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Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice. [1] Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, which contains the canonical hours that are said at fixed prayer times.
Standardized prayer such as is done today is non-existent. However, beginning in Deuteronomy, the Bible lays the groundwork for organized prayer including basic liturgical guidelines, and by the Bible's later books, prayer has evolved to a more standardized form, although still radically different from the form practiced by modern Jews.
The early Christian prayer posture was standing, looking up to heaven, with outspread arms and bare head. This is the pre-Christian, pagan prayer posture (except for the bare head, which was prescribed for males in I Corinthians 11:4, in Roman paganism, the head had to be covered in prayer).
Jesus himself gives a prayer to be repeated in Matthew 6:9, and Matthew 26:44 is noted to be repeating a prayer himself. This verse is read as a condemnation of rote prayer without understanding of why one is praying. Protestants such as Martin Luther have used this verse to attack Catholic prayer practices such as the use of rosaries. [5]
The Catholic Church believes that, by praying the Lord's prayer, a Christian hastens the Second Coming. [49] Like the church, some denominations see the coming of God's kingdom as a divine gift to be prayed for, not a human achievement. Others believe that the Kingdom will be fostered by the hands of those faithful who work for a better world.
The Hail Mary (Latin: Ave Maria) or Angelical salutation [1] [2] is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's subsequent visit to Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (the ...