Do you Pray?

[Baz]

I likes some questions posted in the Holy Huddle, obviously addressing Christians, as I and others are not allowed to post in that forum, I would like to ask any site members of any belief the same thing;
1) Do you pray?
2) How do you pray?
3) How often to you pray?
4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?




Personally 1/ I do pray. 2/ I pray in different ways at different times, the most common being conscious thought, but in a mish-mash of points that you could not make into a structured sentence. Usually asking for some form of understanding. 3/ no fixed amount, when I feel like it, on average 3-6 times a week. 4/ I often think I see things differently as a result.

[HaLi8993]

A Troubled Man

Gee, thanks for the history lesson.

Notice that you didn't provide any atrocities as you claimed?

Your most welcome, any time!

Do you know the meaning of atrocity??

[Baz]

I have a genuine interest in the way people experience prayer and was hoping for a wide range of responses on this question.

I understand that any given topic will shift focus during debate but to be honest I cant see any connection between the present argument and prayer.






Unless you count me praying somebody will post on the actual topic.

[A Troubled Man]

Do you know the meaning of atrocity??

Better than you, evidently.

[HaLi8993]

Baz

Couldn't agree with you more!

[HaLi8993]

A Troubled Man

Right......well i guess you need to be congratulated, you have done an excellent job understanding the true meaning of the word atrocity more than I, well done!

[still_learning]

I likes some questions posted in the Holy Huddle, obviously addressing Christians, as I and others are not allowed to post in that forum, I would like to ask any site members of any belief the same thing;
1) Do you pray?
2) How do you pray?
3) How often to you pray?
4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?
.

1. Yes
2. I use the prayers revealed by the Bab, Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha.
3. At least daily, sometimes more than once a day. Striving for 3 times a day, but I often fall short.
4. I think prayers are a form of spiritual nourishment that help me grow more spiritual, more focused on the important things of life. Without spirituality, religion is just another organization. Prayer and meditation are ways to achieve spirituality.

[spiritualrevolution]

1. I don't pray, unless you count wishing for things to happen every now and then in my mind, which I think everyone does. Like for example, I hope tomorrow's weather will be nice. Is that really a prayer?

2.

3. Very often, if wishing for stuff counts.

4. Well, I want a billion dollars. It should magically appear in my bank account and no one will get suspicious, because a person named "gud" left it to me after departing this earth, and "gud" had all the proper documents. Well most of the stuff I wish for I don't really need, so I guess the success rate is not high... doesn't look too good huh?

[pmprcv]

1) Do you pray?
2) How do you pray?
3) How often to you pray?
4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?

1) Yes I do. I'm a catholic.

2) Liturgy of the Hours whenever possible. Also communitary prayers in my local parish, Sunday Mass, and other "random prayers".

Whenever I do a more structured prayer (usually at night), I usually start by begging forgiveness for my sins of the day, then thanking God for His graces that He gave me during the day, and ask for something for the next day and for the night. Then I follow with 3 more traditional prayers, "Our Father", "Hail Mary" and the Consecration to Mary, then the Glory.

3) About 2 times per day, sometimes more.

4) It helps develop my intimate, personal relationship with God, which in turn makes me a better person. I've recently found a lot of mental and emotional strenght I didn't know I had, which coincided with the period when I started paying more attention to praying, so there's that. It also helps me improve patience and charity.[/url]

[Baz]

1) Do you pray?
2) How do you pray?
3) How often to you pray?
4) What do you think is the result of your prayers?

1) Yes I do. I'm a catholic.

2) Liturgy of the Hours whenever possible. Also communitary prayers in my local parish, Sunday Mass, and other "random prayers".

Whenever I do a more structured prayer (usually at night), I usually start by begging forgiveness for my sins of the day, then thanking God for His graces that He gave me during the day, and ask for something for the next day and for the night. Then I follow with 3 more traditional prayers, "Our Father", "Hail Mary" and the Consecration to Mary, then the Glory.

3) About 2 times per day, sometimes more.

4) It helps develop my intimate, personal relationship with God, which in turn makes me a better person. I've recently found a lot of mental and emotional strenght I didn't know I had, which coincided with the period when I started paying more attention to praying, so there's that. It also helps me improve patience and charity.[/url]

I had an uncle (honorary) who was catholic, he was a good man by many standards but it appeared to me, that his view of sinning and repenting was a bit illogical.
As a for instance, lets say he would have a little too much alcohol or something similar, he would call what he had done a sin, he would say he should not sin, he would repent and be free from his sin, but he would do the same over and over.
I personally wouldn't view any of his behavior as sinful, (not even certain I know what sin actually is) but according to his belie,f he did sin all the time and had to repent a lot.
This brings me to a question; as a catholic how sincere do you think repentance should be or can be.

[pmprcv]

I had an uncle (honorary) who was catholic, he was a good man by many standards but it appeared to me, that his view of sinning and repenting was a bit illogical.
As a for instance, lets say he would have a little too much alcohol or something similar, he would call what he had done a sin, he would say he should not sin, he would repent and be free from his sin, but he would do the same over and over.
I personally wouldn't view any of his behavior as sinful, (not even certain I know what sin actually is) but according to his belie,f he did sin all the time and had to repent a lot.
This brings me to a question; as a catholic how sincere do you think repentance should be or can be.

Hi Baz. That's a good story and a good question, and I thank you for it. Believe it or not, I'm shell shocked that someone in these forums can actually be polite and sincere instead of a giant douchebag; I'm honestly glad you asked this.

Now, onto the question. It might be easier if I quote the Youcat. This particular question is regarding the Sacrament of Penitence, but I think it gives us an insight:

(232)What constitutes a Confession?
In each Confession there should be an exam of conscience, regret, purpose and penitence.
The exam of conscience should exist, but doesn't have to be absolutely thorough. Without real regret, i.e., with only a confession from the lips, no one can be absolved from their sins. Equally important is the purpose of never commiting that sin again in the future. [...]

I didn't translate the rest because I don't think it matters for your question. Just a quick not: where I translated "equally important" the words use aren't actually "important", but express the meaning of "it can't happen without it".

Now, while this is a model for the Sacrament itself, I think the first 3 steps are central to a prayer of forgiveness. First, we must analyse our conscience to see what we did wrong and what sins we commited. Apparently your uncle did this. Second, there must be regret. This is something that should come from the heart, and can't be forced with our mind or anything; it's either true and exists, or you do not care that you sinned and therefore your confession is worthless. Finally, you must also have the purpose of never repeating that sin. This is also something that comes from your heart; it's not a mental note to self, it's a true honest and sincere purpose of not making the sin again, and if you confess yourself thinking to do the same in 5 minutes then your confession is equally worthless. (Finally is penitence but that only has to happen when obtaining the actual sacrament).

So I only pray for forgiveness on sins that I'm aware of, that I'm truly sorry for and that I sincerely want to improve on. In regards to your uncle, first I'd say you should avoid moral judgements; he's a human and can make mistakes like everyone else. Don't think less of him because he is flawed; instead, love him for it. Also, if you think he is doing something that is wrong or against God's will, then you should do something we call fraternal correction: with compassion, patience and charity, and avoiding arrogance and despise, try to tell him what you think he's doing wrong and why.

Hope that answers it.