Why pray?
Personal reflections
People pray in many different ways and for many different reasons. Some pray only when they have problems. Others pray when things go well, out of thanksgiving to our Creator:
We responded to him [Zachariah] and granted him John; we fixed his wife for him. That is because they used to hasten to work righteousness, and implored us in situations of joy, as well as fear. To us, they were reverent. (The Quran 21:90)
For me, prayer provides a way of expressing the love I have for God. It also gives a way for my soul to connect with our awesome King and Master. But perhaps the most important reason I pray comes from the fact that my soul yearns to do so!
The Quran tells us God’s own hands created us out of earthly material. He then blew into us from His spirit:
He is the One who perfected everything He created, and started the creation of the human from clay. Then He continued his reproduction through a certain lowly liquid. He shaped him and blew into him from His spirit.… (The Quran 32:7–9)
To me this indicates that a tiny part of His sacred breath forms our souls. Thus, those souls yearn to reunite with their Creator, who also created our bodies (as the above verses show).
As I understand it, Salat — the Muslim form of ritualized prayer — allows our souls direct contact with God. So, by praying we nourish our souls and allow them to grow.
If we continue to pray throughout our lives and obey the other forms of worship,¹ our souls can grow enough to withstand and enjoy God’s awesome energy.
When I perform the Salat, I feel those blessed words flowing over me like water flowing on parched earth. And just as the water softens soil and allows it to germinate the seeds of many beautiful plants, the Salat prayers soften my heart, filling it with the joy and awe of a direct contact with my Merciful Master and Creator.
I pray that you share that wondrous experience, using whatever form of worship God has blessed you with!
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¹ Bearing witness to God that there is no other god, charity, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia when and if we can afford it all make up those other forms of worship for Muslims.
