At first glance, it seems that you don’t need a lot of knowledge to perform prayer. This is a natural action that we should do daily. On the other hand, Jesus showed that prayer is a spiritual, vital rule for a person. He taught the necessary lesson of communicating with God to his disciples and said when you pray, say: “Our Father...” (Matthew 6:9). It is so beautiful! Do you know why? Recognizing that God is our Father and that we belong to Him is a significant realization for a person. It is good to remind ourselves that we are God's beloved children. Our Heavenly Father loves us and helps us, guides us on the true path.
Prayer morning and evening
The importance of prayers cannot be overestimated. After all, it is with the help of these sacred texts that a person communicates with the Creator. And in the process of this communication, he can tell him about his sorrows, hopes and even sins. Therefore, priests insist that all believers should pray as often as possible. Because this is the only way they can find the way to the Lord.
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It is necessary to understand that there are a huge number of different prayers. And each of them must be used in a specific situation. Of course, these subtleties may not be known to those people who are still far from religion. However, a person who has set himself the goal of becoming closer to God must definitely distinguish between prayers by type. The most commonly used and famous are morning and evening prayers. Now we will talk in more detail about those that people read in the evening. After all, the evening rule plays an important role in the life of believers.
When and how to read evening prayers?
Perhaps this is the most important question that worries believers. After all, they strive to do everything according to the canons established by the church. That is why they try to find out in advance all the necessary information about the rules for reading prayer texts. Moreover, some are even afraid that these rules will be too strict and will be quite difficult to adhere to. However, one very important fact must be taken into account.
The fact is that priests recommend that all novice Christians who are not yet very familiar with religion try to follow these rules:
- Reading a prayer in complete solitude is one of the most important requirements that must be strictly followed. It is strictly forbidden to read a prayer in a crowded place. Because the person offering the prayer simply will not be able to concentrate. Of course, the Lord may not hear such a prayer;
- completely get rid of extraneous thoughts by reading the evening prayer rule: in order to clearly formulate his request addressed to the Lord, a person must try to get rid of unnecessary thoughts that distract him;
- tuning in to a conversation with the Creator is the most difficult stage. Because it is understood that a person at such a moment should be completely calm. Any irritation or anger is completely inappropriate;
- make the sign of the cross over yourself - many Christians forget that they need to use the sign of the cross not only after prayer, but also before it. Of course, this is a minor omission. However, it is better if a Christian does not make such mistakes when reading prayers;
- read the prayer slowly - you cannot rush, read the prayer text confusingly. Each word from this text must be pronounced very clearly. Remember that a prayer said in a hurry will never be heard by the Almighty.
When offering prayer, a person, first of all, must remember that he is having a conversation with the Lord. And therefore you don’t need to read it like a boring book. There is no place for falsehood and lies in this conversation. The Creator knows what torments the soul of his creation. That is why a Christian can speak without fear about what weighs heavily on his soul. We can say that prayer is also a way of repentance. And therefore, priests allow people to repent of their sins while saying a prayer. Because there's nothing wrong with that.
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It is worth noting that when saying a prayer, a Christian must remember that his faith is of great importance. You cannot pray and at the same time suffer from distrust of the Almighty. Of course, it is impossible to predict exactly how a person’s fate will develop in the future and whether the Lord will answer his prayer. But this does not mean that you can simply pray mechanically. This must always be done meaningfully and correctly.
Priests are also very concerned that some Christians treat prayer as a duty. That is, in essence, prayer is a burden. Of course, prayer cannot be perceived this way. After all, in reality this is the mercy of the Lord. He allowed his creations to find words with which to address him. That is why prayer should never be perceived as a burden. Because nothing good will come of it.
Modern understanding
The prayer rule is not routine and cold formality. It is a time-tested means of returning spiritual sobriety and integrity. Home prayer is a way to immerse oneself in the world of standing before God, awakening the most necessary feeling of repentance. In addition, it is a marker and catalyst of a spiritual state. The opportunity to come into contact with the prayer experience of the Holy Fathers of past centuries. Nowadays, the prayer rule can be supplemented with your favorite prayers.
Probably, the prayer rule, like other means of spiritual life and attributes of religiosity, can easily be turned into formality and hypocrisy. In the event that form is preferred to content. However, for those who reverently approach it in the silence of humility, it opens up the world of patristic thought and repentance. Brings to our attention images of the Sacred.
prot. Andrey Tkachev about the prayer rule
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Tips for Evening Prayers
When a person just begins to regularly attend church and offer prayers, the priests talk to him and try to explain that prayer was created for the person, and not vice versa. Of course, it is good when believers try to understand all the canons of religion. Moreover, it is correct. But we must not forget about one thing - the power of prayer lies in faith.
Quite often it happens that a prayer that was offered according to all the rules remains unheard. This can be explained by several reasons:
- a person has committed a sin and has not yet repented of it - no one forbids sinners to pray. However, the main condition is repentance. If the sinner has not repented, then his prayer will not be heard;
- during the offering of prayer, the person praying was insincere - sometimes people, when praying, simply try to hide their true motives from the Lord, hiding behind other, less pious ones. Of course, you can't do that. The Creator can easily look into a person’s soul and find out all the secrets. Therefore, there is no use in trying to hide anything from the Lord. Therefore, the basic rule for beginners is sincerity;
- a Christian is not ready to accept mercy or does not need it - when a person asks the Lord for something, he cannot know what fate has in store for him. Therefore, it is impossible to say for sure whether he really needs heaven's help.
The last point should be considered in more detail. It is with him that disputes around religion are most often associated. After all, some people whose faith is weak simply cannot accept the fact that the Lord cannot fulfill all desires. For example, when asking for healing, a person may simply refuse to make any effort and completely trust in the will of heaven.
In this case, the Almighty may refuse him mercy. After all, laziness has already taken over the person. And so he doesn't even want to try to do anything to try to get better. Of course, under no circumstances should you do this. A person must also make some effort, and not just expect mercy from heaven.
What types are there?
There is a complete and brief prayer rule.
There is a complete prayer rule - it can be found in every “Orthodox prayer book”. And there is a short one . If a situation arises when there is little time and energy for the prayer rule, you can read the short version with attention and reverence. For example, in the morning you can read:
- Heavenly King;
- Trisagion;
- Our Father;
- Virgin Mary;
- Having risen from sleep;
- God have mercy on me;
- Symbol of faith;
- God, cleanse;
- To You, Master;
- Saint Angele;
- Holy Lady;
- invocation of saints;
- prayer for the living and the dead.
What to read in the evening:
- Heavenly King;
- Trisagion;
- Our Father;
- Have mercy on us, Lord;
- God eternal;
- The Good of the King;
- Angel of Christ;
- from the Chosen Voevode to Worthy to Eat.
In the modern accelerated pace of life, given the workload, it is quite difficult to set aside a certain time for the prayer rule. The enemy of morning prayer is haste, and the enemy of evening prayer is fatigue. In such situations, short options are what save you. There is also a short prayer rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov , when a person is extremely tired or very limited in time. It includes:
- Our Father - read three times;
- To the Virgin Mary - three times;
- Creed - once.
There are also prayer rules that are read on a specific occasion: for example, in preparation for Holy Communion.
Rules for reading prayers
The priests insist that, in addition to the basic rules, it is also necessary to know some of the subtleties of reading evening prayers. Because this is also extremely important. Let's take a closer look at these subtleties:
- slow pace of reading the prayer text - in no case should you rush or simply say the prayer quickly. You need to put your soul into every word. Moreover, it is better to recite evening prayers;
- comprehension of the text - even if a person reads a prayer and is in no hurry, in most cases he does not delve into its meaning. It is not right. Because when offering a prayer, it is necessary to understand and accept its meaning. Especially when it comes to reading prayers for the coming sleep;
- Perceiving prayer as a burden is a very common mistake. A Christian decides to read 20 prayers in the evening and one day realizes that this is too much for him. Then he will perceive subsequent reading as nothing other than a duty and a burden. This must be avoided at all costs. Because it won't lead to anything good.
There is also another recommendation that concerns the process of reading prayers. Some people mistakenly believe that prayers should be read continuously. However, it is not. Moreover, this is such a common mistake that many priests, even in private conversations, remind their parishioners to cross themselves and bow while offering prayers.
Of course, there are no strict rules and restrictions. The priests assure that during the offering of prayer, a person himself will understand when it is better to make the sign of the cross or bow. In addition, clergy tirelessly remind that a person should not read prayers monotonously. It is necessary to put intonation into every word.
Of course, at first a Christian may experience certain difficulties in reading prayers, since he may forget the prayer text. This really happens often, and there is no need to be ashamed of it.
If a person has difficulty remembering texts, he can write them down on a piece of paper or read them from a prayer book. Of course, it is better to try to learn the text over time. However, in some cases, when a person has memory problems, this is still impossible. And therefore there may be certain concessions.
