One Word Wednesday: Prayer

Prayer is communion with God. It is supplication to the Divine Creator. Some people consider it s daily ritual, but I do not like to use the term ritual in relation to prayer. Ritual sounds like something that is practiced the same way each time, but prayer can be practiced in many different ways. Ritual sounds like something that is tiring and must be performed everyday at the same time, which is another reason I do not like using the term ritual in conjunction with prayer.

kneeling in prayer
a seeker beseeches God
for love's assistance

A person can kneel in prayer or can say a prayer standing up. An individual may whisper a prayer, say it aloud, or silently. Prayer is a daily practice, but it does not necessarily have to be performed at the same time each day. A dawn prayer can be said, read from a prayer book, or recited from memory between first light and one or two hours after sunrise. A morning prayer can be said anytime between dawn and noon. A noon prayer can be intoned aloud or said silently between noon close to sunset. An evening  prayer from sunset ot one or two hours after the sun goes down.

facing the east
the lover intones God's names
praise and gratitude

The type of prayer used is between the individual and God. The way a person prays is between the lover and the beloved. God is the beloved and the soul of the individual is the lover. Please note that this is my personal opinion on prayer; an opinion I have come to after both prayer and meditation.