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]

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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

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. 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]

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.

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