Phenomenology of Prayer Intro & Chapter 1

     Prayer is a very powerful thing in both theistic and non theistic religions. If there were no prayer, then the sensibility of religion would die due to the fact that the act of prayer connects the individual to the Divine or Holly Other. Prayer helps us determine who we are and how we are related to God in any way, which in turn helps us to lead a better life. Many preform the act of prayer in order to "cleanse" themselves of the sins we commit in everyday life. Due to the fact that prayer is such an personal relationship between the inner self and God, it is very hard for other s to understand this personal relationship you have which makes it even more intimate. There are three themes of phenomenology methodology. The first theme is "we do not really know how to pray so we are constantly in the state of learning". Merold Westphal says that prayer should be focused on emptying ourselves before God, while Edward Mooney says that prayer has to do with ones passionate life. The second theme is " our prayers always go beyond". There are many differences in beliefs between individuals, maybe not only because of their religion but also because of their gender, race, ethnicity, social class, etc. The third and final theme is "prayer leaves us with a tricky balance". Prayer cannot be done without direction because one cannot just pray to any nonspecific being or for any nonspecific meaning.
     Prayer is a very sacred aspect of mostly all religions. There are five elements of prayer which are thanksgiving, praise, confession, petition, and intercession. Praise is the perfection of worship and admiration is a form of an exalted state. Samuel's prayer in the holy bible caused us to learn four different specific things about prayer. The first is "the priority of divine speech is redoubled"; God speaks and Samuel responds letting God know he is ready for him to speak again. The second is "prayer if the task of a lifetime", which means there is never a time that we are not learning about prayer in our entire lives. The third is "silence is such a important part of prayer in order to really listen to God". The fourth is "we learn why scripture and prayer are so integrally intertwined", which deals with listening in silence to God who speaks in scripture. Unfortunately, God allows bad things to happen to good people in order to learn from things in life.