Summary and Core of Prayers and Faith of Christian in Eucharist – Prayers cannot be separated from human life. Whatever the religions are, people will always have prayers. It is because the prayers are the means to communicate with God. People pray to talk to their God and there can be many things to say. In this case, Christians also have prayers and there are many kinds of prayers and forms of prayers for Christians. In this case, most of the prayers are done spontaneously. They pray when they want to and they have no special formula or orders when they pray. However, mostly they will also have “Our Father” or “Hail Mary” as the common prayer, whether it is to start or to close the prayers. In this case, Our Father is the prayer taught by Jesus himself, while Hail Mary is words said by St. Elisabeth and these words are added with some other phrases to be a prayers and this has been passed down since the early Christianity.
There are actually many kinds of prayers. However, the most important prayer is Eucharist. This is not just a simple prayer, this is the core of prayers and core of faith for the Christians. The Eucharist is done in Holy Mass and there is liturgy that makes this so special. This is started with an opening to start and prepare the hearts before the accept God that will come in the Eucharist. After that, they will ask for forgiveness and make confession for the sins. Then, the next part is about the part for Words of God. Some readings from the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel are read and there will be sermons from the priest to reflect and contemplate what God has said in the Bible. After that, there is liturgy of offering.
Then, the next part is the core of the Eucharist. There is prayer and consecration. This is the special moment to commemorate what Jesus did in the last supper with his disciples. In this moment, God appears and He bless the wine and breads so they will be Blood and Flesh of Christ that has brought salvation for the humans. The consecrated breads will be shared in the holy communion and people will receive this blessing. After that, there will be closings. In Eucharist, all forms of prayers are in there. There are prayers of adoration and worship. There are also prayers of petitions and thanksgiving. People also often pray when they got lucky lottery and jackpot while play online for happy and thanksful appreciation. Praise and Intercession are also in there. Of course, the consecration is the main part since this is also part of the faith of Christians.
Your Great Name by Natalie Grant Will Make You Remember The Greatness of God
Your Great Name by Natalie Grant Will Make You Remember The Greatness of God – Lots of people don’t really believe that God exists before they actually experience the greatness of God in their lives. Natalie Grant is the great singer that will make you believe that the love of God is actually real and she proves it with her real experiences through her hit song, Your Great Name.
– The Story Behind Your Great Name
Lots of people have problems in life and they can bring them down at their lowest point. But, those who believe in Jesus won’t be overwhelmed and they can get through everything in life. This is also how Natalie Grant felt when she lost hope because she was diagnosed with the advanced stage of Lyme Disease.
She was very devastated because she sought help from lots of doctors, but none of them couldn’t heal her or bring any progress that made her healthier. At one point, she decided to go to church and sought comfort from God by attending a healing service. She felt that God breathed his power and healed her completely. After two months, she gets perfectly fine and it encourages her to sing this song.
– The Message of Your Great Name
This song has a great power that can move thousands of believers and more. She believes that everyone in this world will believe in the greatness of God everyday in their lives. Through this song, Grant wants us to believe that Jesus is our savior and he wants more of us to resonate with the song well.
She gets very sad because all of the worship songs don’t really mention the name of Jesus. They only mention God, but she believes that Christianity is not enough when we don’t believe in Jesus. She wants us to worship Jesus by calling this name and unite the believers in the same way, like when you play online Poker on http://104.145.231.244 and get connected to other players. Lastly, she wants us to believe that even if we have problems, Jesus can be our savior.
Natalie Grant feels the great love of God after she was freed from the advanced stage of Lyme Disease. Her praise for God can be felt from her song, Your Great Name, and you can feel His greatness through this song.
Calming Heart Christian Prayers and Songs for You
Calming Heart Christian Prayers and Songs for You – In our daily lives, we will face all kinds of possibilities that could bring our life to a better condition or vice versa. For followers of Christ, like His teachings, whatever we face we must be grateful because behind all the events that happen to us, there will definitely be good things in the future. Of course, the teaching of love is the main thing that we have to apply in our daily lives to the environment around us. As with humans in general, unpleasant events can put us in a mood that is gloomy, sad and not exciting. However, as followers of Christ, we should always introspect ourselves in order to erase the bad things in our lives. Sadness is not something that must be grieved constantly – but something that can give us meaningful experiences in life in the future.
To face the unpleasant facts of life, we should surrender and get closer to Him. There are many things we can do to calm our hearts more, such as praying, singing gospel songs, meditating and many more. Singing gospel songs doesn’t have to be soft and soothing. It all depends on the individual person according to the way to enjoy the song itself. Currently, there are many gospel songs available ranging from pop, rock and other genres. If you need a gospel song to calm yourself down or want to spend a moment closer and communicate with Christ, you can choose a gospel song according to your taste.
Hillsong, is a Christian church located in Australia. This church is a apostolic church which is dominated by charismatic Christians. From this Hillsong Church, many gospel songs were created and are very popular throughout the world. If you want to find a song that suits your heart condition right now, you can try listening to songs from Hillsong. There are already several albums available for Christians to enjoy. There are many albums from Hillsong such as Awake, Cornerstone, Let There Be Light, There is More, This Is Our God and many others.

One example of a song you might hear is Father. This song is sung by Hillsong United and is on the album To the Ends of the Earth which was released in 2002. This song of worship to Christ is perfect for those of you who are feeling distant from Christ and feel at the moment of your crisis. The lyrics are profound and soul touching.
Listening to I’m Not Alright Will Make You Alright
Listening to I’m Not Alright Will Make You Alright – Almost all of the people in the world have problems in their life and those problems can make them feel bad about life. It is perfectly all right about it and getting closer to Jesus will make you alright again. To get on your feet again, you need to listen to I’m Not Alright by Sanctus Real and believe that He will free you from your problem.
– I’m Not Alright by Sanctus Real
Christian music doesn’t always need to be grand boring because you can also enjoy rock music to deliver your praise and faith to Him, and that’s why Sanctus Real focuses on this genre. They have made lots of Christian rock songs that are enjoyable to listen to by youngsters and help you worship Him more.
One of their most famous songs is I’m Not Alright that was released in 2006. This song is one of the tracks in their album entitled The Face of Love. Due to its popularity, the song got number 1 in Christian radio and it was nominated for Rock Recorded Song of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards.
The Meaning Behind I’m Not Alright
Lots of people are very curious about the meaning of this famous song and how it can resonate well with their current situations. Actually the song was first named I’m fine, but during the recording, the band members got lots of problems on their mind and they wanted to say that they are not alright, but playing Live Casino will make you alright.

Then, they went all out with what they wanted to say and they planned not to hide all of them. They didn’t really care about anything and they wanted to show to the world that they are not alright, and you don’t want to be like them. That was how they made the lyrics and the music of the song, and they named it I’m Not Alright. The lyrics show their devastation and how God helps them through it, and it makes lots of people feel the same as they do.
The song tells you that it is alright not to feel alright and you don’t need to hide it. Just remember that he will always be there and embrace you.
The History of Christianity in Indonesia – A Short Explanation
The History of Christianity in Indonesia – A Short Explanation – Indonesia is a country with different religions. The people in Indonesia live in harmony even with different religions. Christianity is the second biggest religion in Indonesia. The population of Christian in Indonesia becomes the second biggest country in ASEAN and the fourth biggest country in Asia. Christianity in Indonesia can be divided into some groups that are Protestant as the largest group and Catholics. Well, the Christianity population is spread throughout the Indonesia areas. Christianity becomes the majority religion in some provinces especially in the East of Indonesia. Speaking about the distribution of Christianity in Indonesia cannot be separated from the Christianization process through some colonialism and trades.
Christianity has been practiced in Indonesia since the 12th century. It is proven by the records of Christian Egyptians. The records talk about the presence of Church in Barus, North Sumatera. In the past, Barus was frequently visited by some traders including the Indian traders. Therefore, it is suggested that the Indian traders who bring the Christian religion in North Sumatra. And, it was also linked to the Indian Saint Thomas Christians. However, there is no evidence of the community anymore. After that, Christianity was brought by the Portuguese in the 16th Century.
On the early arrival, Portuguese that came in Malacca Sultanate in 1509 was welcomed by the local people. However, due to the conflict between Malaccan Muslim and Portuguese Christian, there was a negative sense of Christian in that area as well as the Aceh. Up until now, Christianity becomes the minority in those areas. The Christianization process was also conducted by the Dutch. It was done after the Portuguese went off from Indonesia. Dutch was built a center of Indie that was called as VOC in Batavia (previous name of Jakarta). Dutch made some programs related to the Christianization process. However, since there were some conflicts between the local people and Dutch, the Christianization process in Java was not going well.

However, the Christianization process was going well in some provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, Maluku, North Sulawesi, and North Sumatera. Nowadays, East Nusa Tenggara is well known as the largest population of Christian in Indonesia. Each region of East Nusa Tenggara has different denominations of Protestantism and Catholicism. Papua is an area with the second-highest percentage of Christian after East Nusa Tenggara. It is dominated by the Protestant group. And, North Sumatera becomes the third-highest percentage of Christian in Indonesia. North Sulawesi becomes the fourth-highest percentage of Christian in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the population of Christian in Maluku is about 40% of the total population.
Rosario as One of the Popular Devotion
Rosario as One of the Popular Devotion – As a Christian, prayer is important. This is the main way to communicate with God. People pray to say gratitude for things that have been obtained in life. Then, prayer is also to ask for somethings or wish for something since God is the One that can grant things needed by his human. Prayers can be expressed in many ways. By using songs, people can also express the prayers. In this case, there are still many things to say in the prayers. It is not only about wishes and gratitude. Sometimes it is also about sharing experiences and there are many stories to tell to God. To express the prayer, there are many things to do and praying in silence is one of them. There are also people who do devotion as the other ways for praying.
It is quite interesting to know about devotion. For some people, this may be familiar, but there are also people who do not know about this. Commonly, people do devotion when they have big wishes and there are urgent hopes. That is why this devotion is done. There are also other people who do devotion because they feel that it is better to pray in devotion since it can maintain deeper relation with God. There are many kinds of devotion and Rosario is one of the devotion. Many people also pray when they need luck while playing gambling. Here are some explanation that were revealed by https://multibet88.online site visitors before they started accessing this gambling site.
It is true that Rosario is one of the famous devotion. This is devotion for Blessed Virgin Mary and this devotion is easy to do. This devotion is mostly about the prayer of Holy Mary for 50 times and there are other prayers. Usually, the 50-prayers are divided into 5 events and usually people give special hopes in every 10 prayers. There have been many communities praying the devotion and this is a good devotion to be done as a group. Of course, this can also be good personal devotion.
Great Things about Songs for Christians
Prayer and song are two things that cannot be separated in the life of Christian. It is true that prayer is the way to communicate with God, but songs can also be the means of communication. In the worship or Eucharist, songs are always in there. Songs Christian and prayers are great combination. That is why liturgy always has songs and prayer. In this case, even there is proverb saying that singing is twice of praying. It can work more effectively. This is also the reasons why Christians have a lot of songs and all of them are great songs for worshipping God.
Existences of songs have been with the Christians for a long time. Even, songs have become ways of worshipping God before Christ was born. In the Old Testaments, many prophets and the people sang many kinds of songs to say gratitude to God. Songs were also used to deliver prayers of hopes, and even songs could also be used to express worries and disappointment. There were also songs delivering about angers. Surely, there were a lot of songs in the Old Testaments and these are continued up to today. People still use songs in every liturgy. In every events and worships or Eucharist, there are always songs. Songs have great effects to make people feel more comfortable. Songs also have expression and this sometimes cannot be found in the prayers.
There are many kinds of songs and the new songs are so popular. That is truth. However, there are also some old songs that are still sung by Christians. They still love the songs and most of them are taken from Psalms. In the Holy Bible, Psalm becomes such a great book of poems and some of them can be sung. Among many poems and songs in Psalm, Psalm 18 becomes the most famous part. This poem is made into song and people love to sing this song. The song talks about the gratitude to God for being Great Shepherd who provides protection.
Devotion to Blessed Mother Marry
In life of Christian, there are many kinds of prayers. Many form of prayers are delivered in different expression. One of the most famous way of delivering prayers is devotion. Devotion has become an interesting way of praying. In the devotion, people have such a special wish and these are delivered in prayers. Devotion will be the way to deliver the wishes. In this case, there are many kinds of devotions and devotions toward Mother Mary is the most famous devotion. As the Mother of God, Blessed Mother Mary helps people in delivering the prayers to her Son. This is the faith.
It is true that devotions to Blessed Mary is the famous devotion. That is why many people love to do this devotion. Some people have special devotion since they have some special wishes that they want to get in life. However, there are also people who do devotion to Blessed Mary just because they love The Blessed Mother and they want to say their gratitude for her helps in delivering each prayer. Blessed Mary becomes great figure of mother who teaches people about obeying God’s will. She is the Greatest Woman who is so brave and loyal with God, even when she had to witness her only Son was being crucified to death.
The values of Blessed Mary’s life become one of the reasons why people have deep devotion to her. She is the real example of good person and God loves her. She is also the Mother of God and she deserves to get the devotion. This is also the reasons why there are many Grottos of Mary. The grottos used to be sacred sites where Mother Mary appeared and there are proofs and witnesses about this apparition. Lourdes becomes the most famous grotto where Mother Mary appeared to Bernadette who later became one of the saints. This grotto has become famous place since there are many miracles by the helps of Mother Mary.
A Short Story about the Crucifix
Christian symbolism involves investing inner meaning that expresses Christian ideas on some objects or actions (such as events, artwork, acts, or archetypes). Christianity as a form of belief does not really apply aniconism in its practices. Aniconism is, simply put, the kind of avoidance or prohibition toward certain types of images. The most notable Christian symbol of all would be the crucifix, a cross with corpus on it. This symbol is common in Anglicanism, Eastern, Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Catholic Church. Protestantism, on the other hand, opts for a bar cross instead. Appearance-wise, the letter T represented the early form of crucifix. It started being used as a symbol of Early Christianity in the 2nd century. The use of the Greek and Latin cross (a cross with beams intersecting with one another) first emerged by the end of Late Antiquity. Another type of cross called the Celtic cross appears as a cross surrounded by a circle. However, while the cross looks similar with Christian cross, the symbol’s presence is thought to be 3,000 years older than Christianity itself. The symbol appeared on ancient monoliths in Ireland and some of them were relocated to churchyards. The origin of the Celtic cross is not known for sure at this point.
For at least 5,000 years, the Celtic cross is thought to have been the most dominant feature of Irish anthropogenic landscape. Due to their similarity in shape, the Celtic cross was adopted by the Irish Catholic culture after the island was Christianized. The Celtic cross has become a symbol to interpret Christianity in a way that is totally unique to Irish culture.
The crucifix (referring to the depictions of the scene of crucifixion) was something that can be thought to be rare before the 5th century; despite the fact the cross was a typical symbol of early Christians. The change in practice is thought to be attributed to Constantine’s mother, Helena, and who claimed that she had found the True Cross. Another factor that led to a change in the way Christians view the cross would be the development of Golgotha that turned it into a site for pilgrimage. The crucifix is purported to have been developed as a symbol in Palestine. Crux gemmata, plain cross covered with jewels, became a common depiction of the symbol in early medieval period. Byzantine art is thought to be the first medium that featured crucifixion displaying suffering, indicated by the common “S” shaped slumped body kind of depiction was developed.
Pilgrimage as A Way to Purify Life
Pilgrimage becomes part of the Christian life. There are many people going to many sacred sites for praying. There are many reasons of people going to pilgrimage. Some people think that their prayers are heard when they can pray in certain sacred sites. The other people only want to get other religious or spiritual experience. Whether their prayers are answered or not, they do not really care about it. The spiritual values and experiences are more important for them. In this case, there are many great sacred sites to go. Almost in each country, there are sacred sites to go for all the Christians in the country. Even, there are some famous place where people at other countries go to have pilgrimage in the sacred sites.
Talking about pilgrimage, actually it is not kind of trend. It is also not kind of vacation although there are also people who go to the sacred sites in many countries to collect photos for their collection and for their social medias. There are many reasons. However, since the early Christianity, there were people choosing pilgrimage as a way to purify their life. This has happened for long time and there are still many people who do pilgrimage for this transcending spiritual purposes. Some saints did pilgrimage and St. Ignatius de Loyola is one of them. He is one of the founding fathers for Society of Jesus and he is famous for his Spiritual Exercise. He is one of the great and holy persons who do pilgrimage to purify the life and make the life worth in front of God. Of course, people at that time did not have transportation for pilgrimage. They had only feet to walk and that is why this could provide them with very deep experiences.
There are actually also some people who do this way of pilgrimage, especially they who are part of monasteries of seminaries. There are also lay people who are called to this pilgrimage and they answer the call from God by doing this pilgrimage. They may not do pilgrimage across country, but the spirit of pilgrimage is so inspiring and this is how people pray in very different and unpopular way.
Pilgrimage as One of the Devotion to God
Praying always has important roles for everyone. They who believe in God will pray as the way to communicate with God. The same thing also happens to Christians. They believe in Christ and they pray to get blessings and deliver gratitude for the blessings that God has granted. In this case, there are many kinds of prayers and there are also many forms of prayer. Pilgrimage becomes one of them. This may be one of the extreme way in praying. People commonly do pilgrimage because they have special wish and they make themselves deserve to get the graces by doing pilgrimage. There are also people who do pilgrimage because they have got great blessing from God. Their prayers are answered and they want to thank God for it.
For the pilgrimage, actually it is not a new habit. The Apostles have done it and many saints and holy people of God also did pilgrimage. This becomes a great and sacred journey since this will not only make them feel worthy to get God’s grace, but this is also a good way to fight against the will of flesh, as what Jesus Christ has ordered. In the old time, people did pilgrimage by walking. They walked for tens up to hundreds kilometers and they were happy with this. Each pain and other bad experiences that was experienced were taken as a way of salvation for the sins. They dedicate the life and they make great effort since they with members want to be worthy in front of God.
Right now, there were only some of the people who do the pilgrimage by walking. There have been transportation and they use it. However, there are also some people who still want to do as the holy people of God did the pilgrimage. They want to feel the experiences of the sacred pilgrims. There are many great and sacred places to visit. Holy land of Jerusalem becomes the main spot since it is Jesus’ hometown and there are many sacred places to visit since those are representing God’s journey. Then, Grotto of Blessed Mary in Lourdes is the other famous place. This is the place where Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette and delivering some sacred messages for people.
Songs in Christian Life
People pray when they want to talk to God. The prayers can be about many things. Most of the people pray because they want to ask for somethings from the One who can give all what people need. They can have many kinds of wishes and hopes. There are also people who pray for saying thanks or gratitude because of what God has granted. Even, there are also people who pray to share their experiences. God is like a good friend who can always listen to many things since God himself who asks everyone to come to Him when they have heavy burden, and He will relieve the burdens.
About prayers, there are many kinds of prayers, and songs are some of them. For some people, they may think that songs are songs and this cannot be called as prayers. However, songs are things that cannot be separated from Christians’ life. This is like prayers and even there are proverbs saying that songs can work better than prayer. That is why in liturgy, there are prayers and songs and they are just like united things. They cannot be separated. Songs may not be sung, but they can be read as such poems. Of course, it is better when people sing the songs.
Songs for liturgy has a great effect. The songs can be a form of gratitude and this can be an effective way to make the heart say thanks to God. Songs can make the heart opened and the gratitude will be said consciously from the deepest part of heart. Then, songs can also be useful to make people reflect of things that have been done in life and bring such an awareness for them to turn their life. Of course, songs can be a sign that shows God is always be with His people. Sometimes, during the hardship, people sing and suddenly they feel touched. They feel that God is in there and God is listening to the prayer. Holy Spirit works through the songs to strengthen the heart of the faithful.
Sacraments in Catholic Church
For Christian, there are some essential things for their faith in God. One of them is about sacraments. Sacraments has important roles in faith of Christians since it is related to the expression of faith, celebrations, and prayers. Sacraments are understood as means for the grace of God. God comes and grant blessings through sacraments, and Christians respond the faith and blessings by the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in Catholic Church. The first sacrament is Sacrament of Baptism. This is the first sacrament that will become the signs for people to be part of Catholic Church. In this sacrament, water and candle becomes two important instrument as the signs of purification and baptism, and also sign of guidance from the Holy Spirit. By the baptism, person will be included in Christ’s Salvation.
Then, the second sacrament is Sacrament of Confirmation. When the Baptism is to baptize and make someone being part of Catholic Church, Sacrament of Confirmation is to confirm person for their mission of proclamation of Faith and Gospel. Through the anointment of sacred oil, someone receive blessing and confirmation from Holy Spirit. God through the Holy Spirit will strengthen someone for the mission in the world. This sacrament is usually given by the hand of Bishop.
Then, the next sacrament is Sacrament of Eucharist. Sacrament of Eucharist is one of the mystery in Christian faith since in this sacrament, God shows his mercy and blessing for human. He sacrificed his only Son, Jesus Christ. Through His blood and body, people are saved. In the holy mass or Eucharist, they who have been declared as ready to receive the body of Christ, will receive the body of Christ in a form of consecrated bread. These three sacraments are called as the initiation sacraments.
Then, the fourth sacrament is matrimony. As its name, this sacrament is given to man and woman who are ready to live as husband and wife and become Christian family at Through this sacrament, the man and woman are united by God’s blessing and the marriage will never be broken.
That is why there is no divorce in Catholic Church. Only death can separate them. Then, the fifth sacrament is sacrament of Holy Order. Different from Sacrament of Matrimony, in this sacrament, someone will receive holy ordination to become priest. Then, the last sacrament is sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. This sacrament is given to provide strength for people who are sick. Usually, this is given for people who are going to face death because of the sickness.
Importance of Songs for Christians
For Christian, prayer cannot be separated from songs. In worships, Eucharist, and other events, songs and prayers share important roles. That is why songs cannot be easily separated from Christian life. In this case, even old proverbs say that singing works better than praying. This is famous proverb for Christians showing that singing songs are important and this cannot be separated from liturgy. In this case, of course there are many kinds of great benefits that make songs are also loved by Christians.
Firstly, songs make people relaxed. In some ways, people can also be more focus with the songs. That is why songs are used in many kinds of prayer. This is also why songs are used in meditation and contemplation. These two habits of prayers always have songs since these are helpful to make people get relaxed. They later can pray well and they can also meditate and contemplate easier. In a liturgy, songs are also important. In some ways, songs can say and deliver gratitude. Songs can be more effective than prayers in some chances since the songs involves emotion and people’s emotion can be easily carried away as the songs sung in the prayer. Sometimes, songs are also able to create moods, such as songs in the period of Lent. The songs have sad emotion and this is helpful to make people able to contemplate the sadness and sacrifices made by Christ for salvation of humans.
Then, songs can also make people feel as a unity. When the songs are sung in the worship or Eucharist, all of the people singing the songs can be united in the songs and they can pray well. These are great to experiences. Moreover, songs are also the good way to make people open their God to the God’s grace. These can be seen from some of Christians who use songs to feel and receive the Holy Spirit. Some of the people who sing can get graces to experiences Holy Spirit coming to them.
Many Forms of Prayers for Christians
Prayers the means of communications of the believers to their God. In communication, Christians can say many things. They can say gratitude, adoration, and many other things. Of course, prayers also become a form of faith. There will be no prayers when there is no faith to God. People will never ask for somethings if they do not believe in God and they do not believe that God will grant them the wishes. They will not also say gratitude when they even do not feel GodÆs graces in their life. That is why prayer is the proclamation of faith. In this case, that is also why the first form of prayer is adoration or worship. This is the first point of prayer since people will never pray when they have no faith in God. They prayers because they want to worship Him and adore His graces that have made them alive. There are many forms of adoration and the one of the most common adoration is the adoration toward the Sacred Heart of Christ. There are many church that even has special devotion and adoration for the Sacred Heart of Christ.
Then, there is also prayer of petition. This is the common prayers done by Christians. Since they believe in God and His mercy, then they have prayers of petition. In this prayers, the faithful pray to ask for somethings that they need. There are many kinds of needs and these are not only about the spiritual needs. There are also physical needs and many kinds of things to ask. Some people pray to get miracles so they can be free from their sickness. The other people pray to ask for special blessings so they can have child. There are also some people who pray to ask for GodÆs forgiveness. In praying, people also do such kinds of special devotion, such as novena toward Blessed Mary. There are many forms of novena for Blessed Mary since Christians believe that Mother Mary will deliver the prayers toward her lovely son, Jesus Christ.
Moreover, there is also prayers of thanksgiving. Sometimes, the players forget about this. Most of the prayers are about the petition and sometimes there is also prayers of worship and adoration. However, most of the people forget to thank God for things that they have received. They ask for somethings, but they will forget after their prayer is answered by God. Luckily, God is merciful and he keeps blessing his beloved humans with abundance of blessings.
Types of Christian Prayers
Just like other religions in the world, Christianity also has its own practice of praying. And just like other religions in the world, prayer forms an important set of activity in Christianity. Christian prayers are diverse; a practitioner can read the prayers from a text or pray spontaneously at a moment’s notice. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer is an example of text containing prayers Christians can read from. The Lord’s Prayer is perhaps the most common type of prayer among Christians Matthew 6:9-13 explains that the prayer is one that Jesus used to teach his followers to pray. Within Christianity, the Lord’s Prayer is a model for petition, confession, and adoration at the same time. Christian prayers commonly consist of three stages. It begins with vocal prayer. The procession then moves forward to some sort of meditation. Everything is then capped off with a series of contemplation, which is also called intercession.
Based on its setting, Christian prayers can be divided into two major groups: corporate/public and private. Corporate prayer is done by sharing the prayer with everyone in worship setting or other public areas. Prayers in this setting can be read from a formal written text or informal impromptu prayers. Private prayers, on the other hand, are done by an individual within a setting that is private. The prayers can be done either aloud or silently.
Christian prayers can also be classified into several categories based on the way they are structured. Liturgical prayers are commonly found in Catholic Church. This category is very orthodox in nature and the prayers are done according to Catholic credo. A Catholic Mass is an example of worship in liturgical form. During the Mass, bible readings are held and priest will read a sermon. Non-liturgical prayers are often found in Evangelical church. Generally speaking, prayers of this type are more informal in structure as they are not scripted. Another characteristic of this prayer is that it is often done extemporaneously. The last type is the charismatic prayers. The prayers of this kind can be observed. As a matter of fact, within Pentecostal churches charismatic prayers are the main form of worship. The prayers are typically structured with songs and dances. Other kinds of artistic expressions may also be involved. An apparent structure may be absent in this type; rather, the worshippers are said to be guided by the God himself.
Prayers and Songs in Christian Belief
Prayers has important roles in life of Christians. Prayers become the main way to communicate with God. Human pray to say gratitude for things that they have got. They also pray to ask for somethings in a form of wishes and hopes. There are also prayers of lamentation and many other things to say in the prayers. Talking about prayers and communication with God, Eucharist becomes the central part of all. Eucharist has liturgy in it and these have important parts from the beginning until the closing part of the Eucharist. The main part of this is when there is holy consecration where wine and bread are turned into blood and flesh of Christ as what he has scarified for the salvation of all human. There is also moment when the Holy Bible is read and there is homily to reflect what God says to his fellow humans.
Of course, there are also prayers in daily life of Christians. They pray when they wake up in the morning and before they start their activities. Then, they will close the day with night prayer. These are common to see and there are many kinds of prayers. Some of the prayers are spontaneous prayers, it means that this has no formula and it is a personal prayer. Everyone speaks as what they want to say to God. However, there are also some prayers that have special formulas and these are prayers passed down from the old time. There are many prayers and Rosary is one of them. This is special prayer as the devotion to Mother Mary. This is quite popular prayer for players and there are special months for this devotion. There are October and May dedicated as the month of Mary and month of Rosary.
Of course, there are also songs that cannot be separated from the Christian belief. Songs have been part of prayers and these have been from the era of Old Testament. Moses and the Jews had many kinds of songs. There are also Psalms in Old Testament that becomes collection and compilation of songs and poems for God. These are still used up to now and there are some psalms and poems in the Psalms of Old Testament composed into songs. Songs also become important part of liturgy. There are songs used in the liturgy starting from the opening songs up to closing songs. The songs are used to bring nuances and prepare the heart.
Some Interesting Things About Lent and Easter
For Christians, sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ become the core of faith. His sacrifice brings salvation for every human who believe in him. That is why this sacred events are celebrated and these becomes so important in the liturgy. That is why Christians have Easter or Passover as the celebration of Jesus who have won against the death and he could raise from the death. Easter becomes the main celebration for Christians. Before the Easter, there is period of Lent as the preparation for the Christians to welcome Jesus’s resurrection and winning against the death.
It is true that Easter or Passover becomes the special events for Christians. In this event, people commemorate special events that become the event of salvation. This is the moment when God sacrificed his only Son to redeem human’s sins. This salvation happened once for all eternity and this salvation is for people who believe in him. That is why this becomes so important. During the period of Lent, people are fasting as what the people in the Old Testament did. Christians take this opportunity to share the sadness and suffering that Jesus Christ had to experience for the redemption and salvation of human. By the period of Lent, people take part in his suffering, death, and resurrection.
There are many things to do during the period of Lent. There are 40 days and mostly people take fasting as the main things to do. Then, there are also charity actions done for people who are in need. This is very common to do since Christians do not only want to feel the good life, but they also want to share the good life to the unfortunate people, especially in the special moment of Lent. There are also communal prayers in certain community or group of Christians. All of these activities are to make Christian able to take part in Christ’s salvation.
Contemplation as Good Way of Praying
Ora et labora. That is the Latin proverb that is so famous and this is so familiar for Christians. Christians are so closely related to prayers and there are many kinds of prayers. Related to the proverb, it can be translated into ôpray and workö. This becomes a famous proverb, but it does not mean that people will literally pray while working. It is more about bringing spirit of prayer in daily life. It is about remembering God in all things that people do in daily life. Related to this, there is a prayer called contemplation in action. This is famous especially for people in the monastery. They spend their daily life in the monastery and they have daily routine of prayer. There are many prayers to do during the daily activities.
For the life in monastery, they are so familiar with contemplation. It is like meditation, but it is more active compared to the meditation. This kind of prayer is more about being silence and try to reflect things related to the God or Bible. There are many things to reflect and these are connected to the daily life. What they do in the daily life will be connected in the reflection. These are to find the meaning of what they do and try to understand what God says in the activity. This is totally important for the people in the monastery.
Commonly, these are done in combination with music of Taize. This kind of music is getting more popular since it is effective to bring people deeper in the state of meditating. This is so popular and even people outside the monastery start to do it. There are many communities make some kinds of activities related to the meditation and contemplation and this is in combination of Taize music. This will be great things to do and this is worth to try.
Understanding the Gospel Music
Under the genre of Christian music is the gospel music. Culture and social context affect the definition, significance, performance, and creation of gospel music. There are many purposes of gospel music: It could be for esthetic pleasure, for religious and ceremonial purposes, or a form of entertainment to be put out on the marketplace. Elements of gospel music consist of Christian lyrics and vocals dominating the composition. With roots in the black oral tradition, gospel music is an art form that dates back to the early 17th century. To accompany the composition, some churches resort to hand clapping and foot-stomping instead of musical instruments. Meanwhile, the term ôgospel musicö itself was first used in 1874. Authors such as Fanny Crosby, William Howard Doane, Charles H. Gabriel, Philip Bliss, and George F. Root can be said to be the composers of the original gospel songs. When radio first emerged in the 1920s, audience for gospel music became much wider. Gospel music moved into major auditoriums after World War II. Since then, concerts for gospel music turn out to be even more elaborate in the process.
There is another subgenre of gospel music called gospel blues. This genre is formed by basing the composition on the blues music. Application of this merger is apparent through combining evangelical lyrics with blues guitar. Other subgenres include Southern gospel, progressive Southern gospel, and Christian country music. The Christian country music is also known as country gospel music and it reached its popularity during the mid-1990s. Another subgenre of gospel music is bluegrass gospel music. The subgenre is derived from American mountain music. Celtic gospel music, on the other hand, mixes things up with Celtic influences and is popular especially in Ireland. The British black gospel is gospel music produced in the UK but is influenced by African diaspora.
The common elements of gospel music are vocals and Christian lyrics. Modern gospel music uses lyrics that are not explicitly Christian in spirit and may emphasize on the sound only. Some forms of gospel music may also involve choirs, Hammond organ or piano, bass guitar, drums, tambourines, and electric guitar. Gospel music is quite different from hymns. Hymns are composed in a measure that is statelier while gospel music comes with a syncopated rhythm as well as a refrain. In essence, gospel music contains some sort of religious warning or exhortation, persuasion, or testimony, or all of those aspects at once.
A Brief History of Christianity
The purported miracles of Jesus of Nazareth (in addition to his life and teachings) form the basis of Christianity as an Abrahamic monotheistic religion. Jesus is the primary figure in the form of belief, he who is also known as the Messiah or the Christ. With 2.4 billion followers (roughly 33% of the global population), Christianity holds the record for being the largest religion in the world. Christians, those who practice Christianity, view Jesus as the Son of God who will come back to the world as the Messiah to save humanity, a prophecy written in the Old Testament. Western Civilization has Christianity to thank for its role in shaping the world. Christianity dated back to the mid-1st century, where it first emerged out of Judaism as a Judaic sect of Second Temple. Its birthplace was Judea, a Roman province, from which it spread across the world including Syria, Anatolia, Europe, Transcaucasia,
Mesopotamia, Ethiopia, Egypt, as well as the Indian subcontinent. Christianity had become the Roman EmpireÆs official state religion at the end of the 4th century. After the Age of Discovery, the religion spread to sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Americas through colonization and missionary work.
The Nicene Creed and the ApostlesÆ Creed contain the basic theology of Christianity. The creeds dictate that Jesus first suffered on the cross and died. He was buried subsequently and descended into hell. From there, he would rise back and offer eternal life to anyone who has faith in him. Those granted happiness will also be forgiven for their sins in the past. The creeds also say that Christ rises to heaven to unite with God the Father and the Holy Spirit and reigns there. He would then return to the world to provide judgment for both the living and the dead.
Written accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus are referred to as the gospel. There are four gospels of such nature: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four gospels are canonical and are contained within the 5th century Christian Bible of the original Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches during a period known as the Great churchùuntil the two split during an event called East-West Schism in 1054. There are currently four large branches of Christianity: the Catholic Church, Protestantism, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodoxy. The East-West Schism refers to the split between the Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches. Protestantism broke communion from the Catholic Church in the 16th century.