Worship God: Prayers and Rites

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Worship of God is very common in almost all known religions. Both modern and pagan, which today are almost forgotten. In order to properly perform worship, each religion has developed special rites and rituals.

Christian worship

It is worth noting that the worship of God is very common in our country, where the majority of believing residents profess Christianity. The very word "worship" came to us from the Greek language. It is actively used on the pages of the Old Testament. Especially, in the meaning of "to fall or bow before someone or something".

Worship of God, in the broadest sense of the term, is a person's expression of his inner feelings, spiritual state. This is a purely individual action that a Christian can perform anywhere. He does not even have to go to the temple for this.

But at the same time, there are obligatory forms of worship for believers during church holidays. Then it is necessary to gather together in the temple, pray and ask the Almighty for help.

But even during church holidays, individual praise and worship of God is at the forefront. Ultimately, everyone is on their ownprays and turns to God.

Qualities of Christian Worship

Even in the New Testament, the prophets noted that Christian worship must necessarily come from within a person. And to have two mandatory important qualities.

First, it is necessary to worship in truth. It has nothing to do with your physical condition and position. And only with the inner essence. To perform worship, you must be born again, believe that without the Holy Spirit that dwells in every person, there is no point in offering prayer.

The second important quality is that the mind of a believer should be entirely focused on God. It is necessary to forget about ordinary worldly things, to completely disconnect from them. Only then will the power of god worship be sufficient.

Also, do not forget that you can worship only with a pure and repentant heart, that is, only after confession and the remission of all sins. The glorification and worship of God initially comes from the very heart, so there can be no unremitted sin in it.

Worship in truth means that a person must first determine for himself who God is for him. To do this, you need to carefully and carefully study the Bible. This is the only reliable source in which the Lord fully appears before man.

External behavior

It is worth noting that external behavior in matters of worship does not playpractically no role. In Christianity, it does not matter what position a person is in when he prays or turns to the Almighty. He can sit, stand, lie down. No strict order.

There are certain rules when visiting a temple. But they are easy to do. So, a girl at the entrance to a Christian sanctuary must cover her head with a scarf or any other headdress. A man, on the contrary, must take off his hat before the threshold of the cathedral.

At the same time, there are no requirements for a person who decided to pray and turn to God at home at all.

Prayer

One of the most common ways is prayer. Worship to God is made in the form of repeated repetition of the same sacred text. Prayer is a very important part of the life of a believer. With its help, he can directly address the Creator, Orthodox Christians believe.

Prayers are performed not only on holidays or when a person urgently needs help. Prayers are also public, which are regularly said at a general meeting of the flock or on religious holidays.

Thus, in the Orthodox tradition, regular prayers are often performed without a public service. However, they are recognized as collective prayers.

Types of prayer

Prayers can be divided into several varieties, which are clearly visible even to a person of little faith.

One of the most common prayers is laudatory. There are also thanksgiving (oncewhat the person asked for in the church came true), repentant, when a believer needs to receive absolution or beg forgiveness for his act. As well as pleading and intercessory. When God is asked for he alth and longevity or a specific request is made.

Prayer of Praise

Perhaps the very first prayer that has come down to us is laudatory. It has been well known to our ancestors since ancient times. Laudatory prayers are not always addressed directly to God. There are many texts that praise Jesus Christ or the Mother of God.

Penitence prayers

A classic example of penitential prayer is the 50th psalm from the New Testament. Also, this variety includes the prayer of the publican (this is an ancient collector of taxes and taxes), prayers that are read after confession for the remission of sins, or the famous Great Penitential Canon of Andrew of Crete.

Praying and intercessory prayers are fundamentally different from one another. If in the first case the believer asks directly for himself, then in the second he asks for another person. Usually, a relative or friend.

Prayer order

In order to pray correctly, you must follow a number of simple rules.

The custom to pray while standing came to us from the Jews, however, if for some reason you cannot stand (for example, you are sick and not feeling well), then you can sit during the church service.

Kneeling before the Almighty was borrowed from the same people.

EarlyIt was also customary in Christianity to raise one's hands to heaven during prayer, as Moses did. However, over time, this custom disappeared. In modern Christian rites, only the priest raises his hands up when he leads the liturgy.

The custom to pray, and indeed to be in the temple with an uncovered head, came to Christianity from pagan practices. However, he has changed somewhat. Women, on the contrary, were strictly forbidden to take off their headdress in the temple or during prayer.

Temple

The place of worship of the gods in ancient times was a temple. In the broadest sense of the word, this is a pagan temple. This is a place of worship for the pagans, in which idols were set up and worshipped.

At the same time, if there is information about Western pagan temples, then there is no evidence that Eastern Slavs had pagan temples. It could have been a sacred place, not a specific structure.

Directly into the temple itself, only the priest and his associates, associates who help to conduct the sacred rite, were allowed to enter. The place of worship for pagan gods was often sacred.

In modern Russia, the majority of Orthodox Christians go to the temple to perform the ritual of worshiping God there. A temple is a religious building that is specially designed to conduct religious rites and services.

As a rule, in the architectural symbolism of the temple, as well as in the interior decoration, one can trace the idea of believers about how the world appeared. In the past, especially inIn the Middle Ages, the temple was also an important public place. It was often the only non-open-air venue where a large number of people could gather to resolve their pressing issues.

At the same time, temples were of a memorial nature, and in some countries they were a refuge. Neither the police nor the military could enter the holy building without the special permission of the abbot. Therefore, within the walls of the temple, it was often possible for political opponents of the current government or citizens unjustly accused of crimes to hide for a long time.

In the Orthodox tradition, the main sanctuary is the church. It contains an altar, which can only be entered by a limited number of people. This status of the building is available to both Catholics and Christians. At the altar, such a sacred action as the Eucharist is performed. This is the consecration of bread and wine in a special way. In the Catholic and Orthodox worldview, in this way, believers partake of the body of Christ (bread) and his blood (guilt).

But in Protestantism there is no such reverent attitude to this rite. Therefore, their temple often acts as a place for a general meeting and prayer, but not a sacred ceremony. Some contemporary Protestants eschew temples altogether, preferring to rent small spaces for meetings and prayers, calling them prayer houses. According to their beliefs, this is exactly what the first Christians behaved, from whom it is worth taking an example for modern generations of believers.

Largest churches

To worship God in almost all religions at all times soughtbuild the most beautiful high and majestic places of worship. Christianity in this sense was no exception.

Several buildings at once, which appeared during the period of the existence of Orthodoxy and Catholicism, claim to be the largest. But if we turn to the Guinness Book of Records, we will meet the two most majestic. Moreover, it is interesting that both are in Africa, where missionaries actively planted Christianity not so long ago. Now the majority of the inhabitants of this continent are Christians.

One of them is this Notre Dame de la Paix Catholic Church. It is considered the largest in the world in terms of area. Its territory covers 30 thousand square meters. The temple is located in Yamoussoukro. This is the capital of the state of Côte d'Ivoire.

The second is an evangelical Pentecostal church located in Lagos, Nigeria. It can accommodate 50,000 people at the same time. And this is a record. Moreover, another similar church is currently under construction in a neighboring Nigerian city. It may become even larger and more spacious and add to the list of the most majestic buildings for worshiping God.