“Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God”…Malbie D. Babcock
Easy to relate to.
I love M.C. Hammer, well at least when I was growing up he was rival music icon only to Michael Jackson. M.C. Hammer’s song “We’ve got to pray” still stirs up emotion within me, not just because he was the rave of the moment, but also because he virtually erased the stereotype that rap song lovers had a thuggish outlook, rather they could make gospel music funkier and more attractive to everybody.
Obviously, we are all humans that live in a world of ups and downs. Sometimes we are in high spirits when things kick in the right direction, just as perfectly as we want it or even better. On the other hand, sometimes we become extremely gloomy, falling into bouts of emotional roller-coaster and become extremelyvulnerable to emotional terrorism when all our efforts end in disappointments.
“Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended upon man.”…Francis J. Spellman
What is Prayer?
The word ‘pray’ actually comes from the Latin word ‘precari’, which simply means to entreat or ask. Matt Slick of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry puts it this way; Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is a place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. What does the Bible say about Prayer? Prayer is simply communicating with God – Listening and talking to him.
Prayer is almost synonymous with religion, because every religion practices prayer, only in different ways, so apparently prayer is what they all have in common.
Religion Overview.
Scott Berkun describes history of religion cheerfully thus;
“I have a fascination with religious history. It’s a fantastic lens on the history of civilization. I’ve never had much faith, but the history of it, and the details of various scriptures have held me fascinated for years. The way the roots of all religions wind together mythology, history, culture, selfishness, compassion, wisdom and ignorance is an amazing way to understand our species”’
Religion (from the latin Religio, meaning ‘restraint’, or Relegere, according to Cicero, meaning ‘to repeat, to read again’, or, most likely, Religionem, to show respect for what is sacred) is an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. There is no culture recorded in human history which has not practiced some form of religion.
Religion (which, in ancient times, is indistinguishable from mythology) concerns itself with the spiritual aspect of the human condition.
“Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow”…Benjamin Franklin
The main Idea.
It has become very evident that the prevailing economic conditions and revolutions have forced many a men perhaps with feeble minds to concentrate only on religion and prayers to survive the passing phase rather than face the reality before us.While growing up, sometimes I would get lost in my secret and imaginary world of lucid fantasy, dreaming and wishing that I could get hold of things clearly beyond my grasp. Thanksgiving perhaps remains as much as ever to God that I thought aloud many a times, then my father would tell me that nothing comes free or cheaply, “You have to work hard for it” he’d say. He kept on reminding me that if I was hungry and wanted to eat, I had to get up to make the food.
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays”…Soren Kierkegaard
The world we live in now is filled with a lot of bitter, perhaps lazy or faithless mediocres that infect you with their misfortune if you hang around them often, And unfortunately, finding solace only in sentiments and prayers, neglecting the reality of hard work. Billions of people have become extremely delusional about religion so much that they want to carry people along a path which they themselves are quite unsure of. Of course I believe in miracles, well especially when I am the one performing it. Don’t get me wrong, how dare I compare myself to the higher beings, simply buying slippers for a homeless and shoeless kid is as big a miracle as they come.
“Prayer is not asking. It is longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart”…Mahatma Gandhi
The point here really is, too many people in the name of God have misled people and have amassed enormous wealth at their expense, thereby depicting a tailored outlook of God. People actually pray for ridiculous things such as power and unnecessary material things.
Using Africa as a case study where poverty seriously exists, people have misplaced priorities and a whole lot of stigmatization fleecing upon their images giving them altered perception and inferiority complex. In the end though, considering the vulnerability of our very selves when struck by fatigue, confusion and possibly ill health and after all medical procedures have been met, we naturally curl up helplessly in a corner and surrender all of our being to the mysterious higher power, and pray we shall. Even that remains as much a mystery to the staunchest of realists.
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough”…Meister Eckhart
SOURCES; Google
Encyclopedia Britannica
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Holy Bible
Wikipedia
Goodreads
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