Comments | songbird44: learning to pray?

songbird44

learning to pray?

Jan 06, 2009 13:28

The other day, I read the blog of an acquaintance who happens to be Catholic. In the course of her spiel about how to live a better life, she talked for a while about how you need to learn to pray, and if you don't know how, you need to find someone who can teach you how to do it ( Read more... )

spirituality, prayer, religion

Comments 4

Not just a Catholic thing... morningmoon January 6 2009, 22:02:21 UTC

Think of the Muslim thing, 5 times a day.

Even some pagan believers have specific things they must do or say in worship that if one doesn't, one is not truly a witch...

or whatever.

:)

Re: Not just a Catholic thing... songbird44 January 6 2009, 22:10:07 UTC

Good point about the Muslims. Didn't think of that.

Still, I don't really get it. For me, prayer is communication with Divinity, which is within me as well as outside me. I guess those who need more formality don't see Divinity that way?

Because how can a Divinity that dwells within you require a formal set of rituals in order to be accessed? That would be like having to perform some kind of rite just to be able to remember a phone number or something.

If someone really believes that Divinity is remote and accessible only through prescribed rituals, well, that just seems sad to me.

Learning to pray... anonymous January 25 2009, 22:10:44 UTC

I have just been searching around to learn about different ways people understand prayer....and when I read about your questioning thoughts about prayers in relation to rituals or ceremony, it dawned on me that the ritual or ceremony is simply a process to make oneself prepared or ready to speak with God, as we understand him. Sometimes, our prayers need special focus so that our motives are synchronized to meet our genuine need for prayer in our lives. For some of us, rituals/ceremonies speaks about our devotion and/or dedication to becoming one with God.

:)

Re: Learning to pray... songbird44 January 26 2009, 20:10:43 UTC

Thanks for your insightful comment. I agree with you that rituals and/or ceremonies provide a way to transition from "everyday" thinking to a more meditative state so that prayer can happen in the way you describe ( ... )