Religion and spiritual beliefs play a critical role and significantly shape the lives of many individuals across the globe. It is believed every person has a deity they believe in and pay tribute to (Johnson 17). Prayer is the communication medium between the believers and their deity or rather a communion between the believer and the supernatural divines they believe in (Gandhi 12). Prayer is the fabric of people’s relationship with their deity, hence, regardless of the religious denomination, every individual is cited to at least pray or believe in some deity. According to the Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM n.p.), prayer is a means for enhancing the personal relationships of individuals with their gods. Every religion has its distinct structure and forms of prayers but they can be largely categorized into four groups namely contrition, adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication.
According to Johnson (18), prayer and faith are inseparable. Faith impacts on how people value and perceive their deity; faith is an individual’s sense of identity towards the supreme being they believe in. Prayers are used to create and maintain the relationships between the believer and their gods. Comprehension of faith leads to understanding how the various types of prayer work and impact in the lives of individuals. According to Bosworth (684), God and other deities are perceived as attachment figures to the believers. Therefore, in order to understand the relationship between God and the believers, Bosworth (682) evaluate the attachment theory to explain how prayer is used as a link between individuals and deities.
Bosworth (682) indicates that attachment theory is based on the specific patterns of behaviors exhibited by a particular person and result in foreseeable outcomes which enhance the survival of the individual. For instance, an infant gets attached to their parents and caregivers whereas the parents form bonds with the children when taking care of them. Through the attachment relationships between infants and the caregivers, the children are able to acquire cognitive and social skills that enable them to grow and develop into socially integrated adults. Whenever a child is injured or hurt, they often seek safety and protection from their caregivers. The sense of confidence and security of a child with the attachment figures elevates the ability of the explore their environment. Bosworth (684) notes that psychologists argue that the attachment between the child and caregivers affects the entire relationship and the future of the child. Therefore, to many believers, God is perceived as an attachment figure where the relationship between the believer and God is forged by the prayer patterns and the faith of the believer. Bosworth (684) states that for instance, God in the Christian tradition has been described as the loving and forgiving father to his children. when God is asked for something or forgiveness, He is always available to intercede and help them out. God is a central part of relation where the believers always seek proximity to the supreme beings and when separated from the deity they experience anxiety. The attachment is determined by the prayer patterns and behaviors of the believer (Bosworth 685).
Cipriani (202) points out that prayers can be undertaken individually or collectively which is common across many religions. However, the manner in which prayer is deliberated extremely varies from religion to religion. Christians modes of worshipping and prayer vary to that of the Muslims and Buddhists due to the different religious doctrines and foundations of faith. However, prayer in most of the religions can be the form of intercession or petition, thanksgiving, contrition, and adoration. Adoration is a form of prayer in which is specifically offered to the deity by exalting the deity’s greatness, might powers and superiority. It praises and elevates the mightiness of the gods. ACM (n.p.) indicates that adoration is a gesture of the believers’ humility and insignificance before the deity. Kaji (12) notes that the primary goals of prayer are the devotion to worship the deity hence a necessity for all believers. Therefore, adoration is a key type of prayer denoting the attachment of the believers to the gods as supreme, powerful and secure. Bosworth (686) indicates that adoration is a way of the believers expressing their security attachment to the gods.
Contrition as a type of prayer is about asking for forgiveness first for the believers’ transgressions. This prayer is about asking mercy from the deity for being an inherent sinner. The prayer in an expression of the believers’ sorrow and humility to the deity because God’s justice demands the believer to first acknowledge his/her sins. The prayer is also offered with the belief that the God is all forgiving and their God’s mercy is always abundant to the believer provided he/she acknowledges their sins. Bosworth (686) notes that the prayer of contrition works in the same manner a child seeks forgiveness from their caregivers. When a child acknowledges his/her mistakes to be caregivers without the parent’s intervention, it increases the parent’s trust in the child and shows a measure of responsibility. Therefore, the language of the prayer of contrition resonates with the attachment theory where a child asks forgiveness from the caregiver with an expectation the guardian will pardon them.
The third form of prayer in the thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is that heart of many religions. It is a prayer where the believer at their individual levels or collectively congregate in prayer to thank God and other deities for the different deeds that the deities have provided them. These including thanking the gods for good health, successes in life, life itself, family and other blessings. It denotes what the believers are grateful for. It is a prayer of praise offered God for blessing the people among many other utterances of gratefulness to the God’s grace.
Lastly, the prayer of supplication also referred as intercession or petition is noted by ACM (n.p.) to be the most common prayer. The prayer involves the believers’ asking the deities to provide their various needs. For instance, ACM notes that Christians believe that as per the book of John 14:13, God promised to fulfill whatever Christians asked or petitioned to him in his name. the prayers of petition vary from an individual ton another as well as from a group to another due to the varying needs. As per Bosworth’s (687) arguments about the attachment theory, children often look upon their parents to provide them their needs in the way believers’ look upon God to provide form them.
Inclusion, prayer is a central medium of communication between the believers and their deities. It is a channel in which the people and gods interact through worshipping under the prayer of adoration, asking for forgiveness through the prayer of contrition, giving thanks to the gods through the thanksgiving prayer, and asking for the gods help via the prayer of supplication. The structure, time, and methods of prayers vary from one region to another, however, the purposes of prayers circumnavigate around petitions, adoration, contrition, and thanksgiving.
Works Cited
Association of Catechumenal Ministry (ACM). "Types of prayer." n.d. Association of Catechumenal Ministry (ACM). 12 Dec 2018. .
Bosworth, David A. "Ancient prayers and the psychology of religion: Deities as parental figures." Journal of Biblical Literature 134.4 (2015): 681-700.
Cipriani, Roberto. "Diffused religion and prayer." Religions 2.2 (2011): 198-215.
Gandhi, Mahatma K. Prayer. Ed. Chandrakant Kaji. Ahmedabad, India: Navajivan Publishing House, 1977.
Johnson, Mark RD. "Faith, prayer, and religious observances." Clinical Cornerstone 6.1 (2004): 17-24.
