The
scriptures have several examples of personal prayers to God. They are a source of inspiration and guidance for
many:
When Jesus
taught the disciples how to pray this is what he taught:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name,
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give
us today our daily bread,
and forgive us the wrong we have done
as we forgive those who wrong us.
Subject us not to the trial
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:9-13)
David's
Psalms are full of prayers. Here is a short
example:
Teach me to do your will, for you are
my God.
May your good spiirt guide me on a level path.
For
your name's sake, 0 Lord, preserve me;
in your justice free me from distress,
And in your kindness destroy my enemies; being to nought all
my foes,
for I am your servant. (Psalms,
143:10-12)
The Hindu
scripture also gives the world many prayers:
Lord of fire and death, of wind and
moon and waters,
Father
of the born, and this world's father's Father.
Hail, all hail to you - a thousand
salutations...
Author
of this world, the unmoved and the moving,
You alone are fit for worship, you the highest.
Where in the three worlds shall any
find your equal?
Therefore I bow down, prostrate and
ask for pardon:
Now forgive me, God, as friend forgives his comrade,
Father forgives son, and man his
dearest lover.
(from the Bhagvad-Gita, translated
by Swami Prabhavananda & C. Isherwood)
The Quran
also has many prayers. 'The Key' is recited in daily Contact Prayers to the Creator:
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the universe.
Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Master of the Day of Judgment.
You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help.
Guide us in the right path;
the path of those whom You blessed;
not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.
(Quran, 1:1-7)
It also
contains many other outpourings of the heart, including this one:
"Our Lord, we have heard a caller
calling to faith and proclaiming: `You shall believe in your Lord,' and we have believed.
Our Lord, forgive us our transgressions, remit our sins, and let us die as righteous
believers."Our Lord, shower us with the blessings you promised us through Your
messengers, and do not forsake us on the Day of Resurrection. You never break a
promise." (Quran, 3:193-194)
