What Is Prayer?

Prayer comes from the Latin precarius, "obtained by begging" and precari, "to entreat" - to ask earnestly, beseech, implore.

Prayer means many different things to different people. At its most basic level, it is the manifestation of hope in human beings, our ability to say that we don't know everything, that there is something or someone larger and wiser than we are that can guide our lives.

Mahatma Gandhi, father of modern India, described prayer as:

"Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. There is no peace without the grace of God, and there is no grace of God without prayer.

Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. Undoubtedly, prayer requires a living faith in God.

Heartfelt prayer steadies one’s nerves, humbles one and clearly shows one the next step."

"Prayer is", according to theologian Ann Ulanov and Prof. Barry Ulanov, "the most fundamental, primordial, and important language humans speak. Prayer starts without words and often ends without them. It knows its own evasions, its own infinite variety of dodges. It works some of the time in signs and symbols, lurches when it must, leaps when it can, has several kinds of logic at its disposal."

To L. Crawford,

"Prayer is a cleansing process, washing our thoughts, feelings, motives, and will, purifying the entire being including the heart, thus enabling us to see God, for without purity no one can see God.

Prayer is the greatest spiritual asset in the world."

Prayer may be individual or communal, private or public. It may be offered in words, sigh, gestures or in silence. Prayer may flow from the subconscious. It may even emerge in dreams, completely bypassing waking awareness.

Prayer is probably the world's most widely practiced visualization technique. Those who pray often begin with a relaxation ritual such as attending a house of worship or kneeling by the bed. Then they conjure a personal image of a God or some Higher Power and ask that the requests in their prayers be granted.

Many people feel profoundly calm after praying. Prayer is deeply relaxing, and those who do it regularly are, in effect, meditating. But science cannot explain some remarkable studies showing that to a degree that goes way beyond coincidence, prayer works.

The Scientific Side of Belief

Beliefs may be classified as: convictions that are extrinsic and those that are intrinsic.

Extrinsic belief may include such things as:

• Bare membership in a particular church or synagogue,

• Mechanical recitation of a liturgy, or

• The intellectual affirmation of a particular set of convictions or statement of faith.

What distinguishes extrinsic belief is that it remains in the head and never makes it to the heart. Various studies have demonstrated that these outward practices and affirmations don't have the power in themselves to improve one's spiritual status, emotional well-being, physical health-or much of anything else.

Intrinsic belief is characterized by such qualities as:

• Profound spiritual commitment,

• A sense of having found the ultimate meaning of life,

• A devotion to heartfelt prayer, and

• A quest for a truly transformed life.

This kind of inner belief is the key to real spiritual power. Intrinsic belief has the capacity to spark major personal enrichment in every area of life -including dramatic improvements in physical health, emotional well-being, and fitness.

Power of Prayers

Prayer is related to purity of heart. As we forgive others, God perpetually forgives us. Forgiveness is one of the deepest parts of love because it is one of the most difficult to give. But anger is devastating to prayer. The prayers of children are extremely powerful. Their faith is pure.

Prayer Points:

Surrender your problem entirely to God.
Be humble.
 Forgive all your enemies.
Have faith. Do not doubt.
Thank God in advance and praise Him.
Pray from the heart.

Prayer is our communion with God, whether it be a petition made to God, worship, repentance, praise, or thanksgiving. It doesn't have to be a laid-out patent prayer, but words from the heart. God wants all of us, he knows our minds and hearts, so why not talk to him as if he already knows the situation.

The effectual fervent prayer is one with power behind it, one that produces results. We have to believe what we pray, not just 'mouth' words. Sometimes we go blindly into our prayers, not knowing in which direction to go.

Desires of the heart should be those that will glorify God, not necessarily the human desires we have to make our life better.

God knows each thought we have, so why not go to him and talk with him as you would if you were to meet him on the street. Prayers do not have to be long, drawn out affairs, but we need to be precise in what we are asking. If it glorifies the Lord, then it will be something good for us. If it does not, then we shouldn't be asking for it in our prayers.

Hindu Prayer for Peace

Oh God, lead us from the
unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality.
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.
Oh Lord God almighty, may there be peace in
celestial regions.
May there be peace on Earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees
plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent
beings bring peace to us.
May thy Vedic Law propogate peace all
through the world.
May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself, bestow peace on all
and may that peace come to me also.

Muslim Prayer for Peace

In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the
Universe who has created us and
made us into tribes and nations
That we may know each other, not that
we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do
thou also incline towards peace, and
trust God, for the Lord is the one that
heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God,
Most gracious are those who walk on
the Earth in humility, and when we
address them, we say "PEACE."

A prayer by Saint Francis :

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love
Where there is injury . . . pardon
Where there is doubt . . . faith
Where there is despair . . .hope
Where there is darkness . . . light
Where there is sadness . . .joy
Divine Master,
grant that i may not so much seek
To be consoled . . .as to console
To be understood . . .as to understand,
To be loved . . . as to love
For it is in giving . . .that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying . . .that we are born to eternal life
St Francis Prayers

Baha'i Prayer for Peace

Be generous in prosperity,
and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in judgement,
and guarded in thy speech,
Be a lamp unto those who walk
in darkness, and a home
to the stranger.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light
unto the feet of the erring
Be a breath of life to the body of
humankind, a dew to the soil of
the human heart,
and a fruit upon the tree of humility.

Buddhist Prayer for Peace

May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending
one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wilderness---
the children, the age, the unprotected--
be guarded by beneficial celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood

Christian Prayer for Peace

Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS,
for they shall be known as
the Children of God.
But I say to you that hear, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you
pray for those who abuse you.
To those that strike you on the cheek,
offer the other one also,
and from those who take away your cloak,
do not withhold your coat as well.
Give to everyone who begs from you,
and of those who take away your goods,
do not ask for them again.
And as you wish that others would do to you,
do so to them.

Jainist Prayer for peace

Peace and Universal Love is the essence
of the Gospel preached by all
Enlightened Ones.
The Lord has preached that equanimity
is the dharma
Forgive do I creatures all,
and let all creatures forgive me.
Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity.
Know that violence is the root cause of
all miseries in the world.
Violence, in fact, is the knot of bondage.
"Do not injure any living being."
This is the eternal, perrinial, and unalterable
way of spiritual life.
A weapon, howsoever powerful it may be,
can always be superseded by a superior one;
but no weapon can, however,

Sikh Prayer for Peace

God adjudges us according
to our deeds,
not the coat that we wear:
that Truth is above everything,
but higher still is truthful living.
Know that we attaineth God when we loveth,
and only victory
endures in consequences of which no
one is defeated.

Native American Prayer for Peace

Almighty God, the Great
Thumb we cannot evade to
tie any knot;
the Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees:
the all-seeing Lord up on high who sees
even the footprints of an antelope on
a rock mass here on Earth.
You are the one who does
not hesitate to respond to our call.
You are the cornerstone of peace.

SERENITY PRAYER

God, Grant me the Serenity
To Accept the things I can not change
The courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom
To know the difference.

Lord Prayer :

Lord help me
to remember
that nothing
is going to happen
to me today
that You and I
together can't handle.

PRAYERS IN SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SCHOOL PRAYERS

O my God...

O my God, how good you are,
How kind and loving too.
Help me to grow up more and more,
Help me to grow more like you.

Evening Song

Day is done.
Gone the sun
From the hill,
From the sea,
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.

Teachers Prayer

I want to teach my students how
To live this life on earth

To face its struggles and its strife
And improve their worth

Not just the lesson in a book
Or how the rivers flow

But how to choose the proper path
Wherever they may go

To understand eternal truth
And know the right from wrong

And gather all the beauty of
A flower and a song

For if I help the world to grow
In widsom and in grace

Then I shall feel that I have won
And I have filled my place

And so I ask your guidance, God
That I may do my part

For character and confidence
And happiness of heart

A Prayer For Courage

Almighty God, who gives strength to the weak and upholds those who might fall, give me courage to do what is right, for those that trust in you have no need to fear.

Make be brave to face any danger which may now threaten me. Give me the help that you have promised to those who ask it, that I may overcome my fears and go bravely forward.

Fill me with courage, that nothing which is my duty to do, may be too hard for me. Let me put my trust in your power and goodness.

Thank you my Lord.

Rameshwar Prasad invites you to the Wonderful Spiritual World

CONTACT THE CONSULTANT Engineer Rameshwar Prasad     (B.Tech., M.Tech., P.G.D.C.A., P.G.D.M.) VAASTU INTERNATIONAL 49 C (Second Floor), Pocket- B,         SFS Flats, Mayur Vihar, Phase-III, New Delhi - 110096, INDIA TeleFax : +91-11-22615299 (Landline), Mobile : +91- 9810105218 e-mail : vaastuinternational@yahoo.com vaastuinternational@gmail.com