Hi Tony
I hope you don't mind me sharing my views as a Christian.
I agree with you, that prayer is possibly the most important way of drawing into the presence of God and expressing our worship to him.
As a Muslim, are you
required to stick to the prayer times? I mean, can you not pray (if not salah, then at least dua)
outside those times?
Speaking for myself personally, I don’t think I spend much time thinking about paradise. Of course it will be the most wonderful place, in the presence of God, without pain and fear and hatred and sin …
But I am firmly grounded in this earthly life, and I have a very strong sense of being called as God’s worker into this life – so for the time being I
love this life God has given me and I want to make the most of it!
So in answer to your question how you can fill your life every moment serving Allah, I think the answer is quite obvious: serve God by serving his creation.
How do we serve our brothers and sisters in humanity?
I do it by following the example of Jesus. I am sure as a Muslim you can do the same … although you may be more likely to follow the example of Muhammed.
Where do we serve our brothers and sisters in humanity?
I believe wherever God has placed us in this life! I can be God’s instrument in my family, my work place, my community, my church, on the train, in the supermarket, in the post office queue … absolutely everywhere in fact!
I am not disregarding prayer as a means of serving and worshipping God. It is and remains our most immediate communication with God!
But serving God by hand-on serving our fellow human beings is possibly just as important!
I have quoted this in another thread recently, but I will post it again, because I think it is relevant to this thread:
“Never be so spiritual that you become unavailable.”
Being connected with God should be reflected in how much love, care, patience and warmth and we extend to other people.
