Why I Pray

This may shock some people who have been following my journey here, but I still pray regularly. I still pray throughout the day. For some reason, I can’t shake that part of my upbringing. And I don’t see any reason to do so. It is a spiritual practice that has continued to benefit me even as my religious tradition and understanding of God have changed.

One type of prayer I do is verbalizing my hopes for myself, my loved ones, and the world around me. My prayers aren’t petitionary. I don’t ask for anything because I don’t believe there is a being who can grant what I ask. Doing this has a way of centering my life on the good for myself, my loved ones, and the world around me. These verbalized prayers have a way of fusing themselves to the core of my being.

Another kind of prayer I do is centering prayer. I don’t try to align myself with a higher power when I center myself. Instead, I align myself with love. The purpose of the centering prayer is to make sure that I am loving in all that I do. I want to be loving in all my interactions. I know that the Buddhists have a loving-kindness meditation for this purpose. However, I don’t tend to use any formal script when I do this. It is just me sitting in silence for a few moments.

The third type of prayer I do is prayers of thanksgiving. When I sit down to eat, I take a moment to thank nature for all it has provided for me. I also thank all those involved in getting the food to me. It is important that I never take all my blessings for granted. It only takes me a few moments to do it, generating a sense of gratitude that permeates my day.

Do I ever pray using traditional Jewish liturgies? Yes, I sometimes do. In doing so, I honor my spiritual ancestors and connect to that history that goes back thousands of years. One of my theological heroes (Mordecai Kaplan) continued to pray the traditional liturgies even though his understanding of God radically differed from that of more traditional Jews.

If you no longer believe in God and think you have lost the ability to pray, just think about what I’ve written here. Maybe there’s something that will work for you.