Do You Pray, And How Often?

Alright, I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 and they were
featuring some Islamic girls, and they mentioned the whole
praying 5 times a day thing.

Anyways, that got me thinking how often if ever my fellow
ATSers do so.

So, do you pray, and if so how often?


I myself don't paay in general, simply because I don't believe
in a deity or divine thing.

However, in the last fiscal year I've prayed once, not to any one
being, but to whatever may exist.

Yep

Resh 4 times a day
I have a set of morning and evening rituals.
I say Will before my main meal

So that's 7 a day.

About once a month I'll devote an entire day to spiritual practices. (I'd like to kick that up to twice a month soon.)

And once a year I spend a week or two entirely devoted to spiritual practice.

Wow, that's alot.

How do you find that much time to devote to that?

Muslims may be required to pray five times a day and to do so quite ostentatiously regardless of the inconvenience that it may impose, but the Bible suggests that we pray without ceasing and that prayer is simply an ongoing dialog with God. The Urantia Book explains how prayer without ceasing was practiced by Jesus of Nazareth and how to pray effectively.

[17] Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Jesus never prayed as a religious duty. To him prayer was a sincere expression of spiritual attitude, a declaration of soul loyalty, a recital of personal devotion, an expression of thanksgiving, an avoidance of emotional tension, a prevention of conflict, an exaltation of intellection, an ennoblement of desire, a vindication of moral decision, an enrichment of thought, an invigoration of higher inclinations, a consecration of impulse, a clarification of viewpoint, a declaration of faith, a transcendental surrender of will, a sublime assertion of confidence, a revelation of courage, the proclamation of discovery, a confession of supreme devotion, the validation of consecration, a technique for the adjustment of difficulties, and the mighty mobilization of the combined soul powers to withstand all human tendencies toward selfishness, evil, and sin. He lived just such a life of prayerful consecration to the doing of his Father's will and ended his life triumphantly with just such a prayer. The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship--unbroken communion with God

PAPER 196 - THE FAITH OF JESUS

9. CONDITIONS OF EFFECTIVE PRAYER

If you would engage in effective praying, you should bear in mind the laws of prevailing petitions:

1. You must qualify as a potent prayer by sincerely and courageously facing the problems of universe reality. You must possess cosmic stamina.

2. You must have honestly exhausted the human capacity for human adjustment. You must have been industrious.

3. You must surrender every wish of mind and every craving of soul to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth. You must have experienced an enhancement of meanings and an elevation of values.

4. You must make a wholehearted choice of the divine will. You must obliterate the dead center of indecision.

5. You not only recognize the Father's will and choose to do it, but you have effected an unqualified consecration, and a dynamic dedication, to the actual doing of the Father's will.

6. Your prayer will be directed exclusively for divine wisdom to solve the specific human problems encountered in the Paradise ascension--the attainment of divine perfection.

7. And you must have faith--living faith.

Urantia Paper 91

And Jesus offered this admonition as to the proper way to pray.

[5] And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
[7] But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.


Matthew 6:5-7

And of course there's this:

[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Matthew 5:44

I pray for strength, for the strength of others to overcome their challenges and I do my best to pray for those who treat me poorly to become more kind.

I can do this without paraphernalia or even having others know that I am doing so.

I'm not always as diligent in my prayers as perhaps I should be, but I do so when I have the presence of mind, which isn't always the case.


[edit on 2006/10/17 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by iori_komei
How do you find that much time to devote to that?

Well after you develop the self-discipline to do them, finding the time to do them really isn't an issue. Besides I'd rather do that than watch the boob tube.

I try to pray atleast 3 times a day. Usually it's 3-5 times per day. One before sunrise, one in the afternoon, and one before bed. I will try to also do it before sunset and before noon, if my time permits me, since I'm likely to be at school. I'm a Muslim.

Well, I'll share because I think this is a great subject to discuss.

I pray as I lay down to bed. I lay on my back, eyes closed, feet crossed at the ankles (Left over right) arms resting on the elbows, palms facing up and towards each other, and empty my mind of thoughts. I take as long as is needed to start feeling the energies swirling from palm to palm, and then I just talk to God, jesus, and St Michael from time to time.

I'm not getting into a diety flame fight here, i'm just saying that I speak to my God, Jesus and some of the Saints. It has often given me many answers that otherwise i would not of been able to find myself here on earth.

Oh and I always end with a big thank you for all thats done for me, and all that is done for us all...

to behonest, not as much as i should.

sometimes, im lost for words and just don't know what to say. i use to pray every night a time ago, but i don't know why i stopped.

I don't "pray", but I meditate. Usually about 3 times a week. Whenever I feel out of balance or a need to calm myself or equalize my energy.

I'm Christian. I probably pray a few times a week, but most Christians pray alot more than that.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Alright, I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 and they were
featuring some Islamic girls, and they mentioned the whole
praying 5 times a day thing.

Anyways, that got me thinking how often if ever my fellow
ATSers do so.

So, do you pray, and if so how often?

i pray alot, mostly in thought, not always out loud. sometimes i lay down in bed at night around 11:00 pm, and i lay there and pray, awake, until my alarm clock goes off. i relaxed, and i feel rested, but i remember with perfect clarity every thought i had, and i have had enough thoughts throughout the night to know more than i did when i went to bed.

what is the longest i have went without sleeping? i don't expect you to believe me, and i am not offended if you don't. but, the longest i went without sleeping was over 5 weeks. but, i prayed to be able to sleep. i slept for about 4 hours, and felt like i had been sleeping for days.

I myself don't paay in general, simply because I don't believe
in a deity or divine thing.

However, in the last fiscal year I've prayed once, not to any one
being, but to whatever may exist.

I started the same way. praying to whatever may exist, to see what, if anything, would happen.

find your own truth, and you may indeed find that something does exist. and then, when/if you find something does exist, you will have found the same thing that everyone else seems to have problems with defining.

at any rate, i for one am proud of you for praying. if there is something in existance, then surely the closer you move towards it, the closer it will move towards you.

[edit on 17-10-2006 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher
...the longest i went without sleeping was over 5 weeks.

I experienced extreme sleep deprivation in Vietnam to the point of hallucinations and have had serious insomnia since. I have never been awake for longer than five days uninterrupted and only about two weeks of short durations of sleep and microsleep.

This amount of sleep deprivation causes extraordinary cognitive affects. Five weeks suggests extraordinary pathology, but I guess you know that.

Sleep Deprivation

www.google.com

I don't know if what I do is prayer; but many times as I go about my routine of the day, I have a monologue with my higher power. Almost as if I was speaking with a very good friend, just tell him/she/it how I'm feeling and how grateful I am to be able to enjoy his/her/it's creation.

I never really formaly pray on my knees, but it probably wouldn't hurt me if I humbled myself to the Great Spirit. I struggle with vanity and arrogance.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher
...the longest i went without sleeping was over 5 weeks.

I experienced extreme sleep deprivation in Vietnam to the point of hallucinations and have had serious insomnia since. I have never been awake for longer than five days uninterrupted and only about two weeks of short durations of sleep and microsleep.

Although i was stateside when i went 5 weeks without sleep, i also experienced sleep deprevation in Iraq, 3 weeks, in a warzone. i can relate to the difference, but sleep deprevation under more peacefull and confortable settings may produce effects that are different than the sleep deprevation endured under such austere conditions such as the stress of war.

but, your point is extremely valid.

This amount of sleep deprivation causes extraordinary cognitive affects. Five weeks suggests extraordinary pathology, but I guess you know that.

First let me say it gives me a great sense of peace of mind to know that someone else knows what it is i am speaking of. and, i thank you beyond all measure for your service. thank you.

It forces the subconscious and conscious mind to converge, to some degree i think.

You said:
"This amount of sleep deprivation causes extraordinary cognitive affects. Five weeks suggests extraordinary pathology... "

i think it may not always be a negative. but we both have endured a thing most have not. it does cause extraordinary cognitive affects. and once some doors are opened, they do not shut. but as for the pathology, could you please elaborate more on your personal thoughts on the subject? Perhaps we should start a different thread for it?

Thanks for the links, i am going to read them now.

I personally pray quite often and usually in thanksgiving. Everytime I ride my motorcycle somewhere I offer a quick prayer when I get where I am going. I pray before I eat any meals, I pray when I pass an accident on the road, I pray when I go to sleep and when I wake up. Pretty much all day, I guess.

Dementia (from Latin de- "apart, away" + mens (genitive mentis) "mind") is the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Particularly affected areas may be memory, attention, language and problem solving, although particularly in the later stages of the condition, affected persons may be disoriented in time ...

according to the link, dementia may be one of the effects of sleep deprevation.

The link stated:
"Particularly affected areas may be memory, attention, language and problem solving"

memory, attention, language, and problem solving.

i found these abilities have greatly improved in myself after a few times of being awake a lot longer than normal.

but, in all these areas my view of them changed.

what my memory is, and how my mind works, i percieved differently.
my attention to detail increased dramatically.
language. i authored a thread in the "Skunk Works" Forum about how language subliminally influences our actions and behaviors.

and problem solving? i do a fairly good job at that, but only because i listen to people, and their truths.

sorry for the diversion from the intent of this thread.

but perhaps their is a level of prayer/meditation to be achieved through lack of sleep?

just a thought.

I started the same way. praying to whatever may exist, to see what, if anything, would happen.

I did'nt pray to see what would happen.
I prayed because I was desperate, and it was the only thing
I could really do in the situation.

I Like to think that I can speak/talk/dialogue with GOD whenever. I dont truly feel the need to always go through devotions before hand...sometimes I do, sometimes not...but I like to thnk it's like talking with your dad...there are times that I lay it on the line and bare my sould to GOD...other times it's a conversation between a father and son.
Does anyoe remember Rick O'shea the comic strip character?...he had a way of riding off to the mountian top to have a sit down with GOD...
I truly believe GOD hears the language of our hearts...intentions are everything.

Originally posted by iori_komei
I did'nt pray to see what would happen.
I prayed because I was desperate, and it was the only thing
I could really do in the situation.

Sorry if this is too personal of a question. Did your conflict resolve after your prayer?

A thought I've brought up in my theology lectures is that I've found that mankind will have to have faith in something, in the long run in life, whether it be in a diety, spirits, or themselves. I've met some people who could simply not live without a belief in their religion. My closest friends who do not associate themselves with a religion or believe in a diety do tend to still pray too, which further raises my belief that mankind must have faith in something to survive. (sorry for going a little off topic here)

Originally posted by DJMessiah
Sorry if this is too personal of a question. Did your conflict resolve after your prayer?

Well yes and no, in the long run, I found out that there never
was anything wrong, and that I'd pretty much been lied to.
But things definately got worse after the situation.