Reflection Paper On The Tazaie Prayer

The meditation began with violin music as students and teachers entered the church. The music continued for three or four minutes after everyone had found their seats. When the music concluded, the speaker walked to the lectern and began speaking. He started off his speech with an anecdote on his childhood fear of the film, “The Wizard of Oz.” He explained that as a child he felt frightened of even the most benign subjects-flying monkeys led to soiled pants. The meditation then lingered from specificity to a more general theme.

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

My classmate and I sat in the back and settled in. We didn’t introduce ourselves. Who would we even begin to introduce ourselves to? We were just a face in the crowd. People starting sitting down and at 8PM the meeting started. “Hi, my name is Paul, and I’m an alcoholic”. To this all replied, “Hi Paul”. We were all welcomed to the Wednesday night meeting of the Auburn Serenity Group. Some group business was taken care of quickly and we headed into the Serenity Prayer. It was easy to fall into the rhythm of this meeting and I found myself saying the prayer too. After all, this was

My ancestral background belief is focused on spirituality and prayers hence, this lecture was a reinforcement towards my daily practice of prayers in my life.

As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that

Each night, there is a point where the day falls to silence, a silence that encloses you in your own thoughts and reflections. For as long as I can remember, my dad always told me "that is when you pray." His words matched the ones of every Sunday school teacher, but their voices faded as my worries grew. It seemed there were some stresses a man on a cross could not eliminate. Bible stories where Jesus cures people from their pain and problems appeared no different from the storybooks I stopped reading years ago, unrealistic and improbable. I vacillated between the faith instilled in me and the plausibility of things occurring by chance, not by Christ. As each day came to a close, I struggled to thank a voiceless God for a day I wasn’t grateful

For this ritual project, I decided to observe the ritual of going to mosque and performing their prayers. The reason I decided to choose an Islamic practice for this project was in part because of the recent increase in Islamophobia both in the States and in Canada. I was also very interested to maybe observe some of the differences and similarities in Islamic practices compared to Christian practices as I have grown up in a very traditional Christian (Pentecostal) household and have never really had the opportunity to experience, first-hand, a religious ceremony foreign to my own. Additionally, when going to the mosque for this ritual, I had my best friend, Kimia, come with me as she grew up in a Muslim household and has attended mosque

From its theology, the central of the movement was an intense experience of being filled with the Spirit or of awakening to a new life through the transforming power of the Spirit. The process of charismatic spirituality was from Search, searching for the God who is revealed in Christ, to Encounter, encountering with the same God by means of the Holy Spirit, and then Transformation, being transformed or renewed as the consequences of the encountering experiences. From its practice, the charismatics had given a full expression to the importance of experience. Especially their personal and deep worship, the worshippers were given freedom to express a wide range of human sensibilities: singing, clapping, concert prayer, the praise choruses, and kinesthetic movements together provided avenues of expression. Besides it, a variety of “modes of sensibility” in their ritual, including celebration, contemplation, transcendental efficacy, penitent/purgation, ecstacy, improvisation (ritualization) and ceremony, “helped to orient and animate their practices. ” As a result, the charismatic ritual created “a cultural domain for deeply felt expressions of human

Early Sunday morning, people shuffle in through the mahogany doors as the smell of Frankincense and Myrrh tickle the nose. Rays of sunlight beam through the stained glass windows, making rainbow images on the red velvet carpet. What sounds like the voices of angels singing praise to the lord harmoniously circulates in the air. A mighty voice roars from the altar, “Now, let us bow our heads in prayer.” This is a majestic place where one can find peace, confess sins and thank the lord for all of the blessings he has bestowed upon them.

Islam is defined as, “the monotheistic religion based on the doctrine of submission to God and of Muhammad as the last chief and prophet of God”(Dictionary 720). There are multiple practices included in the religion of Islam, similar to any other religion. Compared to Christianity or Judaism, when one follows Islam, one must follow The Five Pillars of Islam and the rules and circumstances of the worshipping practices. In addition, depending on the branch one is apart of, they may have to follow laws enforced by different prophets as well. One’s lifestyle will change because when following Islamic faith, their religious life is their main priority. Meaning, a Muslim makes the commitment to the practices one-hundred

As a group, they would read from the prayer books, which were small excerpts of the Torah, and prayed together. They bowed along and even turned their backs together, in unison, as a

As I took off my shoes before entering the main temple before the first worship session began, I began to feel a sense of peace within myself as well those that were attending the worship session. Inside the main temple was a huge statue of Buddha surrounded with white silhouettes of the Lotus flower, which seems to be the symbol of peace. Tens of incense jars filled with sand litter the alter the room. The room smelled like incense, pleasant and peaceful. There were twenty rows of small cushions that were used for kneeling and sitting, and twenty rows of small raised shelves that were used for holding the prayers that were going to be recited during that session. People were filling the room really quickly, and seats were being taken

Although Islam is the second largest religion in the world with a following of 1.8 billion followers, no other religion has faced more scrutiny and hardship in the past decades. This has been caused by media and governments labeling Islam as a whole with their extremist groups like Al Queda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I even thought that the principals held by these extremist group were more common in Islam than they are. After studying Islam and gaining more information I came to respect this religion more than any other we studied this semester because of its seriousness and unity. The Quran and Hadith provide concrete details and instructions to follow in the faith of Islam. No texts from any other religion are as upfront with their beliefs than these. Muhammad was and continues to be a powerful and understanding leader that has led it to becoming the world’s fastest growing religion. I enjoyed studying the powerfulness of Muhammad and the direct voice of God in the Quran that is sets Islam apart from Judaism and Christianity.

Having been a Christian for many years I thought that I had a fair knowledge of what it meant to pray. I was amazed and humbled by the idea that through Jesus’ restorative act on the cross I am able to come into God’s presence - and not only come but be welcomed and even longed for. I believed that prayer is a powerful tool to petition God , a vehicle to praise Him , and an instrument to increase our intimacy with Him . I understood that people pray in a variety of ways, based on the teaching they have received, their experience, and even their personality. Most commonly, I engaged in prayer as a conversation with God.