Prayer in Christianity is the Christian tradition of communicating with God, either in God's fullness or as one of the persons of the Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being. Since the beginning of the third century the doctrine of the Trinity has been stated as "the one God. Some Christian groups, such as Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called, Orthodox The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church[note 1] and also the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each geographically and and Anglicans Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. Anglicanism forms one of the principal traditions of Christianity, together with Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, will sometimes pray in union with intercessors, such as Mary Mary, Queen of All Saints Aramaic, Hebrew: מרים, Maryām Miriam; Arabic:مريم, Maryam), usually referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary and occasionally Madonna, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament[Mt. 1:16,18–25] [Lk. 1:26–56] [2:1–7] as the mother of Jesus Christ. Muslims or other saints Saints are individuals of exceptional holiness who are important in many religions, particularly Christianity. In some usages, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian, or anyone who is in Heaven. In such cases, the ultimate recipient of the prayer is still regarded as God.

Prayer Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional connection to God, or any deity, through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creedal is an important theme in Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy (which parted ways with Catholicism in 1054 A.D.) and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th, and there are several different forms of prayer.^[1]

Prayer in the New Testament

Prayer in the New Testament The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament. Unlike the Old Testament, the contents of the New Testament deal explicitly with Christianity, although both the Old and New Testament are regarded, together, as Sacred Scripture. The New Testament is presented as a positive command (Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). The people of God are challenged to include prayer in their everyday life, even in the busy struggles of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:5) as it is thought to bring the faithful closer to God.

Throughout the New Testament, prayer is shown to be God's appointed method by which the faithful obtain what he has to bestow (Matthew 7:7-11; Matthew 9:24-29; Luke 11:13).

Prayer, according to the Book of Acts, can be seen at the first moments of the church (Acts 3:1). The apostles In Christianity, the Apostles were missionaries among the leaders in the Early Church and, in the Epistle to the Hebrews,[3:1] Jesus Christ himself. The term was also used, especially by the Gospel of Luke, for "the Twelve," Jesus' inner circle of disciples (students). They were, according to the Acts of the Apostles and Christian regarded prayer as the most important part of their life (Acts 6:4; Romans 1:9; Colossians 1:9). As such, the apostles frequently incorporated verses from Psalms Psalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Taken together, its 150 sacred poems express virtually the full range of Israel's faith into their writings. Romans 3:10-18 for example is borrowed from Psalm 14:1-3 and other psalms.

Thus, due to this emphasis on prayer in the early church Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of, roughly, the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c. 30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325). At first the Christian church was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John, lengthy passages of the New Testament are prayers or canticles A canticle is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically (see also the Book of Odes Odes is a book of the Bible found only in Eastern Orthodox Bibles and included or appended after Psalms in Alfred Rahlfs' critical edition of the Septuagint, coming from the fifth-century Codex Alexandrinus. The chapters are prayers and songs (canticles) from the Old and New Testaments), such as the Prayer for forgiveness (Mark 11:25-26), the Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater Noster, is perhaps the best-known prayer in Christianity. Two versions of it occur in the New Testament, one in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13 as part of the discourse on ostentation, a section of the Sermon on the Mount; and the other in the Gospel of Luke 11:2–4, the Magnificat The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung (or spoken) liturgically in Christian church services. The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:46-55) where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after Mary (Luke 1:46-55), the Benedictus Benedictus is also the Latin form of the name Benedict born by many figures including the current Pope Benedict XVI (Luke 1:68-79), Jesus' prayer to the one true God (John 17), exclamations such as, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:3-14), the Believers' Prayer (Acts 4:23-31), "may this cup be taken from me" (Matthew 26:36-44), "Pray that you will not fall into temptation" (Luke 22:39-46), Saint Stephen Saint Stephen , known as the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Stephen means "wreath" or "crown" in Greek's Prayer (Acts 7:59-60), Simon Magus Simon Magus , also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, was a Samaritan proto-Gnostic and traditional founder of the Simonians in the first century A.D. His only Biblical reference is in Acts 8:9-24 and prominently in several apocryphal and heresiological accounts of early Christian writers, some of whom regarded him as the source of' Prayer (Acts 8:24), "pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men" (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2), and Maranatha Maranatha is an Aramaic phrase occurring once only in the New Testament (see Aramaic of Jesus) and also in the Didache which is part of the Apostolic Fathers' collection. It is transliterated into Greek letters rather than translated, and is found at the end of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 16:22) . The NRSV translates it as: & (1 Corinthians 16:22).

The Early Church

Public Prayer

Prayer was frequently found in the gatherings of the early church, offered frequently throughout the worship service with the Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater Noster, is perhaps the best-known prayer in Christianity. Two versions of it occur in the New Testament, one in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13 as part of the discourse on ostentation, a section of the Sermon on the Mount; and the other in the Gospel of Luke 11:2–4 taking its place as the anchor - a common ritual in each gathering.^{[citation needed]}

Liturgical

Elements of the oldest Christian prayers may be found in liturgies A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions. The word, is sometimes rendered by its English translation "service", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Roman Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim such as the Roman Catholic Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass is a common name for the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until promulgation of the later form of the Roman Rite. In nearly every country it was celebrated only in Latin which is based on the Liturgy of St James It is based on the traditions of the ancient rite of the Early Christian Church of Jerusalem, as the Mystagogic Catecheses of St Cyril of Jerusalem imply. Forming the historical basis of the Liturgy of Antioch, it is still the principal liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syrian Catholic Church in communion with Rome in Syriac and, in the, the Mass of Paul VI The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite promulgated by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council . It is the present ordinary or normal form of the Roman Rite of the Mass, the Orthodox Divine Liturgy "Divine Liturgy" is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term. Some Oriental Orthodox employ the, the Anglican Book of Common Prayer The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and of other Anglican churches, used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. Prayer books, unlike books of prayers,, and the Lutheran Book of Worship.

Seasonal prayers

Many denominations that adhere to a liturgical tradition use specific prayers geared to the season of the Liturgical Year The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches which determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read. Distinct liturgical colours may appear in connection with different seasons of the, such as Advent Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi. The Eastern churches' equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast, but it, Christmas Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed mostly on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birth date of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been, Lent Lent in the Western Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to and Easter Easter (Ēostre ; Greek: Πάσχα Paskha, from Hebrew: פֶּסַח Pesakh,/Passover) is the central religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Some Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also. Some of these prayers are found in the Roman Catholic Breviary A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by, bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office (i.e., at the canonical hours or Liturgy of the Hours, the Christians' daily prayer). The, the Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings. Together with the Mass, it constitutes the official public prayer, the Orthodox Book of Needs and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

Prayer to saints

Christians have historically asked the saints Saints are individuals of exceptional holiness who are important in many religions, particularly Christianity. In some usages, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian, or anyone who is in Heaven to intercede for them. There are many intercessory prayers recorded in the Bible, including those done by the Apostle Peter Simon Peter , sometimes called Simon Cephas (Greek: Κηφᾶς, Kēphas; Aramaic: kêfâ‎, "rock, stone") after his name in Hellenized Aramaic, was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida on behalf of sick persons and by prophets In religion, a prophet is an individual who has been contacted by, or has encountered, the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other humans. The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy of the Old Testament in favor of other people.

All of the ancient Christian churches, in both Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions and churches which developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to describe all Christian traditions which did not and Western Christianity Western Christianity is a term used to include the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and groups historically derivative thereof, including the churches of the Anglican and Protestant traditions, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval heritage. The term is used in contrast to Eastern Christianity. It developed and, developed a tradition of asking for the prayerful intercession of the saints. According to Sacred Tradition Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a technical theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church authority, miracles are not performed by the saints, but by God.

Until 1500 all Christians used intercessory prayers to the Saints and there was no debate about the practice, as the historical documents show. Until 1500, as all historical documents show, all Christians prayed for the dead, practiced infant baptism Infant baptism or christening is the Christian religious practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or, used confession The confession of a person's sins is a religious practice in a number of Christian traditions, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and so on.

Some Protestant Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation Christians reject the notion of prayer to the saints. The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that he had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible convinced him that this was idolatrous.^[3]

Prayer for the dead

Orthodox Christians have historically prayed for the dead. The Liturgy of Apostle and Evangelist Mark is currently served annually in some Orthodox churches on the feast day of the Apostle Mark.^{[citation needed]} The Liturgy of James of Jerusalem believed to be written around year 60 A.D. is celebrated once a year by Orthodox Church in Jerusalem (and a few other churches) on the feast day of James, brother of Jesus.^{[citation needed]} Both Liturgies used by Early Church Christians contain prayers for the departed.

The Catholic Church has traditionally employed prayers for the deceased, deriving their justification from the second book of Maccabees (12:38-46). These are mainly used to loosen the suffering of souls believed to be in Purgatory. The most prominent product of prayer for the dead is the Requiem Mass, where the fruits of the prayers said during mass are directed at deceased souls in Purgatory. All souls day (November 2nd) is another example of Catholics traditionally praying for their dead.

Protestants have historically rejected the notion of prayer for the dead, believing that such prayers are unbiblical and cannot affect the fate of departed souls, though Lutherans do not.

Prayerbooks

There is no one prayerbook containing a set liturgy used by all Christians; however many Christian denominations have their own local prayerbooks, for example:

• Book of Common Prayer (the traditional Anglican prayer book, still in use or modified by the constituent churches of the Anglican Communion, and one of the most influential prayerbooks in the English language)
• Agenda, name for book for liturgies, especially in Lutheran Church.
• The Upper Room (United Methodist Church daily devotional)
• The Roman Breviary (Traditional Roman Catholic Monastic Hours)
• The Book of Psalms

Meditative

This has a more interior character than vocal prayer. In some Christian theology, this type of prayer is intended to help obtain some knowledge and love of God:according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking."^[4]

Christian meditation may commence by reading from a holy book of some kind, followed by silent prayer. Some Christians meditate on the condition of Man, or on the life of Jesus.^{[citation needed]} According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary."^{[citation needed]}

Physical posture

Certain physical gestures often accompany prayer, including medieval gestures such as genuflection or making the sign of the cross. Kneeling, bowing and prostrations (see also poklon) are often practiced in more traditional branches of Christianity. Frequently in Western Christianity the hands are placed palms together and forward as in the feudal commendation ceremony. At other times the older orans posture may be used, with palms up and elbows in.

Charismatic prayer: Speaking in tongues

The technical term for speaking in tongues is “glossolalia,” made up of two Greek words, glossa (language or tongue) and lalein (to talk).

The word glossa appears in the Greek New Testament not less than fifty times. It is used to refer to the physical organ of the tongue as in James 3:5; once in reference to flames of fire shaped like tongues^[5]; at least once in a metaphorical sense when referring to speech as in the statement, “my tongue (speech) was glad (joyous)”.^[6]

The only mention of speaking in tongues in the canonical Gospels is in the Gospel of Mark - “And these signs will follow those who believe; In my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues”.^[7] However this chapter, Mark 16, is widely considered a later addition to the original text.

Skeptics assert that speaking in tongues is "the ecstatic utterance of emotionally agitated religious persons" ^[8], and that the phenomenon is unpremeditated and out of their control.

In the early Christian community, glossolalia was apparently quite widespread. This is evident from the apostle Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, where he refers to speaking "with the tongues of men and of angels".^[9] This is commonly assumed to be a reference to glossolalia, implying a belief that 'speaking in tongues' involves genuine language, either human or heavenly in origin. Paul's lengthy discourse in this letter,^[10] warning the faithful not to be unbalanced and disproportionate in their use of the phenomenon, implies that it was widely used at least in Corinth.

Evidence for the belief that glossolalia can be a human language may be found in the account of the Day of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles. Here we read that a large gathering of Christ's disciples "were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (New International Version). According to this account, "when they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language". Some claimed that the disciples had drunk too much wine, but Peter rejected this, pointing out that it was only nine in the morning.^[11]

See also

• Prayer
• Anglican devotions
• Prayer In The New Testament
• Christian mysticism
• Intercession
• Poustinia
• Edward Mckendree Bounds
• Lorica
• Catholic beliefs on the power of prayer
• Roman Catholic prayers to Jesus

References and footnotes

1. ^ Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski (2005). Prayer: A History. Houghton Mifflin Books. ISBN 0618152881.
2. ^ Augsburg Confession, Article 21, "Of the Worship of the Saints". trans. Kolb, R., Wengert, T., and Arand, C. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2000.
3. ^ Madeleine Gray, The Protestant Reformation, (Sussex Academic Press, 2003), page 140.
4. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church #2705; http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1c3a1.htm
5. ^ Acts 2:3
6. ^ Acts 2:26
7. ^ Mark 16:17
8. ^ The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible defines glossolalia as: "the ecstatic utterance of emotionally agitated religious persons, consisting of a jumble of disjointed and largely unintelligible sounds. Those who speak in this way believe that they are moved directly by a divine spirit and their utterance is therefore quite spontaneous and unpremeditated."
9. ^ 1 Cor 13:1
10. ^ chapter 14, verses 1 to 25
11. ^ Acts 2

External links

• "Prayer". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Prayer.
• List of Catholic Prayers in English and Latin
• Many Examples Of Christian Prayers

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