Q&A for How to Pray

The amount of time usually isn't as important as the quality of time. Pray first thing, if you can, because it's always ]good to connect with God before you begin your day. And pray as long as you are able to. Remember, prayer is spending time with God, not a competition or a performance.

Just pray. Stay relaxed. Sit in a meditation position, then take a deep breath to relax, then you pray. Tell God what happened with your family, pray to God for smoothness in your life, but don't forget to be thankful and grateful always. Then just breathe, let go of what it was, and accept what happened.

Talk to God with your regular vocabulary, as you would to a family member or friend. If you're looking for specific prayers to recite, the Lord's Prayer is a good one. You could also pray many of the psalms.

Pray daily, give thanks to God and tune into your life and surroundings so you notice the answers to your prayers.

Read every day. Pray before you read that God will open your heart and help you apply it to your life. Pray afterwards that He will help you use it.

Just start talking to God like you would talk to a friend. Thank Him for everything he's given you, and then ask Him to forgive your sins. Pray for others and for yourself. Pray for the holy spirit and commit your day into God's hands.

It depends on what you mean by "helps". Prayer doesn't always result in our getting what we're praying before because God's purposes are higher and his vision broader than ours. But prayer always "helps" in the sense that communion with God is always a good thing, and by praying, even for what He won't give us, we have the opportunity to hear from Him and adjust our thinking to a kingdom mindset.

God does not judge. And God understands. He cares about every aspect of our lives, no matter what. God knows what we need before we do. Go to Him with honesty and authenticity, He will never turn you away.

Kneeling is a symbol of respect, submission, and humility.

Yes! It could be something as serious as praying for dead relatives or something as little as thanking for your new socks.

Yes, you can pray in any position.

It is a good idea to pray regularly, but you may pray when you feel like it. If you are a Catholic, you can pray the Liturgy of Hours, or pray the Rosary to the Virgin Mary.

That is not something that is wise to do. Although, you can pray in particular for god to help you find the right guy in the future. God knows who is best for you. If this person is right, it will work out.

Muslims have their own specific ways of praying. See How to Pray in Islam.

Try meditation pre-salaam. Clear your mind of all clouded thoughts and reflect on life.

Absolutely anything. God knows your thoughts and your heart anyway...there is no matter too small for Him to consider.

One might want to pray for their dead relative to be happy in the afterlife, or to reach the right kind of afterlife (e.g., a Christian might pray for their relative to go to heaven rather than purgatory or hell).

Everyone has their own opinions and their own perspectives on prayer. Some prefer praying and some prefer carrying out the task themselves. There is no right or wrong way to handle a difficult situation emotionally, so you shouldn't try to make people conform to your opinion.

It's possible that prayer is stressful for you, in which case you might want to try meditating before or after to help re-center yourself emotionally.

It's because you have an emotional and personal connection to God. It is nothing to worry about, it's actually a good thing. It is also driven by repentance and sorrow that come to the surface as you pray and communicate with God.

Yes, of course.

Praying is talking to God. Sometimes prayer is about making requests, like asking God to save a friend from cancer or bringing your dad home from war safely. Sometimes God answers our prayers the way we want him to, and sometimes he doesn't because He has already made other plans. Other times, prayer is a conversation, like how we enjoy talking to our friends. God sees us as His children, and we talk to Him as our father.

While Muslims believe in Jesus, they do not believe that he was literally the Son of God, nor do they celebrate his birth.

It just doesn't always work that way. Prayers won't always be answered exactly as you want them to be, unfortunately.

You can pray to anyone you want to.

There are different kinds of fasting. One is complete or full fasting. The person who does this abstains from all kinds of food and drinks. The other type is partial fasting. The person chooses between food or drinks what exactly to abstain from. So, really, it's up to you.

Your heart and soul guides you. Your faith can save you. Try reading more about God and how he wants you to live. May be you can get more insight about God this way.

You could try saying wishes or chants or sending positive thoughts to someone or something. I would recommend reading the article How to Say a Buddhist Prayer.

Repentance is essentially feeling sorry for what one did. It is asking God for forgiveness and is a sacrament that draws the one repenting closer to truth.

Since, God is love, God would like a word of prayer that comes from your heart instead of a written set of words. Start your prayer with what you would want to hear from someone you loved like a child.