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S. D. Gordon said, “The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray.” So how do we pray? First, I think it’s good to remember that there is no wrong way to pray. Prayer is just talking to God like you would talk to a friend.
God can hear you no matter where you are. The Bible says, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:8-10)
Even though there is no wrong way to pray and no wrong place to pray, there still might be some things of which you are unsure. Here are a few tips and resources to get you started on how to pray:
1. The Lord’s Prayer
One of the best examples of a prayer is in the Bible when Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray. He answered them with this prayer:
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
This a good prayer with which to start if you are not sure what else to say. It really includes everything: praise, thanksgiving, and repentance; and shows us how to pray. You can use this prayer to begin your prayer time and learn from it as a good example of what to include.
2. Use Prayer Books
There are a lot of books out there that have beautiful prayers written in them that you can pray. There are even apps nowadays that have prayers and examples of prayers to get you started. The prayers in these books are usually categorized by topic so that you can choose which prayers you want to pray that day. It’s also a good starting place as you can recite one of the prayers from the book and then continue with your own prayers.
3. Try “Power of a Praying…” Books
There are other books that can help lead you through prayer. Author, Stormie Omartian has a series of books called, “Power of a Praying…” that offers formats depending on your role. Whether you are a wife, friend, husband, sister, or brother, it provides you with ways to pray as one of those people.
4. Use a Prayer Journal
Another favorite way to pray is through a prayer journal. Buy a special journal and use it to write your prayers to God in its beautiful pages. You can write it like a letter to a friend or as a diary entry. It’s easy to let the words flow when you are writing a beautiful prayer to God.
5. Make Time to Pray
Once you have some of these resources to help you, set a time each day that you can pray. We already know there is no wrong or right place, so pray anywhere in your home, or even in the car. It doesn’t have to be at the same time every day, but many people like to pray in the mornings so that they start their day talking to God. You can designate a time every day to have peaceful prayer with God, or you can talk to Him as you go about your daily work schedule and chores.
See Also: How to Teach Your Toddler About God
6. Talk to God Like You are Talking to a Friend
Remember, talk to God like you are talking to a friend or family member. You can tell Him about your day, thank Him for the blessings in your life, ask Him for help in any areas that you may be struggling, or pray for another friend or family member. He doesn’t care how you pray, just that you talk to Him. He wants to hear from you.
How do YOU pray? Have you used any of the suggestions above?
singingthroughtherain.net
In deepest hollow of our minds
A system failure left behind
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
And their necks crane
Dull residue of what once was
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
And their eyes change
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
And their eyes change
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
Drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting
Hearts and wings commence to beating
Woods unseen with all believing
Vision walls fall all receding
Vision walls fall all receding
Drops on rocks come fast and fleeting
Rhythm laws unleash their meaning
Usher us into the dreaming
Vision walls fall all receding
Hearts and wings commence to beating
All unending all completing
Vision walls fall fast and fleeting
Vision walls fall all revealing
Vision walls fall all revealing
Vision walls fall all revealing
Vision walls fall all revealing
In deepest hollow of our minds
A system failure left behind
Dull residue of what once was
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
And their eyes changed
As they learned to see through flames
And their necks craned
As they prayed for rain
Lyrics submitted by Robert the Devil
“Pray for Rain” as written by Robert Del Naja Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
songmeanings.com
THOMAS MAPFUMO earned his stripes as a gandanga for his revolution-inspired music, aptly called Chimurenga music, in the late 1970s.
His music dominated the township landscape, inspired many township youths to join the liberation struggle and gave sleepless nights to Rhodesian authorities.
My sister liked the ‘Bhutsu Mutandarika’ lyrics.
It mocked the Rhodesian army.
I fell in love with a religious protest song whose lyrics went something like this…Hona chembere dzekwedu pasi chigare mambo…dzaipfugama, pasi pemuti, dzotanga kunamatawo, dzopihwe sadzawo….inga zvapera wani mambo.”
It was about a golden cultural and spiritual past that Ian Smith and kin had destroyed.
The unsaid message was; let us rid the country of the invaders and return the country to its pristine cultural and spiritual functionality.
Nearly four decades later we have rid the country of the invaders but sadly we are still clinging to their culture and heritage. Thomas Mapfumo’s protest plea of the 1970s ‘…ingazvapera wani Mambo’, is still very relevant today.
In peace time we seek shelter in foreign cultures and religions yet in war time we recall the culture and religion of our ancestry.
During the war we sought counsel from the vaZee, vanaasekuru. Death was handled in our own spirituality and culture. In peace time the same army will call upon the services of a chaplain. These contradictions of our struggle have been well illustrated in our current handling of the El Nino-induced drought in this current season.
By last July we were already receiving forecasts of a severe drought in southern Africa for this farming season.
The forecasts gave allowance for micro variations that would result in isolated areas receiving normal to above normal rainfall.
Some farmers ‘played casino’ and planted as they normally do. The risk-averse went for short season and drought tolerant varieties. The rich invested in irrigation infrastructure. And last week a call was made for national prayers for rain. In Unyetu they had ‘mubatanidzwa wemachechi paruware’. I am advised the skies opened almost immediately.
Pasichigare, in ancient times, they did not have the benefit of global meteorological forecasts. They knew that harvests came from Mwari. They thanked him for the previous harvests and requested rain for the upcoming season.
Offerings were collected under the watch of traditional leaders and taken to Matonjeni. Local ceremonies were held at various mitoro. Beer was brought here and people left the mutoro with ‘rain’.
Journeys to Matonjeni were made in August/September and the mutoro ceremony was in October. Today we have rain prayers in January!
In our gone pasichigare the village elders ensured our food security.
They prayed for food, sadza. Rain meant good harvest, plenty field, community wellness and large families. Prayers at Matonjeni were not just for rain but for the country’s fertility.
The Matonjeni rituals were based on acknowledgement of one creator, Mwari.
Today, this is fast disappearing and survives as a localised Njelele fertility concept. It is a concept that acknowledges the relationship between the Africans, their environment and their ancestral spirits.
Both the environment and spirituality are in the service of man. Through spirituality and the symbolic manipulation of the environment, humans are able to induce the fertility of the land. Mwari makes all this possible. Njelele is the symbolic abode of Mwari.
Last August we saw no activities related to collection of offerings for Matonjeni. October passed quietly without mikwerera. Mutoro has just become a landscape marker, no rain ceremonies are held there anymore.
The Njelele Hill and associated cave serve as abodes of the most senior spirits of the land — imondolo/mhondoro and amajukwa/dzukwa spirits. Njelele is the most eminent of the Matonjeni fertility shrines.
It owes this eminence on account of being the abode of the most senior Kalanga/Shona rain ancestor Thobela/Tovera. The original shrine may then be a great distance from the new areas of settlement. As a result, new subsidiary shrines get established, each occupied by a lesser or regional ancestral spirit.
Ultimately, a network of related shrines is established. All of them will be mountain-based, a pointer to the Kalanga/Shona people behind these shrines. The local Njelele mountains were known as madhaka, muddy places. The mountains generally are located in areas with perennial sources of water. Both the Njelele and Manyanga/Dzimbabwana have perennial water within their vicinity.
In distant areas each community has a site where the rain-making ritual is undertaken. A tree refered to as mutoro/mtolo is where people congregate and bring beer specially brewed for that purpose. Only trees that bear a lot of water in their roots, stems and buds are chosen as venues for the ceremonies. Some of the trees are characterised by the fact that they produce a spray of water from their leaves and flower buds at the time of spring. Examples are the acacia (muunga) or muhacha, the mutoro tree near my village.
At the local mutoro old women undertook the rain dance naked. Their male counterparts gathered near some pool in a river to undertake a rain hunt during which the veldt was cleansed by burning trees that were struck by lightning in the previous rain season.
They also removed any pieces of cloth stuck on trees. After the dance and rain hunt were over, the participants partook of ritual meat roasting.
After the ceremony the people bathed in a nearby pool and returned home. In days gone by the rains were certain to fall and erase the foot prints of the supplicants. Alternatively, a local wosana/nyusa was sent to take seed to Njelele where it was consecrated. He/She was accompanied by some people and they took with them some beer, seed, dagga, black cloth material and skins of wild cats.
Emissaries from near and far went to Njelele during the months of August and September ahead of the onset of the rain season. They brought back Matonjeni water which symbolised rain.
As we take part in January rain prayers… Mapfumo’s cry ‘inga zvapera wani Mambo’ echoes on the horizon. Ian Smith and his kin are long gone.
www.thepatriot.co.zw
How does it feel right now
When you took enough to take me away?
And I hope you’re not soft on your rough goodbyes
And this is your course for collision
And the only end is to taste your…
Maybe you should hear me out
Listen to what I have to say and turn your head away
I’m done holding back
With your urge and my doubts, this can only be more
There they are. How bad do you need this?
And I don’t need a filter to see this red
Its permanence is on your hands
Funny how we thought this could never end
So go home and pack your things
Fill your hangs with what you can bring
Steal your time and realize that “this is just like me doing
What I only know best”
Use your foolproof plan, the one that’s got you this far
My blood has shown
But it’s never you
There’s no way I want to think
With your urge and my doubt…this can be nothing more
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