Prayer

Prayer

Prayer is an essential party of all religions, and similarly this is also the case with Christianity. Christians view prayer as a form of communicating with god, and this they believe is carried out through either an individual of the trinity or in the fullness of god. Prayers in Christianity vary among Christian dominations. Prayer in Christianity can be viewed through a hierarchy consisting of the following:

1) Vocal Prayer

2) Christian Mediation

3) Contemplative Prayer

A popular prayer and a central prayer used among Christians is the Lord’s Prayer. The Gospel states this prayer was utilised by Jesus himself to help teach his disciples to pray. When praying Christians generally don’t believe in merely asking God to bestow upon them their wishes, and instead the conversation they have with god serves the purpose of firstly praising, thanking, asking, seeking forgiveness and finally looking for guidance. The Gospel teaches Christians to pray in the privacy of their rooms, and make a close relationship with god and that they will be greatly rewarded for the praying they do in privacy as opposed to publicly.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Mathew 6: 5-8

Prayer is seen as a mandatory part of Christianity and is believed that it is required by God, and it is a vital aspect of sanctification. Additionally, Christians believe that those who do not participate in prayer are not fulfilling God’s will but also throwing away a precious gift from God one that involves talking on a personal level with him one to one.