What is the purpose of prayer?
83275
God can change His mind through prayer of others, just read about Moses. God was gonna kill all the Jews but Moses stopped Him! The power of prayer is splendid. Our very first goal-our reason for being hear was and is to spend time with The Lord! And we do that through prayer. It is our life-line to our Father! God bless
104000
Prayers as currently used in muslim context to refer to 2 types, one is the 5 times prayer(Salaat)  and second is the prayer to God during other times.\n\nRegarding salaat prayer, there is a basic method of doing it. It involves standing, bowing, prostrating, sitting in a particular order. During standing Quran sura fathiha(mentioned above by abushible) has to be recited and optionally also any other sura. During other positions, God is praised in various wordings. In the final sitting before prayer end, there is a prayer for prophet,for us  and all the good devotees of God. There is also a special prayer to bless prophet mohammed and his people like God blessed prophet Abraham and his people. \n\nMuslims use there own wording for other prayers or use prayers mentioned in Quran or prophets sayings. One most prayed prayer from Quran is \n"Our Lord! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire." Quran 2:201.\n\nMuslims are to pray to God alone for whatever they need to pray.
1146236
What would be the purpose in doing so?
967751
Because satan teaches and entices a man/woman not to pray.  Praying brings one nearer to God and to the truth, and most do not want this because they are "enjoying" their sinful lives.
1024753
beekay had a couple of good ones, but the most important part of prayer is us conforming our will to God's will.  A good passage for this is James 4:13-17, especially 15, which reads;\n"Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."\n\nWhen we seek His will, He fulfills the desires of our hearts, and that is mostly because they become the same as the desires of His heart.  God be with you on your search!
31502
The purpose of life is to serve God.
92258
*Pondering* Through out the ages many religions and cultures used stones for prayer. Basically from Tibet and Buddhists to Holistic Medicine to Druids and Native Americans. Even Islam and Christianity uses prayer beads...\n\nPrayer beads are used by: Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics and Wiccans among others. The earliest use of prayer beads has been traced to the Hindu faith of India. The purpose of prayer beads in these faiths is basically the same; strung beads help the devotee to count repeated devotional prayers. This custom spread from the East to the Middle East and then Europe. The superstitions associated with source materials used, numbers of beads, and religious legend and lore is unique to each faith. This knowledge came due to traveling missionaries or devotees of the organized faiths. They wrote down what they learned after observing the varied superstitions and ancient traditions of the people groups they encountered.\nhttp://www.thegratefulliving.com/PrayerBeadHistoryTeaching.htm\n\nSo the answer is yes, prayer stones are used world wide in many rituals, including healing...
754533
Prayer.  Repetitive prayer.
1122548
I pray and intercede for others (and myself) all of the time. Sometimes it's by myself and sometimes it is while praying together with others.  Sometimes it's through regular prayer, and sometimes it's through praying in tongues. Sometimes I understand and know what I'm praying, and sometimes I do not. In any case, there are so many benefits to it:\n\nWhen Interceding for Others\n\n1. I know others are interceding for me and it is an honor for me to be able to do the same for them.\n\n2.  I get to see God answer my prayers and I see the fruit in people's lives.\n\n3.  There is the satisfaction of knowing that when you do it, you are not only obeying God but pleasing Him deeply.\n\n4.  You experience deep personal intimacy with God. Have you ever been so close to someone that you could finish their sentences, and you begin to know and understand their desires?  When you intercede for others, God is sharing His heart with you.  He is asking you to pray and telling you specifically what for. It can be very intimate.  Would you reveal your deep longings to someone you were not close to? So it is with God.  He gets' close to you in order to do it.  Hearing God speak to you and express His heart to you is one of the greatest things in the world!\n\nWhen Interceding for Myself\n\nOften I will pray and ask God for answers.  I also ask Him all of the time to search my heart.  I ask HIm to convict me of any sin in my life and just to speak to me.\n\nDuring these times God often makes me aware of sins and other things in me that I honestly was not aware of, and I am able to repent and change to make right whatever I need to.  God also speaks to me and touches my heart this way.  It is a great way to draw nearer to God and get to know HIm more.  It's awesome!!!
1145560
The purpose of any religion is to protect. each religion has evolved over different periods of time. the purpose of any religion is to help one co-exist peacefully without hurting someone else. The rules regulations are interpreted by different persons to suit their own needs, and hence conflicts arise.\n\nAll religions are good and should not be insulted or weighed as good or bad.\nst
1142212
Prayer to me is like talking to a friend about issues that you can't figure out on your own. I consider God to be my best friend and He listens to me, the funny thing is that He already knows what I am going to say before I say it. As far as answered prayers, just because you don't get what you want or asked for, doesn't mean that your prayers are not answered. See we don't always know what is best for us so even though it seems like He did not answer you, someday or sometime you will say wow He did answer, just not the way I thought He would. \n\nKeep talking to Him and praise Him for everything you have or happens to you good or bad. He loves you and knew you before you were here.
742664
Nothing wrong with praying for our leaders.\n\nPrayer helps in many ways, plus I'm sure they would appreciate it!
626763
I taught my son to pray for others just as he prays for himself...actually more than he prays for his own needs..but to pray for the needs of others..and to be an answer to prayer if given the opportunity to help another person ..to always be watchful to those in need you may be the answer to someone elses prayer
955827
Praying is a personal believe. I think it is funny to see someone pray in public! It is a "look at me". This is the ONLY reason people pray in public.\nThe place you work for can not be all that big! If it was this question would not have came up. Don't they teach tolerance in your religion??
872014
prayers are gay, why should people waste ther precious time on something like prayers? they're B-U-L-L
717384
You got it!!! Prayer is not words... but what is in your heart... the motive for the prayer... the honesty within the mind, heart and soul as you say the "words."  You can recite a formula of words... and it can be effective as LONG as you mean what your are reciting in you mind, heart and soul.  Your attitude, motive and integrity of your prayer is what counts.... as that prayer is laid at the foot of God's throne... I try to imagine that it needs to be a "good prayer" to be outstanding from all the other prayers to get God's attention  (LOL).  Sounds childish, I know, but it keeps me on tract when I pray... to settle in my mind, heart and soul, the RIGHT attitude, motive and integrity for the basis of my prayer.  Who helps you with this action... THE DIVINE HOLY SPIRIT!  If we knew how often the Holy Spirit worked within us in our daily lives, to motive us to live correctly, we would be surprised... so ask the Holy Spirit to be your daily companion, and to help you in your daily life... and see what happens when you give the Holy Spirit recognition and gratitude for its help....\n\nPS:  When you pray... you address your prayers to the Heavenly Father... in the name of Jesus, the Christ as Jesus taught us to... We do not pray to Jesus... we pray to God the Father in Jesus's name...
211253
As long as all types of religions prayers are used (obviously if there is no-one from a certain religion, that prayer is not needed), then yeah, why not.