Meaning and Definition of Prayer | Concept and What is.

What is Prayer?

Prayer, in general terms, is a concept from religion, in which a believer approaches in an act of communication with God. It's an act of natural faith of a person who believes in a deity. There are many ways to pray. Prayer can be done individually or collectively, formal either spontaneous way, as also in way oral, silent, or sung.

In the past, primitive religions most associated with the sacrifice prayer, on the other hand, from the beginnings of Judaism and Christianity, the Psalms and the psalters were constituted as a fundamental part of the prayers in the temples and synagogues, considered as houses of prayer.

For Christian prayer can be as way of praise, or invocation, as well as also as Thanksgiving, petition and of forgiveness. Actually it is so for most religions, since the ultimate purpose of prayer is to perform an act of spiritual communion with the deity which is associated with his faith, performing rites that allow a closer relationship with the divine. Because of this it is that they there are even certain dances which in certain religions are considered as one more way to pray, in the same way, in which Buddhists consider meditation as a strong communication channel.

As well as the voice or the body is used to pray, also used certain elements, among which we find the Rosary, an element of the Catholic faith that allows the faithful to go counting the prayers to the Virgin Mary. Another example is the carpet of prayer of the Muslims and the wheel of the prayer of the lamas (monks of Tibetan Buddhism), consisting of a box in the form of cylinder inside which are written sentences, that when you spin box, manage to take its effect.

Prayer does not necessarily have an "intellectual" sense, but that in some of its forms seeks communion with God or the absolute transcending the mind; This way makes sense repetitive prayer and mantras used by the ascetics of the India. Repetition ends up absorbing the conceptual mind, leaving free the spirit to elevate to the heights.

As we see, the prayer, the multiple forms which acquires, is a usual practice in all cultures and religions of the world, which despite having purposes and different ways, trying to approach the man with that which is above it.

Translated for educational purposes.