I pray like Wil, more or less. I rarely do any type of intercessory prayer (God, help XYZ happen), and this is for a number of reasons I won't elaborate on here.
I primarily pray in the following ways:
Individually
- In thanksgiving and gratefulness
- As a way of worship
- To ask forgiveness for my mistakes and errors, and to ask for strength and perseverence in becoming better
- To ask for the capacity to understand what I should do in certain situations, and the strength to do it
- To ask to be shaped ever more into a person approaching the example of Christ
- Prayers for peace, for which I've written a monthly ritual I do on my own
- Standard prayer/worship rituals I've written that combine Christianity and Druid symbolism
- Various prayers that I have either written myself or found that I loved (such as the prayers of St. Francis and St. Patrick)
- Meditation
Communally
- In church, from the Book of Common Prayer
- The Lord's Prayer (Our Father, Who Art in Heaven)
Individually, I have many practices in prayer. Mostly I just spontaneously lift my thoughts to God and have interior conversations with Him (mostly one-sided, but that's OK
). I do occasionally pray aloud, but not as often as silently, since in my mind I can pray throughout the day but I can't talk aloud to God at work, on the train, etc. without drawing attention.
When I do more ritual-centered prayer, I typically do it at home in my office, where I have four altars (at the directions) with lots of candles. I like candles. I don't find them necessary or even that important in prayer-work, but I like the symbolism and I find them aesthetically pleasing. My ritual prayer-work (more ceremonial and fixed) often uses Druid symbolism, so I have the candles and lots of art and things that remind me of the four directions and elements, combined with other art that represents the trinity and the Earth, and I have incense, water, and some kind of plant that fits the season. Sometimes I put flowers on the altar to the West, which also goes along with Christ's altar. It's more or less an artistic expression of my love for God and the Earth that I weave into prayer work. The ceremonies are repeated so they can have a rhythm to them, but I generally incorporate long periods in the middle of meditation and/or singing, that changes every time. Ceremony takes work and planning, so it is not an everyday and spontaneous thing like my ongoing conversation with God. But I feel like it is a way I can honor Him and incorporate art and the vibrancy of life into my prayer, so I try to do this periodically.
I like the balance- the ongoing spontaneous prayer and meditation, and the planned ceremonial prayers that happen in church or on my own.
