Over the years I’ve been growing in my understanding of prayer and how God wants to have an ongoing dialogue with me throughout my day, where I am accessible to Him in every aspect of my life.
Through prayer, I invite and involve God into my everydayness. Below are four ways I’ve been learning to include prayer into my daily life.
Prayers in Swahili
Instead of telling people “I’ll pray” when someone asks for prayer, my goal is to take time to actually pray right in the moment, because it’s easy to forget. Also when someone asks for prayer, it reflects openness on his or her part towards God, something that may not be present later on.
Sometimes the simplest of phrases can touch a hardened or hurting heart. Psalm 49:3 reassures me that God can help my mouth speak words of wisdom.
Even if words are awkward and don’t come easy, or if they flow easily, I trust God to give me words to speak that will encourage, comfort, and touch hearts.
2. Let God Lead
Scriptures states as a child of God, I’m to be led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14). Doing so helps me in so many ways such as recognizing when someone is open to prayer, situations where prayer is needed, and how to pray.
In asking the Lord to guide my prayers, I find myself praying in new and unexpected ways and places, trusting Him to lead my thoughts and prayers.
Letting God lead also frees me from things such as feelings of self-consciousness and trying to impress with well-expressed words or phrasing. Psalm 25:6 states that the Lord guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.
3. Take Time
When someone asks for prayer through an email, Facebook, or Twitter, take time to respond. Find a few minutes to send or post a thoughtful response to requests for prayer, trusting God to minister through your words.
Even with all of social media’s issues, there are still opportunities to bring a refreshing word.
Like Proverbs 15:23 states, “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word!”
4. Be Available
Let God know you are available, willing, and asking Him for opportunities to pray. When you do, commit to being on-call to pray 24/7, along with being open to surprising situations.
Unexpected opportunities in my life have included praying with a stranger outside an amusement park ride, during a Christmas party, on a crowded airliner, in a store’s check-out line, and more.
Like 2 Timothy 4:2 urges, I aim to be prepared in season and out of season, ready to reach out to others.
Powerful Daily Prayers to Help Get You Through Every Day of the Year
Although people of faith might not want to admit it, most can probably remember a time when reciting a daily prayer or two was not exactly a part of their everyday routine. For many, daily prayer is something they turn to when life becomes stressful, difficult, or saddening. It can be easy to forget about the habit when life becomes busy or when everything is going well. But having a daily habit of healing through prayer is a great way to stay grounded in your faith on a day-to-day basis and prioritize reflective time between you and God. Reading a prayer for today will not only help you feel closer to God, but can also relieve daily stress and anxiety.
But if it’s been a while since you read Bible scripture, finding a place to start can feel overwhelming. That’s why it’s helpful to have some short go-to Bible verses and prayers that can provide guidance and strength through every season of your life, whether you pray every day, week, month, or barely at all. The most important thing to remember, though, is that no matter how often you pray, God is always ready to listen.
1PRAYER FOR GRATITUDE
WOMAN’S DAY/GETTY IMAGES
Lord, thank you for your abundant, abounding grace. Thank you that we don’t have to earn a drop of the mighty river of grace that flows freely for us today. Thank you for the unexpected, unmerited favor you’ve showered on my life. Help me put myself in the path of your love and grace. Help me not neglect the disciplines I need to meet with you regularly and to drink from the water of life. Thank you for your rich love. Amen.
2PRAYER FOR SERENITY
WOMAN’S DAY/GETTY IMAGES
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
— The Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Niebuhr
3PRAYER FOR COUNSEL
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My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
— Lead Me, Thomas Merton
4PRAYER FOR INTENTION
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God, I want to give you every minute of this year. I shall try to keep you in my mind every moment of my waking hours.
— Frank Laubach
5PRAYER FOR MORNINGS
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Good morning, Lord! Today’s a new day, a chance for a new start. Yesterday is gone and with it any regrets, mistakes, or failures I may have experienced. It’s a good day to be glad and give thanks, and I do, Lord. Thank you for today, a new opportunity to love, give, and be all that you want me to be. Amen.
Supplication in prayer in different languages and dialects
The reality of supplication (Dua) is the desire of the Almighty and asking from Him, by “showing one’s need for Him and disavowing one’s strength and power”. It is the characteristic of servitude and a sense of human humiliation, and in it there is praise to Allah- the Mighty and Majestic – and the addition of generosity to Him, Glory be to Him. It includes the request to bring benefit or a request to remove what is harmful to humans, and the basis for that is the Almighty’s saying {And your Lord says, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.” Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.} [Ghafir: 60]. The supplication is enjoined by this verse as it is promised to be answered, and this includes the supplication of asking, and the supplication of praising Allah the Almighty, and it includes supplication in prayer and outside it. Ibn Ashour says: The supplication is a necessary call, in recognition of the One being called to. It is called the request, and it came from a saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him, which describes the meaning of supplication in the hadith of al-Nu’man ibn Bashir who said: I heard the Prophet peace be upon him saying: “Supplication is worship.” He then recited, “And your Lord said, if you call on me, I will answer you.” Ibn Ashour shows the meaning that connects supplication and worship in the hadith “Supplication is worship,” he says: “If supplication is worship, then worship is inevitably supplication. – So supplication is when the servant asks Allah for his needs, and its meaning is apparent in the language – It is called the worship of Allah in a metaphorical way because the worship is not free from the supplication of the deity with a call to glorify Him and supplicate to Him, and this is a less common expression than the first. Worship in the terminology of the Qur’an, is to single out Allah in worship, that is, the recognition of His Oneness. – And the response is when the one called out to, gives the caller what he asks for. – It is called “response” after the acceptance of worship by forgiveness of the previous polytheism and by obtaining the reward for the deeds of faith The verse’s reference to the meaning of asking for a need from Allah is appropriate to the consequence of responding to that request, depending on the will of Allah or on the fulfillment of the conditions for accepting the request, giving something better than it in this world, or giving a reward from it in the hereafter. And its statement on the meaning of singling out Allah in worship, i.e. that they repent from polytheism, so the response is to accept that, because the acceptance of repentance from polytheism is definitive.” What Ibn Ashour mentioned is almost easier and more appropriate to the dispute that may arise about the origin of the significance of supplication, whether it is worship or a question, and he tried to reconcile the different sayings through the mentioned verse. The truth of supplication in prayer What is meant by supplication during prayer is that the individual supplicates in the places specified by the Prophet, peace be upon him. And it is from the Sunnah of the Prophet; peace be upon him to supplicate in the following places: 1. After the Takbeeera-tul-Ihram (The first takbeer) 2. Before bowing (ruku’) and after completing the witr recitation, and the occasional Qunoot in the morning prayer, a reference to the hadith of Ubayy bin Ka’b: that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, performed qunoot (supplication) in the witr before bowing (ruku’), which is a weak hadith. 3. After standing straight from bowing (ruku’), as was proven in “Sahih Muslim” from the hadith of Abdullah bin Abi Awfa: when God’s Messenger raised his back after bowing, he said, “God listens to him who praises Him. O God, our Lord, to Thee be the praise in all the heavens and all the earth, and all that it pleases Thee to create afterwards.” narrated by Muslim. 4. When bowing, he used to say: “Glory is to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise is Yours. O Allah, forgive me.” 5. In his prostration, and in it was the majority of his supplications. 6. Between the two prostrations. 7. After the tashahhud and before the salaam. Supplication in languages other than Arabic in prayer Some ask, out of keenness to perform acts of worship in the best manner, whether it is permissible to supplicate in languages other than Arabic from the languages of the world, especially if the Muslim does not know Arabic, or does not master it to the extent of expressing it in seeking his need from Allah the Almighty in his supplications The opinions of the jurists differed regarding the ruling on supplication in prayer in a language other than Arabic: 1- Saying it is makrooh (disliked) – which is the opinion transmitted from the Hanafi school in terms of supplication in a language other than Arabic, and what is apparent is that the ruling applies to the one who is able to supplicate in Arabic, so he changes it to the foreign language. 2- Close to Makrooh (dislike) is what the Malikis say, as they disliked making supplications in foreign languages for the one who is able to speak arabic, and also disliked for the incapable to pray in foreign languages if its meaning is not understood. But if its meaning is known, it is permissible to use it absolutely in prayer and other things. Allah the Almighty says: He taught Adam all the names, and Allah the Almighty said: We did not send a messenger except in the language of his people 3- The Shafi’is discussed the matter in detail and they said: The supplication in prayer is either narrated in reports or not narrated. As for the narrated supplications, it is correct, and what the Hanbalis agree with: that it is permissible in a language other than Arabic for the one who is unable to speak it, and it is not permissible for the one who is able to do so.. As for the supplication that’s not narrated, it is not permissible to invent it and bring it forth in prayer in a foreign language, no doubt. As for the rest of the adhkaar/supplications, such as the first tashahhud and prayers for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and Qunoot and glorification in bowing and prostration, and the takbeer of moving from posture to another. According to the view, supplications in foreign languages are permissible, and it is more apt that it be permissible in these cases. It appears from these sayings that supplication in a foreign language, i.e. in a language other than Arabic, during prayer is permissible for the one who is unable to speak Arabic, in the mentioned places of prayer, and that his prayer is valid. And , rather, they differed about the ones who could speak Arabic, and what is correct in their case is that their prayer is valid however disliked. Ruling on supplications that are not from narrations It is permissible for a person to supplicate with other supplications that are not from the sayings of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace or to supplicate in different Arabic dialects and that is with every permissible speech that does not involve transgression, sin, or severing ties of kinship. Narrated supplications have greater good, but a person may need to supplicate for himself or for those he loves for some of the good of this world and the hereafter, or to ask Allah to ward off some harm and evil from him, and this is a broad matter and it is not necessary to adhere to narrated supplications only. The purpose of supplication is based on the presence of the heart and the sincerity of turning to Allah the Almighty, in whatever language it is. Allah the Almighty hears voices and knows languages, and not an atom’s weight escapes Him in the earth or in the heavens. The permissibility of supplications with no narration, even if it is in dialects is indicated by His saying, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: “Then select the invocation you like best and recite it” And this is in the supplication before ending the prayer Ibn Taymiyyah says: and as for the one who supplicat es to Allah sincerely with a permissible supplication: Allah hears him and answers his supplication, whether it is with I’raab or not, rather, the one who supplicates, if he does not have a habit of I’raab , he should not be tempted to do it. Some of the predecessors said: If I’raab is used, the concentration goes away. This is just as it is disliked to be compulsive and to exaggerate in supplication, and if it is done without any difficulty, there is nothing wrong with it. The origin of supplication is from the heart, and the tongue is subordinate to the heart. For this reason, he who is put in a difficult situation opens his heart in supplication and does not prepare the supplication beforehand, and this is a matter that every believer finds in his heart. Supplication is permissible in Arabic, and in other than Arabic. Allah knows the intent of the supplicant, even if he does not straighten his tongue. He knows how it sounds in different languages amongst the diversity of needs.”
How does one pray in French?” one of my BYU students, visiting in my office, asked. The question took me by surprise. She was a junior taking my Introduction to French linguistics. I gave a somewhat confused answer and referred her to the French section of lds.org, where conference talks about prayer can easily be found. The description of the purpose and content of praying, embedded in French terms, would certainly offer ideas and content.
Later I realized that, contrary to most students in my class, she had never been on a French-speaking mission or she would have known how to pray in French. Her question was only meant to translate in French a few key words, like Father in heaven and In the name of Jesus Christ. For it was obvious that as a Mormon this student was familiar with the structure of our four-step-prayer: address yourself to Heavenly Father, thank him for what you are grateful for, ask him what you need, and end in the name of Jesus Christ. And that structure is identical for all languages.
But there are a number of pragmatic aspects to praying in another language (pragmatic in its linguistic sense). For example, how does the old and deferential Thee, Thou, Thy transfer into other languages? In French, one would expect the polite vous and votre to prevail, but tradition uses Tu, Te, Toi, Ton. However, few people know that this is actually an old deferential form, with capital, with the same value as the English Thee, Thou, Thy. It’s interesting to note that modern French Scriptures dropped the capital, thus lowering the form to the colloquial register of tu, te, toi, ton, which was never meant to be. Of course, in oral form, the difference between capital or not is not heard. In English thee, thou, thy keep their deferential value, even with a minuscule.