Prayer Orthodox Christianity - Essay Example

Prayer Orthodox Christianity Prayer Prayer in the life of any Orthodox adherent is not an optional exercise but an indispensable practical tenet that must go beyond one’s physical observance. Since, it is an act of elevating one’s mind and heart towards his or her creator with the intention to praise, give Him thanks as well as petition for varied earthly needs. They include spiritual and material aspects whose essence in this mortal life an ordinary man cannot ignore. This is because of the heightened importance that is attached to prayer by the Orthodox Christianity. According to Casiday (550), prayer acts a way that ensures one live a spiritual life acceptable in this mortal life if he or she wants to benefits not only materially but also have inner harmony. Inner harmony in this case encompasses “living with God”, which is basically thinking and feeling a person’s accessibility to his or her creator is not a distant one (Casiday 550). Hence, to establish the best relationship an individual can ever have and enjoy while in this mortal life mostly characterized by betrayals not only by friends but also those claim to be very close. Based on Orthodox studies in regards to prayer through its recitation three times a day, plays a consecration role (Lebron 215). Mostly, this statement through repetition encompasses one of the act adherent constantly concentrate themselves to God, hence ensuring a person maintains a constant harmony with his or her God. Another importance attached to prayer is that, it supplements almsgiving (Lebron 215). This is a self-denial exercise adherents undertake extremely serious with the intention to share with the pitiable especially during decreased consumption period. The opposite of prayer in this case is the state anxiety, which Orthodox preaches vehemently against referring to Christ’s message in Philippians 4:6-7. The verse mainly emphasizes on adherents embracing prayer coupled with appreciation and petition of whatever they may wish to have in this life. Since, anxiety based on studies so far conducted does not help an individual but instead affects one’s life through development of myriad of predicaments, which are complex as well as bidirectional (Rynn, Hilary & Jennifer 644). Significant difference amid prayer and anxiety is that the latter encompasses one’s mind dwelling of on fear regarding what might happen unexpectedly, which is contrary to the former. This is because in regards to prayer its main hope is that there is intervention of a superior being that will intervene if invoked coupled with one living as per the outlined guidelines. Images that the Orthodox faithful use in prayer involve icons featuring Christ, others featuring angels, as well as those that have engravings of saints like St. John of Kronstadt (Morris 523). There exist various sorts of prayer that each orthodox follower is required to observe. One of them is the Divine Liturgy. It is attributed as the superior most sort of prayer in Orthodox Christianity. The prayer commences with petitioning for tranquility followed by an invocation for the good state of the whole world, as well as asking for the good health besides salvation of the congregation in church and then praying for any other needs. Then what comes next is the psalmody followed by epistle and then Gospel readings. Sermon links the word’s liturgy to that of Eucharist. The Eucharist offered to the congregants serves as a symbol of Christ’s body as well as blood and is geared towards making the congregants true disciples. While doing, this prayer there should be a priest. The other form of prayer involves prayers know as “the hours”. This prayer occurs across the globe among orthodox faithful. These prayers occur at particular instances in a day and at night. For instance, Vespers is said in the evenings whereas compline occurs when one wants to sleep. There exists another that occurs at midnight and then Matins is for morning. A noon prayer also gets recited by orthodox followers. For those that can make it, they can attend to have these prayers in church but most people prefer to do them in the confines of their homes. These forms of prayer are formulaic and contain changing aspects depending on the day or even season; For instance, at weekends and during notable feast days. The other one is the private prayer that is conducted individually. Each orthodox follower should develop a personal union with the Christ and thus ought to conduct certain night as well as morning prayers towards achieving this goal (Fr Hudson). For instance, the Jesus prayer is one such prayer that is private in nature and is conducted with a beaded rope that aids one keep track of the recitations while saying “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner” (Fr Hudson). Such recitations are carried out at several times during the day to enable someone keep their union with Christ. The last forms of prayer are the Extemporaneous prayers. This form of prayer has no formula and emanates from one’s heart, and is said in their own words. It is a nice prayer that orthodox followers also utilize. During this prayer, one can intercede for personal assistance from God as well as repent and even intercede for anyone that they wish to pray about. The various prayers depict differences as well as similarities. One of the striking differences is that the Divine Liturgy occurs at a church service and that there ought to be a priest for it to appear is comprised by the taking of the Eucharist which is quite not a requisite in the other prayers. The other difference is the timing at which they occur with the hour prayers occurring at different times of the day and varying depending on the season, which is not the case with the other prayers that are not so formulaic. The other sought of difference is the instance at which the prayers take root with the private prayer occurring at a personal level, whereas a prayer such as the divinity liturgy must be by a congregation. The last difference lies on the nature of the prayers with the rest of the prayers been provided for in the orthodox Christianity save for Extemporaneous prayers that occurs in any formula and in a person’s own words. 3. Teachings of the orthodox Christianity emanate from sources such as scriptures as well as the apostolic tradition that has been handed over from revelation. Since prayer is a conversation with God, there are various principles ingrained in the orthodox belief as concerns prayer. The first is the belief about the Holy trinity, which comprises of three persons (Rev. Mastrantonis). The first as God the father with whom the Orthodox faithful believe is the most superior of all. The next is God as the Son, with whom they believe is the son from God that he send to deliver the world and died for the salvation of sinners. People can request the son to intercede and obtain favors for them through prayer since they believe he is nearer and will be heard faster. The last is the Holy Spirit whom they believe grants people life and reports as well as gets controlled directly to from the Father. The other tenet is the presence of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church, taken during Divine Liturgy prayer. The Eucharist symbolizes Jesus Christ since people eat bread accompanied by wine in that respect to demonstrate Christ’s body and His blood respectively, an act that creates union with Christ. The other one is the tenet of faith and hope amongst faithful that come handy with prayer. For any person to pray constructively, they must first possess conviction in the supreme God and his ability to offer anything. They also ought to possess hope that what they pray to have and happen will surely come. The other requirement is that one should exhibit a lot of patience since most of the things that one prays about do not take root overnight. The causes of prayer are widespread and people in the Orthodox Christianity pray for a myriad of reasons or rather causes. One such reason is the need to be in constant union with God through prayer since it is the only way that one can talk to him. The other basis for is to get forgiveness from God and in that light get cleansing for their misdoings. People in the Orthodox Church as well pray to obtain favors for instance success, recovery from sickness, to have peace, get protection among other causes. There are also obstacles that inhibit prayer and its successful achievement to an Orthodox faithful. One such obstacle is wandering in a prayer whereby someone does not specifically know what to talk about and how to even put it. This is a great obstacle to prayer since it leads to dissatisfaction and one does not end up praying for what they intend. In order to overcome wandering, one should have adequate prior preparedness so that they know what to pray about and how to pray for it. Another way to overcome wandering is by prior reflection that makes one to have composure while praying (“Orthodox Christian Information Center”). The other obstacle is that of cooling down, whereby one looses the favor to pray and stick to their usual routines. This is a very critical obstacle that one ought to overcome by ensuring that they compel themselves to pray even when they least feel like doing so. The other obstacle is that of haste praying whereby one rushes over when praying and then realizes that they have omitted essential needs that they ought to have prayed about. This is best handled by prior preparation as well as composure while praying. The other obstacle is misconceptions concerning prayer whereby one fails to pray because of various reasons that they pick from others and thus end up not praying. For instance, the misconception that prayer is time consuming and that mixing it with business or other activities may lead to reduced performance. Overcoming misconception can be through nurturing one’s desire in God by ensuring that they read spiritual materials and carry out self searching exercises. Working hard can also help a misconceived believer get back on their faith stronger. Another obstacle is that many people have not mastered reciting various prayers and this makes it hard for them to pray and this can be overcame by hard work and commitment in memorizing the prayers. There are various fruits, results or rather effects that come with prayer in the Orthodox Christianity. One such result of prayer is creation of a personal union and friendship with Christ (“Rev. Mastrantonis”). Constant prayer enables someone to have increase contact with their maker and thus instill an incredible bond. Another result is that prayer is a proper channel for one to obtain unending favors from God. For instance, one gains mercy as well as obtains forgiveness from their maker through praying. It is also through prayer that people obtain protection, success as well as discernment power from God. Through prayer, one is able to forgive others because they have peace and power from God. Additionally, prayer is essential since it enables one to gain enhanced wisdom and ability to handle situations as well as maters that come their way as well as elevates their compassion about other people. In conclusion, as articulated above, it is clear that prayer is a very fundamental requirement in the life of each Orthodox Christian. There are various types of prayer that include Divine Liturgy, hour prayer, private as well as Extemporaneous prayers that mould the Orthodox Christian in various ways. I addition, there are various principles concerning prayer that manifest in Orthodox Christianity such as the holy trinity, faith, hope, patience and even the Eucharist that revolve around prayer. There are also various causes of prayer such as the need to have a personal contact with God, need for healing, mercy, protection among others. As concerns obstacles to prayer, there are various hindrances such as wandering that occurs during prayer which is caused by unpreparedness. Other hindrances involve, the failure to know prayers, rushing while praying as well as misconceptions about prayer. Appropriate praying is very beneficial and fruitful and one can obtain a myriad of privileges, favors as well as friendship with God and compassion to others. Therefore, prayer is a very essential tool and practice in the life of every Orthodox believer since they can obtain many of the things they pray about as well as have peace, wisdom and discernment in life. Woks Cited Casiday, Augustine. The Orthodox Christian World. London: Routledge, 2012. Print. Lebron, Robyn E. Searching for Spiritual Unity...can There Be Common Ground?: A Basic Internet Guide to Forty World Religions & Spiritual Practices. Bloomington, Ind: Crossbooks Publishing, 2012. Print. Orthodox Christian Information Center. St. Theophan the Recluse On Prayer. May 1. Web 2015 Rev. Mastrantonis, G. The Fundamental Teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church. May 1. Web 2015 Rynn, Moira A, Hilary B. Vidair & Jennifer U. Blackford. Anxiety Disorders. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders, 2012. Internet resource. Morris, John W. The Historic Church: An Orthodox View of Christian History. Bloomington, Ind: AuthorHouse, 2011. Print. Fr Hudson, A. Four Types of Prayer. May 1 Web 2015. http://www.holytheotokosgreenville.org/orthodoxy/55-four-types-of-prayer Read More