Prayer and Visualization

Prayer

What is prayer? Well, the Merriam - Webster definition of the word prayer is, "an address (such as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer) quite dry - a very basic, but accurate.

Prayer is the most ancient expression of spirituality amongst all cultures and peoples. Although, there are many varied expressions among many peoples, the act of prayer usually follows a general pattern that's similar regardless of faith or ethnicity.

These patterns usually include: benedictions (blessings), litanies (these are statements or invoking titles of a deity or deities for petitions or supplications), ritualistic prayers, free prayers (this type of prayer is free form), repetition or formula prayers.

Again, just as in scriptural meditation (see the page on Meditation), many times prayer is coupled with visualization.