of intent, to specify the path the prayer ascends in the dialog to increases its chances of being answered favorably. Among Jews, this approach has been taken by the Chassidei Ashkenaz (German pietists of the Middle-Ages), the Zohar , the Arizal's Kabbalist tradition, the Ramchal , most of Hassidism , the Vilna Gaon and Jacob Emden . Many people involved with Kabbalah outside of traditional Jewish training follow an approach that often rejects rationalist reinterpreations of prayer outright, but also rejects the social approach, in which prayer is viewed as a dialogue. Instead, this approach ascribes a higher meaning to the purpose of prayer, which is no less than affecting the very fabric of reality itself, restructuring and repairing the universe in a real fashion. For these Kabbalists, every prayer, every word of every prayer, and indeed, even every letter of every word of every prayer, has a precise meaning and a precise effect. In Kabbalah and related mystical belief systems, adherents claim intimate knowledge about the way in which the divine relates to us and the physical universe in which we live. For people with this view, prayers can literally affect the mystical forces of the universe and repair the fabric of creation. ish Siddur ]] The rationalist approach In this view, ultimate goal of prayer is to help train a person to focus on divinity through philosophy and intellectual contemplation. This approach was taken by Maimonides and the other medieval rationalists; it became popular in Jewish, Christian and Islamic intellectual circles, but never became the most popular understanding of prayer among the laity in any of these faiths. In all three of these faiths today, a significant minority of people still hold to this approach. The experiential approach In this approach, the purpose of prayer is to enable the person praying to gain a direct experience of the recipient of the prayer (or as close to direct as a specific theology permits). This approach is very significant in Christianity and widespread in Judaism (although less popular theologically). In Eastern Orthodoxy , this approach is known as Hesychasm . It is also widespread in Sufi Islam, and in some forms of Mysticism . It has some similarities with the rationalist approach, since it can also involve Contemplation , although the contemplation is not generally viewed as being as rational or intellectual. It also has some similarities with the Kabbalistic view, but it lacks the Kabbalistic emphasis on the importance of individual words and letters. EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF PRAYER A famous Statistical experiment to determine whether or not prayer was effective was conducted by Francis Galton in 1872 . Galton hypothesized that if prayer was effective, members of the British Royal family would live longer, given that thousands prayed for their wellbeing every Sunday. He therefore compared longetivity of the British Royal family with that of the general population, and found no difference. While the experiment was probably intended to satirize, and suffered from a number of confounders, it set the precedent for a number of different studies, the results of which are contradictory. A number of studies have suggested that patients who are being prayed for recover more quickly or more frequently. One such study (Byrd, 1988), with a Double-blind design and about 500 subjects per group, suggested that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God may have had a statistically significant positive effect on a coronary care unit population. Sicher ''et al'' suggested statistically significant benefits to a group being prayed for ten years later (Sicher ''et al'' 1998). Another such study was reported by Harris ''et al'' 1999. Critics claim that Byrd's 1988 study was not fully double-blinded, and that in the Harris ''et al'' 1999 study, patients actually had a longer hospital stay on average if prayed for than if not prayed for, once one discounts the patients in both groups who left before prayers began. There have been many other randomized, blind clinical trials showing statistically significant positive effects of prayer. One of the strangest was a ''retroactive'' intercessory prayer study conducted in Israel by L. Leibovici (BMJ 2001;323:1450-1451). This study used 3393 patient records from 1990-96, and blindly assigned some of these to an intercessory prayer group. The prayer group had slightly better mortality rates, shorter hospital stays and fever. Several significant studies of prayer effectiveness have yielded null results (e.g. O'Laoire 1997). A 2001 double-blind study of the Mayo Clinic found no significant difference in the recovery rates between people who were (unbeknownst to them) assigned to a group that prayed for them and those who were not (Aviles ''et al''). Similarly, the MANTRA study conducted by Duke University (Krucoff ''et al'' 2005) found no differences in outcome of cardiac procedures as a result of prayer. In a study published in the American Heart Journal, Christian intercessory prayer was found to have no effect on the recovery of heart surgery patients. Patients were divided into three groups of 600 patients each. The first group were the subjects of prayers from Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations. The second group were not the subjects of any prayers; neither of these groups were told whether they were being prayed for or not. The third group of patients were prayed for and were told that they were prayed for. This third group had a higher rate of complications and of serious complications. The study's authors suggested that this higher rate of complications might be a result of stress, if the patients thought that prayer was needed due to the seriousness of their condition. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12082681/ Bob Barth, director of the Office of Prayer Research, in a review of 200 studies on prayer research, claims that 75% showed positive results, 17% showed no result, and 7% have been negative. {Link without Title} All of these studies, with both positive and negative results, have methodological limitations. For example, it is impractical and unethical to prevent friends and relatives from praying for the subjects, which may invalidate all of these trials. Similarly, a clinical trial of a drug's effectiveness would be of highly questionable validity if patients in all groups were receiving doses of the drug from their families. Religious organizations that undertake prayer studies may not adhere to the experimental standards required for publication in Peer Review ed scientific journals. Many accept that prayer can aid in recovery, not due to divine influence but due to psychological and physical benefits. It has also been suggested that if a person knows that he or she is being prayed for it can be uplifting and increase morale, thus aiding recovery. Many studies have suggested that prayer can reduce physical stress, regardless of the god or gods a person prays to, and this may be true for many worldly reasons. According to a study by Centra State Hospital {Link without Title} "''The psychological benefits of prayer may help reduce stress and anxiety, promote a more positive outlook, and strengthen the will to live.''" Other practices such as Yoga , Tai Chi , and Meditation may also have a positive impact on physical and psychological health. HISTORICAL POLYTHEISTIC PRAYER In ancient religions of Greeks and Romans ( Ancient Greek Religion , Roman Religion ), ceremonial prayer was highly formulaic and Ritual ized. The Iguvine Tables contain a supplication that can be translated, "If anything was said improperly, if anything was done improperly, let it be as if it were done correctly." The formalism and formulaic nature of these prayers led them to be written down in language that may have only been partially understood by the writer, and our texts of these prayers may in fact be garbled. Prayers in Etruscan were used in the Roman world by Augur s and other Oracle s long after Etruscan became a dead language. The Carmen Arvale and the Carmen Saliare are two specimens of partially preserved prayers that seem to have been unintelligible to their scribes, and whose language is full of Archaism s and difficult passages. Roman prayers and 's treatise on Agriculture contains many examples of preserved traditional prayers; in one, a farmer addresses the unknown deity of a possibly sacred grove, and sacrifices a pig in order to placate the god or goddess of the place and beseech his or her permission to cut down some trees from the grove. PREVALENCE Some modalities of , part of the National Institutes Of Health in the United States, found that in 2002, 43% of Americans pray for their own health, 24% pray for others health, and 10% participate in a prayer group for their own health. SEE ALSO
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{Link without Title} - an erudite Christian appreciation of Muslim prayer
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