http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/prayer/images/prayer.jpg



In Islam we do have 5 fixed praying times that we have to perform daily.

I am just curious to know about the Christianity prayers:



Prayer is conversation with God, when a Christian shuts out the world around and concentrates on the spiritual.


** Does Christianity have fixed times to pray ? If Yes, How many ?

** Does it have certain words to say in the pray ? If Yes, what are they ? If No, so what is usually said ?

The times are not fixed times as in Islam.. you guys pray to the minute.. our prayers are like morning prayers, prayer before mealtime, prayer after meal time, prayer before bedtime..

Then there are the prayers said in mass.. and you can make up your own prayer anytime you feel the need to talk with God.

My favourite prayer had always been 'Our Father' or what others might know as Pater Noster.

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The times are not fixed times as in Islam.. you guys pray to the minute.. our prayers are like morning prayers, prayer before mealtime, prayer after meal time, prayer before bedtime..

Then there are the prayers said in mass.. and you can make up your own prayer anytime you feel the need to talk with God.


In Islam we do have our fixed times for pray, but still we can pray any other time we want.

What you mentioned as in before/after mealtime, morning, before bed we call it Duaa

So can we consider the mass pray at Church ( on Sunday for example ) a fixed pray time ?

In Islam we do have our fixed times for pray, but still we can pray any other time we want.

What you mentioned as in before/after mealtime, morning, before bed we call it Duaa

So can we consider the mass pray at Church ( on Sunday for example ) a fixed pray time ?
mmm.. Sunday mass is obligatory. But the mass is repeated every hour or so .. So you can go to a 7am mass or a 9am mass or a 12.00pm mass.. and they're all the same.

So the bottom line is that there is no fixed pray time, you pray whenever you feel to pray.

Do you think this is good or bad ?

there is no fixed time, but it's customary to thank god when you wake up, you pray before you do a task, you pray before you eat, you say the rosary in the evening, you pray before you go to bed. many people go to mass every day.
usually when you feel the need to pray, it's when you need it most.
there are prayers that are the 'regular ones' the our father, ave maria, glory be, the salve regina, the credo. and there are many other prayers, people have different favourite prayers. at school my favourite is the prayer to the guardian angel and the salve regina.

also you can pray using your own words, directed to God or to your saint to intercede for you.

mmm.. Sunday mass is obligatory. But the mass is repeated every hour or so .. So you can go to a 7am mass or a 9am mass or a 12.00pm mass.. and they're all the same.

Is it stated in the Bible about being obligatory and the repeating time?

Why only old people attend such prayers?

Is it stated in the Bible about being obligatory and the repeating time?

Why only old people attend such prayers?
old people can attend morning services um..because they are not at work. but after work i see people of all ages, from babies to very old people who can hardly walk go to mass.
Jesus said at his last supper 'do this as a rememberance of me'.
so the early christians used to meet and break bread and pray together. so that's how the mass started.
the regular times are for the convenience of those who want to pray. you can find a mass at any time over here. it would be impossible to get all society out at the same time to pray at the same time and then close the church.

But Jesus used to pray like muslims do by putting the face on earth. It is stated in the Bible, right?

That means the timing is man made and not from God.

It's not impossible because muslims pray 5 times a day at same time almost.

But Jesus used to pray like muslims do by putting the face on earth. It is stated in the Bible, right?

That means the timing is man made and not from God.

It's not impossible because muslims pray 5 times a day at same time almost.
yes but that's how we do it...the timing came with the building of the churches. a priest has many things to do besides celebrating mass, like visiting the sick and broken families, going to schools etc. so we know that at a certain time we go to mass, at any time that's good for us.
you stop 5 times a day but you don't go to the mosque 5 times a day. mass happens in the church, around an altar.
timing is man made cos that's how we like it. i like to listen to a particular priest celebrating mass, and i go to his time, not to others.

btw...i don't recall reading anywhere in My bible (the black on white one, issued by the Vatican) that Jesus used to bow up and down when praying.
kneeling is customary in praying though. although not obligatory.

How come you don't follow what Jesus used to do while praying? if you believe he is your God, why you don't pray like your God used to pray?

About timing it is what you like, how do you know it is what God like?

For muslims even if not praying at the mosque they can pray in any place, if the person is at work normally they break to pray the noon prayer and prayer room is provided if there is no near by mosque. The important thing to pray in time.

For me I always feel the presence of God irregardless if I pray one time, five or none. God is always around me. I also love The Lord's Prayer and there are many religious songs such as Ave Maria that can bring me to tears.

How come you don't follow what Jesus used to do while praying? if you believe he is your God, why you don't pray like your God used to pray?

About timing it is what you like, how do you know it is what God like?

For muslims even if not praying at the mosque they can pray in any place, if the person is at work normally they break to pray the noon prayer and prayer room is provided if there is no near by mosque. The important thing to pray in time.
mass is a special prayer that jesus told us to do in his name. it's the highest form of prayer. it cannot happen without a celebrant (priest) and without the breaking of the bread.
i think you are confusing. don't blame you, you don't have 'mass' so it's hard for you to understand.
there are daily prayers, and there is mass, which is a higher form of prayer but happens in a church.
this is the first time i hear that jesus used to go up and down when praying. but we kneel when we pray, so he used to that, and we do it too.
:)

btw...i don't recall reading anywhere in My bible (the black on white one, issued by the Vatican) that Jesus used to bow up and down when praying.
kneeling is customary in praying though. although not obligatory.

Check Mathew 26:36-39, Luke 5:12, Luke 17:16.

For me I always feel the presence of God irregardless if I pray one time, five or none. God is always around me. I also love The Lord's Prayer and there are many religious songs such as Ave Maria that can bring me to tears.
that and panis angelicus...breath taking.
we celebrate God with art, music, clapping, instruments...music is a form of prayer too.

Check Mathew 26:36-39, Luke 5:12, Luke 17:16.
that was some fast googling mate.
yeah i don't like putting my face to the floor to pray. he can send me to hell for it, together will all the other christians who don't.

Check Mathew 26:36-39, Luke 5:12, Luke 17:16.

I checked for her and only the first one is what you said.

Check yo facts mr t!

Fast googling or not, is it not stated in the Bible?

But Jesus used to pray that way to his lord, basically Jesus was a muslim, because he prayed the same way we do.

I checked for her and only the first one is what you said.

Check yo facts mr t!

Try to check again.

One is not enough?

The basic issue here is how Christians pray and most of us pray in a variety of forms meaning that praying is an extremely personal issue among us. Mass for Christians is the finest and highest form of group prayer. Much respect and regard is given to God during the ritualistic forms of Catholic prayer such as when we stand, kneel and give utter deverance to God Almighty. When I attend Mass I kneel before entering my pew as a sign of utter respect to God before I sit down. Then I kneel and pray for awhile before sitting down prior to the commencement of Mass.

The basic issue here is how Christians pray and most of us pray in a variety of forms meaning that praying is an extremely personal issue among us. Mass for Christians is the finest and highest form of group prayer. Much respect and regard is given to God during the ritualistic forms of Catholic prayer such as when we stand, kneel and give utter deverance to God Almighty. When I attend Mass I kneel before entering my pew as a sign of utter respect to God before I sit down. Then I kneel and pray for awhile before sitting down prior to the commencement of Mass.
same here. so since we kneel, we are muslims. hold on, we don't put our face to the ground, so we are half muslims.

What is also beautiful about Christian prayer is that we can all be together in one place: men, women children in reverance to God, irregardless of who and what we are we come together for one common theme and that is to pay respect.

What is also beautiful about Christian prayer that we can all be together in one place: men, women children in reverance to God, irregardless of who and what we are we come together for one common theme and that is to pay respect.
all sitting together and celebrating.

But Jesus used to pray that way to his lord, basically Jesus was a muslim, because he prayed the same way we do.

Bzzz wrong... Jesus was a Jew. And yes Jews still today prostate themselves during Yom Kippur. And they have to do it on something so they are not in direct contact with the ground just incase its made of stone.

It could have been more common in Jesus' time since there was a Temple.

Its also interesting to note that in Matthew 26 they were approaching Passover where all the prayers are said either sitting or reclining around a table.

in matthew 26 Jesus was in agony...he prostrated himself on the ground in tears, because he knew his hour of death was near. mr. tea didn't read my post or conveniently ignored it. dunno, but many people fall to the ground crying when they are in trouble, they get some bad news. it's human nature, they don't do it cos Jesus did it.
you are right, at the passover table, they shared unleavened bread, lamb with sour herbs and wine. they prayed together, jesus told them to keep doing so in rememberance of him (the mass).

http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/

in matthew 26 Jesus was in agony...he prostrated himself on the ground in tears, because he knew his hour of death was near. mr. tea didn't read my post or conveniently ignored it. dunno, but many people fall to the ground crying when they are in trouble, they get some bad news. it's human nature, they don't do it cos Jesus did it.
you are right, at the passover table, they shared unleavened bread, lamb with sour herbs and wine. they prayed together, jesus told them to keep doing so in rememberance of him (the mass).

Thats what I also thought about Matthew too when I read it. I just wanted to point out that its not only a Muslim thing and that Jews also do it. So to come to the conclusion that Jesus is Muslim is fallacious.

But to kind of get back on topic. While researching this Christianity and Judaism are more closer to Prayer practices with times of day i.e. at waking, before sleeping, at meals and can also be done whenever.

So the bottom line is that there is no fixed pray time, you pray whenever you feel to pray.

Do you think this is good or bad ?
Well, I'm a big believer of "do things because you want to, not because you have to"..

The time of prayer not being explicitly fixed is giving the space for that person to integrate prayer into their lives more flexibly. It becomes a part of your day, not the backbone of it. Not a rigid frame for the day.. but part of it. Rather they are tied into YOUR activities. Your life.

Off topics have been deleted :bored:

Further posts off topics, this thread will be closed.

There's a lot of good discussion here: thanks for the friendly thread, Stormy! :)

One thing I might add.

There ARE prayers distributed throughout the day at (roughly) set times which Catholics are encouraged to pray but which they are not bound to pray.

Monks pray them. And priests are also all bound to pray them, though because of their busy schedules they can do some adjusting.

In English, it's called "The Liturgy of the Hours". The handy book that it comes in that priests (and some laypeople) carry around to pray from is called a "Breviary". Before Mass on Sunday, Fr. Harris our parish priest, frequently goes out to sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament and pray his breviary.

If you have seen pictures of monks in choir singing, that's what they are doing, praying the Christian prayer for times of the day, the Liturgy of the Hours.

http://monasticism.org/monk/wp-images/media/Novy%20Dur/002.jpg

Here is how Matins, or Morning Prayer begins:

O God, come to my assistance;/
Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit/
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.



and then Psalm 94, the Venite, is prayed or sung. It's very beautiful and goes like this:


O come, let us sing unto the Lord :
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving :
and shew ourselves glad in him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God :
and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are all the corners of the earth :
and the strength of the hills is his also.

The sea is his, and he made it :
and his hands prepared the dry land.

O come, let us worship, and fall down :
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is the Lord our God :
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts :
as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

When your fathers tempted me :
proved me, and saw my works.

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said :
It is a people that do err in their hearts,
for they have not known my ways.

Unto whom I sware in my wrath :
that they should not enter into my rest.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

(And Ice Tea will specially enjoy this one because it says, "Oh, come let us worship and fall down..." :) )

Nice to see you all again:

Happy Easter!

Here is the standard Easter greeting among Christians of the East in Arabic:

المسيح قام (al-Masīḥ qām!)
Christ is risen!

حقا قام (Ḥaqqan qām!)
He is risen indeed!

in my church, we do the 'liturgy of the hours' too. especially in advent, there's a ten minute section before mass starts.