# What exactly are the important elements of prayer



## Pergamum (Nov 15, 2007)

Hello;

We all agree that prayer is good, but what exactly is it? What are its most important elements.

How do we teach someone to pray without teaching them merely externals or the unimportant elements of prayer? What exactly are the elements of prayer? I hear all the time about people teaching indigenous people the motions of prayer, and thenit becomes a dead form.


If we are to pray without ceasing, can prayer be merely mental while pursuing other tasks in life or does one must be totally engaged in it for it to be efffectual?


We know that we are not working for a wage here. We need not punch a clock. Frequency but not length sometimes happens. Can "praying without ceasing" mean calling up several dozen 10 second prayers to heaven throughout the day. 

If you can pray mentally without even moviong your lips, then what is the difference between thinking and praying?


Do I have to be kneeling for it to work? Do I have to speak it? Can I just move my lips. Can I just do it in my mind and it still count? 

Do I have to speaketh ye Olde Englishe like the KJV like some folks I know or can I say, "Hey Good evening God..." Irreverance? If so, why? If we are to call out Abba father? 

Also,

Can praying ever be sin?

If we stay at home and pray for 5 hous per day and end up short of food, is this sacrificing for prayer or just you being lazy and not tending to neccessities of life?

I am action oriented; why not pray as one walks, one drives, in addition to one or two periods of solitude per day?

I read of one man who prayed 7 hours every day (i.e. kneeling inside a specially constructed prayer closet). I couldn't help but wonder how his family, his job, etc got along. Can one pray TOO much?


----------



## Dieter Schneider (Nov 16, 2007)

Pergamum said:


> Hello;
> 
> We all agree that prayer is good, but what exactly is it? What are its most important elements?
> 
> ...


----------

