Collective prayer. The Power of Prayer

With the revival of spirituality in society, an increasing number of people turn to God, to prayer, repentance. The majority of parishioners continue to be dominated by the so-called consumer attitude to faith and spirituality, which consists in the fact that a person remembers the Lord in difficult moments of life, but asks more than he himself tries to give. Despite this, the number of people who rely on God is steadily growing, and the saying "ask, and will be rewarded to you ..." increasingly confirms its truth.

The power of prayer in faith

When praying to the Most High, the Theotokos or the Saints, many people believe that it is enough that the prayer from the prayer-book or the trebnik is correctly read, a donation in the form of a candle is brought, and the petition must be granted. Without waiting for the result, they cease to believe in the efficacy of prayer and even in Orthodoxy itself.

Prayers are a powerful weapon of the believer in the event that the supplicant is sincerely convinced that his request or appeal will be heard and satisfied, even if not immediately, then after a certain period of time. The Christian parable about the wanderings of Jesus Christ, telling about the earthly way of the Son of God, draws the attention of Christians to the power of faith: "... to those who addressed him with a request for healing from serious illnesses and infirmities, Jesus answered first:" Do you believe? According to your faith ... ". The power of prayer song is really great, but its greatness is in sincerity and trust.

Sincerity of prayer in understanding the meaning

The supplicant, referring to the heavenly powers, often reads the text of the prayer, not delving into its meaning. The deep subtext of this appeal with this approach often remains unconscious. The Old Slavonic language, with which all the old prayers of Orthodox Christians were composed, interferes. Despite the adaptation of the text to the modern language in the prayer-book, it continues to be difficult. Thinking about the content is not particularly desirable, so many naively believe that uttering the set of words that is given will already be enough. The believer must understand what he is addressing to the Almighty, about what he asks for, before starting a prayerful communion with the heavenly forces and using great prayers.

Effectiveness of sincere prayer

Examples of the efficacy of prayer, uttered "from the heart", can be found in Christian parables. One of them tells how fishermen caught in a storm found their salvation on a secluded island. On the island lived three elders, who ate what nature fed, had one icon of the Holy Trinity, she was worshiped: "Three of you and three of us, have mercy on us." The collective prayer of the elders helped them survive and not grumble. The fishermen taught them to pray "Our Father", drawing the attention of the elders to the fact that they pray wrongly, their call to the Lord can not be heard. Sailing with a sense of accomplishment, the fishermen suddenly saw three old men from the island running after the boat on the water and shouting that they forgot the words of prayer, ask to be reminded. Fearful fishermen answered: "Pray as you pray." The words of the petition to the Lord should be pronounced "from the heart" and with understanding of the meaning of the appeal.

The influence of common beliefs on effectiveness

Prayer to the Saints, uttered by a person in solitude, is strengthened by the Christian's spiritual impulse. But Christ said: "... Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The message's message is not that the efficacy of prayer is greatly enhanced when several people raise it. Jesus is at the moment of prayer with a group of people, and with a lonely prayer book. However, in the event that one person comes to the mystery of addressing the Lord formally, then among the rest of the worshipers there is one or several people who sincerely and with all the heart will "write out" their message to the Most High. In the era of the emergence of Christianity, at first after the resurrection of Christ, the apostles often gathered together. At such meetings they broke bread, prayed together. Such a collective prayer united them, the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of them, uniting them into one, raising their words directly to the Lord.

The One Prayer of Orthodox Christians

Holy Scripture nowhere mentions that the power of collective prayer is much more effective than the one-on-one appeal. The difference is that, unfortunately, too many Christians use prayer as a means to get something from God and as an excuse for enumerating the needs and needs of a person. Collective prayer, as a rule, unites people with one text taken from a prayer book or a trebnik, perhaps a joint reading of the Psalter in the period of Lent.

The difference between personal prayer and collective

The meaning of the collective message rarely converges to the enumeration of the personal needs of those who ask. The exception is prayer, when people ask before the Heavenly Throne for one person who has suffered severe trials, who need the help of Christians. Songs of prayer for the collective appeal are taken from the Bible books of Orthodox Christians, the words are pronounced, as a rule, in the church together with clergymen. The exception is some special instructions given by the priests themselves. For example, when all believing parishioners become united prayers for peace in a country that is at that moment in a state of armed conflict.

Caution of the Holy Church

A believing Christian must learn for himself the main rule of observing a single prayer: it is performed in the Temple, if there are no special instructions from the servants of the Church. The relevance of this rule in the modern world is too great. Recently, the so-called "holy" followers of Jesus Christ or the Theotokos began to appear in public, which gather people for mass prayers. Many such events involving thousands of people use elements of trance hypnosis, demonstrating dubious "miracles of healing." Such a collective prayer will not bring good to those who raise it. Its action is exactly the opposite, as the ministers of the Church affirm that such deeds go "from the evil one". Instead of saving his soul, a person will ruin her. The temptation to accept help from such charlatans is too great, but we must not forget that the true salvation of an Orthodox Christian in the Church, and, most importantly, the weapon of a believer, is a prayer to Christ.

The Deep Meaning of Jesus Prayer

Prayers Offers a large number of holy texts for use in communicating with heavenly patrons and defenders. A special force, as many believe, is a short and easy-to-remember prayer to Jesus Christ. The words in it are chosen in such a way that a person, appealing to the Son of God, asks for his pardon, while trusting in the intercession of the Mother of God and the Saints. Realizing the essence of his sinfulness, an Orthodox Christian living in a society understands that from temptations and temptations it is difficult for him to save his soul and keep it clean. A sincerely penitent person, without daring to address directly to the Lord God, appeals to the great Saints for pardon, condescension and intercession. Prayer to Jesus Christ supports man and strengthens him in faith, thereby saving from the fall: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. Have mercy on me a sinner. Amen"

Ability to accept the wisdom of the Almighty

The person who believes that after praying about the problems of the vital, is not right, he will immediately get rid of them, as well as the one who is sure that he will immediately receive the requested by his prayers. Wise people say that the Lord hears and gives not what a person asks for, but what a person needs most at that moment. This is the manifestation of the great Divine wisdom, since people do not always realize their desires, they often act under the influence of an impulse and a temporary impulse. The Lord is wise and understands what is good for a person, therefore he will give only that which will contribute not to the fulfillment of desires, but to the satisfaction of the most urgent need. Prayer to the Saints have the same power: a person is given what is especially necessary.

Once a traveling Chinaman saw at the station an icon with the face of Nikolai the Sinner. I watched her for a while and went on. A few days later I got on a ship in a storm, the ship sank, and the Chinese, without understanding why, called out: "The old man from the station, save me!" The boat appeared, a gray-haired old man was sitting in the boat, and he took the traveler ashore. The Chinese insisted that it was the same "old man" whose portrait he had seen at the station. Relying on the will of God and calling his name for his salvation, man thereby saves his soul.