Prayer

Prayer is common to all religious people; always has and always will be that way.  It's the human soul reaching out to believe in an after life...a purpose for living.  Everyone is born and see loved ones die; is that the end of ever seeing them again?  Life would be meaningless if that were true.

Prayer is at once simple, but at the same time very mysterious.  Praying to something that no one can see, wishing that someone was hearing our prayers.

The Bible is full of people who prayed; we have the Palms where so many prayers of David are recorded, his victories and his down fall.  Jesus Himself set an example of praying; he was a man and born and grew up as most of people do; but He was different in that He was called to become a sacrifice for all the sins of all the people of the whole world.  That meant to Him, that He needed strength in order to complete His mission.

There were great examples of people who prayed a lot...Mother Teresa, Paul the Apostle, all the other disciples had to learn how to pray.  Prayer is something we must learn how to do, and to practice.  What brings us to praying?  Usually it is the hard times we face; our own failures which drive us to seek God.

I don't think there is a certain way to pray; perhaps it's done in church, or in your car while driving to work...maybe in the middle of the night as you lie there in your bed, you begin to whisper prayers in order to give you a sense of security.

Praying is for the believers.  If people don't believe, then they see prayer as a waste of their time.

One thing about prayer, is that whether or not it is heard, it still is the intelligent way of finding out.

There are those who are called "intercessors" and their prayer life is a constant one...they seek the Lord morning, noon, night, and many times throughout the night, their vigil is constantly seeking the will of our Heavenly Father.

Many clergy people write out their  prayers and take them to the place where they deliver their sermons.  Their sermons are usually a result of much study, and notes from those Bible studies, are taken to the place where they deliver their sermons ,some even read their sermons word for word...and they so it so well, that those who listen to them, are edified as much as those who just speak without notes.  The same way with prayers, some read the prayers they have written before they pray them in their place of worship.  I didn't think it takes anything about from how they pray...they have thought about what to pray, and then write them down.  That way, they are assured that what they pray about will already been thought through, instead of just praying on the spot without any previous preparation.

Suppose a teacher would go teach a class; isn't it good if that teacher actually studies the lesson, make notes about her thoughts on that lesson, and takes those notes to class so the teacher can be better prepared to teach?

A person going shopping often makes a list of what they want to buy; instead of just walking into a grocery store and reaching for anything they want right then.  It's never good to go shopping for groceries if a person is hungry, that's a poor way to buy groceries.  So if this person comes home with a lot of food which they really didn't need and couldn't afford, other people in that house would question the shopper's ability to shop within their budget.

So, the clergy person should not just go to their place of worship without being fully prepared; mindful of what spiritual food their congregation needs, and spends time in preparation to provide the right message at the right time.