Cherry Stance's Corporate Prayer In Worship

Prayer is an essential to any kind of religious faith. Over the years and years of believing in a higher power,

In (Matthew 6:6 NIV), Jesus explains the merits of praying to the lord God and the reward of inner peace, “But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret: and your father who sees in secret will reward you.” It is through this conversation with God that Christians pursue peace in their lives. Prayer can either be private or communal, spontaneous prayer is one way that charismatic communities can come closer to God. The act of prayer allows believers to have a personal conversation with God; it alleviates stress attributed to the monotony of everyday life. Besides prayer, meditation is another way of attaining inner peace, it is an ancient practice within the Christian tradition, which has undertaken a recent revival, a global group that reaffirms the concept of praying and meditating for inner peace is Taizé. Not as popular as prayer and meditation, Lectio Divina, generally known as bible studies is a way for Christians to feel connected to God and to finally attain inner peace. The studying of the sacred scriptures on a day to day basis and reflecting on prayers also maintain a continual connection with God. It is vital to maintain equilibrium between prayer and service, whereby an individual fathoms the notion ‘ora et labora’, in order to equally partake in both prayer, and the concept of action whereby ora develops inner peace, which is mirrored through the

As Christians we partake in rituals that consist of prayer, baptism, and the eucharist. Prayer is used on several occasions and for conveying distinct concepts. Prayer can be used as a way

I believe Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) (2016) describes Intercessory prayer the best as “Intercession is prayer that pleads with God for your needs and the needs of others. But it is also much more than that. Intercession involves taking hold of God's will and refusing to let go until His will comes to pass” (para. 3). As a Christian, this day and time providing intercessory of prayer for your needs or needs of others can be a battle. It is truly a spiritual battle that takes place in our own lives and the lives of others. So many time I personally, get caught up in the events of the day or the worries of the day and I fail to truly apply myself and pray with my whole heart and soul. My prayers all too often seem to be routine daily

Prayer, described as overtly Christian, over the public address system before each home varsity football

Most, if not all religious traditions, encourage a relation with the Divine by prayer. Oftentimes, this prayer is led by a member of the clergy, be this a rabbi (in Judaism) or a priest (in Christianity, or an Imam (in the Islam faith), but there are other faiths and sects (growing number of them) where the congregation chooses to have no representative, fixed mode of prayer, or rote and they, rather, pray in their own style usually meditating. Two examples of such approaches are that by the Quaker group, where worshippers volitiously share their thoughts that they believe are products of inspiration, and the Bahia faith that espouses beliefs in all faiths.

The company XYZ should allow the group to use their conference room for prayer as needed. However, I feel the company should make arrangements for the group to meet at a location that is quite and confidential

Some studies, demonstration promoting prayer out loud with clients in their sessions, to enhance the client’s spiritual health and giving a clear perception (McMinn, 2011). When the counselor uses prayer it acts as a way to nurture spirituality, but the counselor needs to be dedicated to the self-controls of the ways of prayer (McMinn, 2011). Scripture use in counseling session has shown to help church based groups to combat codependency, using it in marriage counseling to help from sexual affairs, using Bible stories to help children, and use Scripture reminiscence and reflection in cognitive therapy (McMinn, 2011). Scripture is a very powerful tool to use in the clients healing processes, but the counselor needs to identify how to use it with the client and how affective it will be (McMinn, 2011). The texts give a Christian counselor and the individual a psychological and spirituality of how to use prayer and Scripture to help people with issues they are

Prayer is the part of the Christian’s connection to the Kingdom of God in the current world. Prayer keeps us centered in Christ. In College, I remember what felt like an absence of God’s presence some days. I knew he was there, but I did not always feel like I was a part of the Kingdom. Some days, I just felt empty. I started running and praying in the mornings before class and the sense of emptiness went away. If I could just spend thirty minutes centering my mind on Christ, it completely changed the way I thought, felt, and acted each day. I think prayer connects us to God, but I think it also connects us to the Image of God inside ourselves. We cannot realize who we are without talking and listening to the one whose fingers knitted our inner-most being together. God is ever-present, but we have to carve out that time to cast a listening ear. Hurry comes again as the culprit though. He waits at the door beckoning us to thrust ourselves into each new day. Perhaps, the enemy is friend of this thing we call hurry. The tasks that I have spinning in my head become to heavy to let sit some days and I run out the door without listening to God. These days, despite skipping my prayer time, I never seem to get as much work done. It’s almost as if the Spirit is waiting for my to acknowledge that I need it to get through the day. These are also the days I become

Commissioners in a North Carolina county had violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution by opening their meetings with Christian prayer and inviting the audience to stand and join the activity, a federal appeals court has ruled on July 14.

In Matthew 6 of the Bible, Jesus explains how he wants his followers to pray and fast, and he gives an example of what kinds of prayers should be said to God. Many times, Jesus advises against “verbose prayer, flamboyant fasting, and devotions designed merely to get attention” (Matthew 6: l-8). In the modern Christian religion, many churches’ practices seem to negate what Jesus advised to do in this text. Members of churches often display their faith to others, praying loudly, publicly, and oftentimes, repetitively. It is thus difficult to decide what the “correct” ways are to pray and act in modern Christianity if the practices of churches either reject or ignore this notable passage in the Bible.

What stood out to me the most was the statistics provided in Ethics of Prayer in Counseling (2007). It states that 78% of counselors in Christian agencies believe it is appropriate to pray with or for a client. I would have thought it would be more than that. But, perhaps not all those employed are Christian. 11% of those in secular practice believe praying with or for a client is appropriate (Weld & Eriksen, 2007). Again I would have said there would be more than just 11%. I feel that it depends on your clients and their beliefs. I work for a secular practice but have done many Christian based groups as well as, spiritually based groups. During my Christian based groups I typically have a client pray as stated in the article that I would be best for the client to pray. However, if I pray I “make the prayer general, supportive, affirming, and hopeful” (Weld & Eriksen, 2007, p. 131). I also like how the article stated that religion could be part of a clients pathology, and as a counselor we need to be aware of that and discourage prayer as part of the group (Weld & Eriksen, 2007).

(Prayer) When people truly pray, they begin to match God's thoughts and desires, share what He loves and what He wills, and soon they see the world from the same point of view as God. But for true prayer to take place, prayer needs to be a way of life, not just an afterthought. There is comfort in knowing that God meets people in every stage of prayer. Once in communion with God, prayer will become deeper and spiritually stronger

Spirituality and prayer has been utilized by this counselor and has been an integral tool in problem solving and keeping clients happy. As a Christian counselor, prayer for the client can be done after sessions whether the client wants it or not but during sessions should be carefully applied. It is because of this article that this author will study and investigate how to incorporate prayer carefully into the counseling session.

Prayer is an essential discipline of the Christian faith. History and cultural differences show us that many people engage in many different ways and techniques to pray and communicate with God. How do you find the right way for you?