Regular prayer

[glo]

Recently I have become more aware of the traditions of some Christian denominations to read regular prayers throughout the day.
Having tried it for myself for a while, I have found it very beneficial to dedicate set times every day for specific prayers and scripture reading.
It has also given me a different sense of the purpose of prayer - rather than just a bringing our own thoughts and wishes and troubles to God, to offer and dedicate time to God as worship and self-sacrifice.

I know that Muslims pray regularly throughout the day.
Apart from prayer being one of the five pillars of Islam, can you share what you personally perceive to be the benefits of spending time so regularly worshipping God?

I hope this thread is approved.

Thank you.

[Tyrion]

:sl:

Remembrance of God. Obviously there are other benefits to prayer, but having a way to consistently remember God seems especially important in today's world where we seem to be bombarded with concepts and ideas that have the potential to lead us away from faith. :p

[glo]

Thank you, Tyrion

Yes, I can relate to that.
Do you ever return from your prayer and find that something which really bothered you or seemed important to you before, has suddenly lost its significance. That the time you have spent in prayer has refocused you on more important things in life?

[Tyrion]

Thank you, Tyrion

Yes, I can relate to that.
Do you ever return from your prayer and find that something which really bothered you or seemed important to you before, has suddenly lost its significance. That the time you have spent in prayer has refocused you on more important things in life?

Yeah, I can definitely say I've had that feeling before. :p

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[glo]

Why are we meant to pray?

Is it of benefit to God or of benefit to us or both?
Any thoughts?

[Tyrion]

Why are we meant to pray?

Is it of benefit to God or of benefit to us or both?
Any thoughts?

Well, I think from an Islamic point of view, it's entirely for our benefit since God needs nothing from us. We pray to him to ask him for guidance, and because he is worthy of worship. Also because that was the purpose of our creation. :p

[glo]

Well, I think from an Islamic point of view, it's entirely for our benefit since God needs nothing from us. We pray to him to ask him for guidance, and because he is worthy of worship. Also because that was the purpose of our creation. :p

Yes, that makes sense.

Still, when I pray I have a deep sense of 'giving to God' (in the sense of making an offering of my time and devotion to him).
I agree that he doesn't need my prayer or my time or my devotion - but I have that sense nonetheless ...
Do you know what I mean?

Perhaps that's what Muslims mean by submission, and Christians refer to as giving oneself to God.

(P.S. Tyrion, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you always sticking your tongue out? It makes me wonder whether your post is meant serious or whether you are joking ... Can you clarify? Thanks :))

[Muslimeen]

Why are we meant to pray?

Is it of benefit to God or of benefit to us or both?
Any thoughts?

A benefit to us alone, as mentioned before, god does not need anything from us. It brings us closer to allah, it is a constant reminder of a supreme being and an opportunity to break away from this temprorary world. Recently at times I have been feeling this extreme serenity within myself when I pray. I have never felt that way in any other type of activity before, it has to be experienced to be appreciated.

[Tyrion]

Ah, sorry. The tongue sticking out is basically just a bad habit I picked up from using the internet too much. :p it's basically just my version of a smiley face, so I just use it to try and make the conversation more friendly.

And yes, I think the idea of submission is very much like the idea of giving oneself up to God, but I just think that Muslims tend to go a bit further with it by calling themselves slaves of God, which to me is just a very beautiful way of putting it. To absolutely give yourself up to God, and to accept that he is the Lord and you are His is humbling and an amazing feeling. (Not to say I've reached this state yet, but I'm trying :))

[Ramadhan]

Often, during the day, I get so wound up at work, and only remembrance of sholat that makes me to pause, stop and regain my balance.

meanwhile during night prayers, I often "pour my heart out" as a result of all my worldly and personal affairs, and I feel much more peaceful and calm after.

[glo]

Often, during the day, I get so wound up at work, and only remembrance of sholat that makes me to pause, stop and regain my balance.

meanwhile during night prayers, I often "pour my heart out" as a result of all my worldly and personal affairs, and I feel much more peaceful and calm after.

I like that!

The morning time prayer is a good opportunity to prepare oneself for the day ahead, and to express ones willingness to follow and serve God.
The evening or night time prayer is a good opportunity to reflect on the day, ask God's forgiveness for mistakes made and sins committed.

I realise that I don't know as much about Islamic prayers as might be expected.

Is the wording always the same, or do different prayers throughout the day reflect or focus on different things (such as described above)?

[Ramadhan]

I realise that I don't know as much about Islamic prayers as might be expected.

Is the wording always the same, or do different prayers throughout the day reflect or focus on different things (such as described above)?

We perform our shalat today in the same way as prophet Muhammad SAW did.
We must recite Al Fatihah (the opening surat of the Qur'an) in the beginning of each rakaat (section). Following Al Fatihah, we may recite any other surat that we prefer (only in the first two rakaat).
And then during the stop after each movement, we glorify Allah SWT, and during the sitting we recite dua asking for His forgiveness as well as asking Him to provide us with good health, keep us in the straight path, etc.
We can also "communicate" other needs during sujood (when we fall down on our feet and kneews and place our forehead on the ground), after we glorify Him, but this should be done by heart, not spoken out loud.
We should concentrate (khusyu') in our shalat so that all our thoughts and senses are towards Allah SWT only. There was some story how some shahabah were attacked/stabbed with sword or some spear (cant remember the detail) during their sholat, and they did not feel a thing because their concentration was 100% towards Allah SWt.

Right after sholat, we are encouraged to do dhikr (recite His holy names), asks to send our salaam and His blessings towards prophet Muhammad SAW and make du'a (the standard dua is:
ask Allah to forgive our parents and to love them just like they love us when were litlle, ask His forgiveness towards our brothers and sisters in Islam, alive and dead, keep us steadfast in our faith, forgive us before we die, peace in our dying moments, and mercy and blessings after death, etc etc.
Everyone can create their own duas, and these duas can be offered in any language we feel comfortable with.

[PouringRain]

I can identify with what a lot of the posters here wrote about prayer. When naidamar talked about regaining his balance, I could identify with that, except I call it centering myself or finding my center. It really is a refocusing and finding ones balance.

When tyrion talked about a consistent remembering of God, that is so true also. That is what I like about the story of Mohammed and God and when God told him to pray all those many times a day and he said if he did then he would not be able to do anything else, so God reduced it to five and said those five would count for the rest. (My short version of the story, I hope I didn't butcher it in my brief re-telling.) The story and the message to me is the essence of when Paul says in the Bible to pray without ceasing. The essence of it is about a continuous communion with God, and the constant act of being in his presence.

When muslimeen talked about prayer bringing us closer to God, yes! Prayer is a part of relationship building with God, and drawing closer to him.

Sometimes when I pray, I talk to God as though he is my best friend and confidant. Sometimes when I pray, I talk to God as though he is my master and king. He is all that and more to me.

I agree with those who said that god needs nothing from us. Even in the Bible there are verses that say that, and Christians believe that as well. But I would agree with Glo that through our time and devotion we are "giving" ourselves to God. By willful submission to God, we are giving our everything to him. We give him praise, we give him honor, we give him glory, etc. It is not that he needs it. He is almighty God. But we do it out of our love and devotion. I believe our love and devotion, submission, makes God happy, and our disobedience does not. God loves us and desires that all should come to know him.

I realise that I don't know as much about Islamic prayers as might be expected.

One day, glo, you should find a muslimah in your area and ask her to teach you to pray as a muslim prays. When I learned to pray as one, I felt for the first time that I truly understood what it meant when God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground. From the preparing ones body for prayer, to the intention made for prayer, to the actual prayer itself. The complete reverence before God is awe inspiring. I think Christians often fall into becoming too casual with God. Yes, he is our closest friend, but he is also the almighty God.

[Tyrion]

I feel like it's necessary to point out that prayer may not be the most accurate way of translating Salat. I'm not particularly knowledgeable on the subject, but based on what I've been taught it seems that the way most Christians pray is more comparable to the supplications (duas) Muslims offer, either after Salat or throughout the day. I don't want to say too much out of fear of making a mistake, so if anyone with more knowledge could follow up to this it would be much appreciated. :)

[YusufNoor]

:sl:

the 1st Christians were Jews, they would have prayed 3 times a day as set by Ezra. as it was something that ALL Jews did, it probably didn't need mention in their writings.

the benefits of regular payer are MANY. when you pray 5 times a day, you MUST plan each day for when and where you will pray. hopefully you plan your day around the worship of Allah. wuduu is a key feature as you spend a few minutes preparing yourself for prayer.

prayer also helps keep you on the straight path. why contemplate doing something haram at 4PM if you need to pray at 5PM? the more that you worship Allah, the more He draws closer to you. when drawing close to Allah is your goal, bad habits seem rather pointless. even smoking for instance, you're not allowed to "stink" in the Masjid. if everyday you stopped smoking 1 hour before prayer as not to offend your brothers, quitting would be easier. the same with drugs and drink, they negate your prayer which you do 5 times a day 7 times a week. does that leave any time for being "under the influence." Allah assigned these prayers to aid us, you just have to figure that out!

:wa:

[PouringRain]

I feel like it's necessary to point out that prayer may not be the most accurate way of translating Salat. I'm not particularly knowledgeable on the subject, but based on what I've been taught it seems that the way most Christians pray is more comparable to the supplications (duas) Muslims offer, either after Salat or throughout the day. I don't want to say too much out of fear of making a mistake, so if anyone with more knowledge could follow up to this it would be much appreciated. :)

I would agree with you and also disagree with you...... if that is possible. :p

Yes, the way most Christians pray would be similar to how muslims make du'a. I agree with that. In fact, there are often discussions and reprimands amongst Christians who dislike how some treat God like a santa claus in the sky. (Although not all prayer, nor du'a, are of that nature either.)

The way that I disagree with you is that the Lord's Prayer, from my understanding, is the same basic structure as the Islamic prayer (salat). (This is not my own conclusion, as I have never honestly examined the two side by side, but I read an entire chapter about this in a book once many years ago, written by a man who was not a Christian.) As Christians, we are often taught that the Lord's Prayer is the model for prayer. The structure of it should serve as a model for how we should pray. So, in that sense, Christians who follow the model of prayer, is very comparable to salat.

I would say that what we Christians simply call "prayer" would include both du'a and salat for a muslim. For Jews it is more similar to Muslims.

[glo]

One day, glo, you should find a muslimah in your area and ask her to teach you to pray as a muslim prays. When I learned to pray as one, I felt for the first time that I truly understood what it meant when God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground.

Yes, I might try that.
Something that makes me a little hesitant, and perhaps you can help me there - is there anything said during Islamic prayers which I might find ... ermm ... goes against Christian teaching? That's the only thing which I couldn't do.

From the preparing ones body for prayer, to the intention made for prayer, to the actual prayer itself. The complete reverence before God is awe inspiring. I think Christians often fall into becoming too casual with God. Yes, he is our closest friend, but he is also the almighty God.

Yes, that's how I feel at the moment.

[PouringRain]

Yes, I might try that.
Something that makes me a little hesitant, and perhaps you can help me there - is there anything said during Islamic prayers which I might find ... ermm ... goes against Christian teaching? That's the only thing which I couldn't do.

Well, you don't have to answer this, but the only things I can think of that may go against would be the following two things: (And like I said, you don't have to say if they do or not if you don't want to.)

1) Some Christians might have a problem with facing "east" while praying. (I say east in quotes, because it may not be very east from where you are, but more south east....) For some Christians this would be a problem possibly because of what they may feel it signifies. I think, in perspective, it shouldn't be a problem. Jews also pray facing (Jerusalem) and early Christians did as well.

2) You may have a problem with saying that you believe Mohammed is his messenger and things along that line, if you do not believe he was a messenger of God. (You don't have to say if you do or do not.) But that is the main thing I think a Christian would have a problem with..... stating someone is a messenger of God if they do not believe that person was a messenger of God.


I looked for an English translation of the prayer on-line and this was all I found: http://muslim-canada.org/salaat.html (The translation is next to the pictures.)

Maybe someone here has a better translation. I have a book here and the translation in it is slightly different, and imo slightly better. LOL But you can look at the words yourself and see if there is anything else you think might be offensive to you.

Actually, now that I think about it, there is a third thing that a Christian might find offensive. :) I tend to forget that most Christians do not recognize Allah as God. (Since I believe we worship the same God, I tend to forget that I am in the minority. LOL)

[glo]

Thanks for that information, Pouring Rain. It has given me food for thought.

BTW, just earlier I came across this prayer.
I post it here, because I am sure that it contains nothing which Muslims would find offensive:

Creator God,
may every breath we take be for your glory,
may every footstep show you as our way,
that, trusting in your presence in this world,
we may, beyond this life, still be with you
where you are alive and reign
for ever and ever.

[aadil77]

Yes, I might try that.
Something that makes me a little hesitant, and perhaps you can help me there - is there anything said during Islamic prayers which I might find ... ermm ... goes against Christian teaching? That's the only thing which I couldn't do.


Yes, that's how I feel at the moment.

problem is what is christian teaching, what are the fundamental beliefs that make you a christian? no one can seem to agree on them

[aadil77]

If you watch this you'll get an idea of what we pray, there are things which the imam doesn't pray out loud - which you pray on your own, such as when in prostration

[Insaanah]

The way Muslims pray is not much different from the way the Biblical prophets (peace be upon them) prayed.

The faithful come to the mosque and take off their shoes so that they may enter the house of worship in bare feet...

"When he came to the Fire, a voice was uttered: O Moses! I am thy Lord, therefore put off thy shoes, for thou art in the sacred valley of Tuwa."-(HOLY QURAN 20:11-12).

(And God said to Moses), "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."-(EXODUS 3:5, also ACTS 7:33).

They make ablution, washing their faces, hands and feet...

"O you who belive! When you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles."-(HOLY QURAN 5:7)

"And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; when they went into tent of the conregation they washed as the Lord commanded Moses."-(EXODUS 40:31-32).

"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple..."-(ACTS 21:26).

The faithful face that Great Mosque in Mecca, whether in prayer, or reciting, or seeking the blessings of God in unison with the faithful from all over the world...

"So turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque, and (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces toward it."- (HOLY QURAN 2:144).

"Now when Daniel...went into his house; and his window being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."-(DANIEL 6:10).

Bowing down and prostrating..

"O you who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your Lord, and do good that you may prosper."-(HOLY QURAN 22:77).

"And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed..."-(MATTHEW 26:39).

"And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship..."-(JOSHUA 5:14).

"And he (Elijah) cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees."-(1 KINGS 18:42).

"And they (Moses and Aaron) fell upon their faces..."-(NUMBERS 20:6).

"And Abraham fell on his face..."-(GENESIS 17:3).

Invariably, the faithful spreads out his hands to God, asking forgiveness, seeking His blessings, beseeching His protection for mankind...

"Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire."-(HOLY QURAN 2:201)

"...when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven."-(1 KINGS 8:54).

And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me.-(JOHN 11:41-42).

It's a great feeling when you know that Muslims around the world, and the Prophets that came before Muhammad (peace be upon them all) prayed in the same way, and that you are following in their footsteps.

Peace.

[glo]

problem is what is christian teaching, what are the fundamental beliefs that make you a christian? no one can seem to agree on them

Christians may have differences in opinion, but there are basic tenets which most Christians, if not all, can agree on.

For the sake of my conversation with Pouring Rain, I am really talking about things which I personally could not say or do, as they would go against my personal convictions and beliefs.
As Pouring Rain said, Christians may have different opinions as to where they draw that line.

For example, if Islamic prayer meant actively denying Jesus' divinity, that would be something I simply could not do. (Just as I am sure that you could not participate in any prayer which actively claimed Jesus' divinity)

Thank you for your link, BTW. :)

[Tyrion]

I would agree with you and also disagree with you...... if that is possible. :p

Yes, the way most Christians pray would be similar to how muslims make du'a. I agree with that. In fact, there are often discussions and reprimands amongst Christians who dislike how some treat God like a santa claus in the sky. (Although not all prayer, nor du'a, are of that nature either.)

The way that I disagree with you is that the Lord's Prayer, from my understanding, is the same basic structure as the Islamic prayer (salat). (This is not my own conclusion, as I have never honestly examined the two side by side, but I read an entire chapter about this in a book once many years ago, written by a man who was not a Christian.) As Christians, we are often taught that the Lord's Prayer is the model for prayer. The structure of it should serve as a model for how we should pray. So, in that sense, Christians who follow the model of prayer, is very comparable to salat.

I would say that what we Christians simply call "prayer" would include both du'a and salat for a muslim. For Jews it is more similar to Muslims.

From my own understanding, The Lord's Prayer is more comparable to Al-Fatiha, which is only one part of Salat. Salat itself requires much more than just a recitation of Al-Fatiha, so I still don't see it as totally comparable to when a Christian prays. Like I said though, this is only my understanding of the matter. :p

[Danah]

Peace glo

Regular prayer? from the name itself you can get one benefit...you said regular, so its kinda organize our day to five times. Our life is more organized as we know what to do each time and so keep waiting the time of the salah impatiently (more like missing Allah so we need to pray again and again to him), not just living the day randomly without any goal. They are five in different times of the day and not all at once so we are renewing our covinent with Allah five times daily that we are directing our worshipping to him only.
Think about it this way. Imagine you have two nice vases for your flowers in your outside garden, one of them you keep cleaing it several times during the day, while the other one is just getting cleaned once everyday. which one will be cleaner?
Of course the first one, and so the heart of Muslims. Salah cleans the heart of Muslim five times a day from the worldly dust that the person live with daily and keeps reminding him of the ultimate purpose of his existence. It purify our hearts and keep telling us that there are more important things in this life than just work, sleep, and eat.


Its us who are seeking benefits from Salah....its has been always said: if you want Allah to talk to you, read Quran. But if you want to talk to Allah, pray your Salah.

[Muhammad]

Greetings glo,

Thanks for starting an interesting thread.

I remember hearing an example about regular prayers. The example was that prayers are to the heart what water is to a tree. If you gave the water all at once, the tree would die. Likewise it would be too difficult if all the prayers were done at once. Islam has spread out the timings for prayer throughout the day to keep us in regular contact with God and to make it easier than having to do it all at once. This is similar to how water is given in small amounts but in regular intervals to nurture a tree and help it grow.

Prayer in Islam is also about reviving our faith each time we pray and finding comfort from the difficulties of the world. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "prayer was made the sweetness of my eyes". That was his rest and comfort. Whenever a matter grieved him, he would take refuge in the prayer. He would say to his muezzin (caller to prayer), Bilal, "O Bilal, give us our rest in prayer." This shows the yearning and desire he felt to meet Allaah (swt). Hence, Islam even encourages optional prayers in the long intervals between the obligatory prayers, as devotees of Allaah (swt) enjoy communicating with Him in prayer.

Regarding the manner of prayer - it is a very lofty act of worship because it combines different acts of worship together: remembrance of Allaah, recitation of the Qur'an, standing humbly before Almighty Allaah, bowing, prostrating, supplication, praising and glorifying Allaah and so on. As one author put it, it is an act in which all the three aspects of human existence, physical, mental and spiritual, find their due expression.

Peace.

[PouringRain]

From my own understanding, The Lord's Prayer is more comparable to Al-Fatiha, which is only one part of Salat. Salat itself requires much more than just a recitation of Al-Fatiha, so I still don't see it as totally comparable to when a Christian prays. Like I said though, this is only my understanding of the matter. :p

Thank you, Tyrion. :) You may be correct, as I said, I have never analyzed or compared the two structures personally, I only read about it in a book many years back. From what naidamar described when he outlined the prayer on the previous page, I would say that the lord's prayer includes more than just al fatiha. He wrote that when sitting you also make du'a for forgiveness, good health, and the straight path, etc. The Lord'a prayer as a model has these basic elements: starts with praise (adoration), acknowledging his will, supplication (for needs), supplication (forgiveness), supplication (straight path), ends in praise (although the ending this way is in the protestant Bible and not the Catholic one).

I was reminded of another model that christians use and it is acronymed ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication.


I would say that one main difference is that christians do not usually recite the Bible in their prayers. There are exceptions though. For example, reciting the Lord's prayer in itself is a recitation of the bible. There was a movement not too long ago where christians were reciting the "prayer of Jabez" which is fro the Bible. It is also not uncommon for Christians to pray the Psalms. Off hand, those are just a few prayers I can think of where the bible is recited in prayer.

Another difference in the prayer itself is that christians do not generally remember or mention the name of past prophets as Muslims do in naming Mohammed (and also Abraham). The exception would be using the name of Jesus. Not all christians pray to Jesus.... I just wanted to point out. It is not uncommon to see a christians who prays to God, but tacks on the end of the prayer something to the effect of "we ask these things in Jesus' name."

Other differences I would say are not in the prayer itself, but are in things such as: christians do not perform wudu, although there are those who believe in washing the feet or things of that nature; christians do not make intention, although it is not uncommon for them to prepare their hearts; and Christians do not go through various body motions during prayer, although it is not uncommon to find them bowing, raising their hands, falling down, etc.

Maybe when you read this post, Tyrion, you can make more comments/ comparisson about christian prayer and salat. I know how to pray as a muslim and have done it many, many times, but I will be the first to say that I am not familiar with it enough to be able to analyze all its parts. :) I look forward to your comments. (Riding a bike and explaining how to ride a bike in detail are two different things. LOL)

[PouringRain]

Its us who are seeking benefits from Salah....its has been always said: if you want Allah to talk to you, read Quran. But if you want to talk to Allah, pray your Salah.

I remember hearing an example about regular prayers. The example was that prayers are to the heart what water is to a tree. If you gave the water all at once, the tree would die. Likewise it would be too difficult if all the prayers were done at once. Islam has spread out the timings for prayer throughout the day to keep us in regular contact with God and to make it easier than having to do it all at once. This is similar to how water is given in small amounts but in regular intervals to nurture a tree and help it grow.

I like these. :) :thumbs_up

[Tyrion]

Maybe when you read this post, Tyrion, you can make more comments/ comparisson about christian prayer and salat. I know how to pray as a muslim and have done it many, many times, but I will be the first to say that I am not familiar with it enough to be able to analyze all its parts. :) I look forward to your comments. (Riding a bike and explaining how to ride a bike in detail are two different things. LOL)

Well, the only real experience I've had with Christian prayers is when I lived in the dorms last year. Quite a bit of my floor mates were very religious, so it gave me a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue with them. As someone else mentioned earlier, ( I think it was mentioned in this thread anyway...) I noticed that it seems like most Christians just end up treating God as that "Santa Clause in the sky", and just pray in whatever fashion they want and ask for whatever they want. I think one of the things about Salat that I really like is the fact that it is worshiping God according to God's terms. God has every right over us, and we have no power to say how we want to please God. I feel like Islam is the only faith that reliably tells us how God wants us to connect with and worship him, and I feel like this is lacking in Christianity.

I'm not particularly sure where else we can go with this discussion, and I'm running out of things to say since my mind is really dead right now... :p (it's been a long week... Perhaps I'll think of more to say tomorrow :) ) But I did want to say that you have some very unique views, and I've never encountered a Christian who was so interested in Islam or who had actually taken the time to learn how to perform Salat. I find it really interesting, (if not a bit confusing...), and I'm glad we can exchange ideas and learn like this. I haven't really been active on this forum until very recently, and I'm really enjoying it so far, so I hope we can continue these kinds of talks. And who knows, since you already accept Muhammad as a prophet, perhaps one day you'll actually accept Islam... :p

[glo]

Thank you all for your contributions. I am really enjoying this thread! :statisfie

I wonder if there are any members who are neither Christian nor Muslim, who have a view on this?

[espada]

This thread makes me appreciate Islam that much more.

There is an actual system of prayer.

The things i enjoy about prayer the most are the sajdah, prayer in congregation and the superogatory prayers (the forenoon, the night prayer).

To the 2 Christian sisters, read this thread:

The Virtue of Night Prayer

In fact i recommend to both of you to rouse yourself out of bed and try it.

Call on Allah with your head bowed in humility, in the dead of night.

You have nothing to lose, and all whole lot to gain.

[Sister Unknown]

To Muslilms, every action is an act of worship. Everything we do and say is worship. Worship means doing everything that pleases Allah. Every action can be an act of worship if it is in accordance with Allah's revelation. But surely there is a difference between eating (worship) and offereing Salat (worship). Offering Salat is a second pillar in Islam. It is far rewarding than eating. When we offer the Salat, we must fear Allah, hope and love Him. We must keep these three things in balance. And of course, Al- fatiha, is the surah that gives us even more strenght of these three feelings.

As you have said, why should we focus on everything around us, except Allah? Allah has given us a way of life to live and to focus on that, not to live as we want.

And, Salat, keep sus away from sins. How? It increases us in belief, etc...