Prayer
Many people struggle with prayer, because there are so many "rules" out there about how to do it "right". As far as I'm concerned, at it's best, prayer is truth-telling: unadulterated articulation of exactly what you are feeling at any given moment. Rage? Hell, yeah. Frustration? Fear? Yearning for meaning, assurance, guidance? Maybe, maybe, maybe also, every once in a while "gratitude". There's always reason for gratitude (ex. water when you are thirsty? A bed in which to rest? A hand to hold?) Therapists might say something very similar, recognizing that it is healthy to bring to light that with which one may be struggling; to tap into unconscious feelings as a way toward insight and empowerment. All well and good. Sometimes just saying something out loud can help. It affirms your deeply personal reality!
Within the context of religious identity prayer serves that function. It also puts that articulation of your reality into a larger context of what it means to be human, claiming your place in that lineage of human beings (real and imagined) who lived and breathed, who suffered and questioned and found themselves within the valley of the shadow of death. Religious identity (whether or not it is centered around a God "who listens and hears and answers prayers") provides a framework within which it becomes possible to undertake the journey with authenticity, making of it (making of one's life) a sacrament.
Within the context of religious identity prayer serves that function. It also puts that articulation of your reality into a larger context of what it means to be human, claiming your place in that lineage of human beings (real and imagined) who lived and breathed, who suffered and questioned and found themselves within the valley of the shadow of death. Religious identity (whether or not it is centered around a God "who listens and hears and answers prayers") provides a framework within which it becomes possible to undertake the journey with authenticity, making of it (making of one's life) a sacrament.