Prayer

Prayer is an act of submitting your needs and desires to a higher being in faith and hope that one’s desires may be granted. God is in control of the life of those who worship him. How exactly does one come to believe in a being that has never been seen by anyone? The answer to this is faith. Faith is most commonly referred to as believing in the absence of proof. To believe in God is not an option for most populations in the world since most people believe in a form of a superior being. Many believe in God, yet there are no empirical data to prove His existence. Besides this glowing fact, God exists for many people and communication to him is what prayer is all about. Prayer can take many forms such as a quiet address to Him, a loud declaration, or even songs of praise. Many communities practice most of these forms separately or even at the same time; this can be in the privacy of a room or in public. Yet it is no secret that as unified as the world is in believing in God, there is a wide variation in how different people worship God and name him. The Supreme Being has as many names as there are languages, and sometimes It is even idolized in more than one form. Symbolism of God is in currencies, supermarkets, courts and even books (Ackerman 45).

Since it is a widely accepted notion to the world that God exists and that we seek his attention by prayer, how do we go about talking to him? If we all have the right to pray as we want in any place, conflicts will erupt. The American Constitution, for example, grants freedom of speech to all citizens as well as visitors. The constitutions of different countries also allow people to believe in God and worship Him without interference from the state, according to the freedom to worship. It can also be agreed that prayer to God is a form of speech. Where does this leave us? God, who all people can worship and believe in, the freedom to speak to whoever we want, and communication to God, otherwise called prayer. Therefore, there is no hindrance to prayer in any place whether it is school, church, public transport or playground.

Yet prayer in school is largely not allowed unless done under stringent rules that ensure that the prayer does not advance or inhibit secular views. One can find this to be impossible. Prayer to God without advancing secular and religious views is a task that cannot be fulfilled since prayer is a religious advance as to the existence of a supernatural being. Legislations in place by various courts in the world restrain people from instituting religious practices in schools on a common platform. The laws seek to ensure that students are not compelled to engage in a common prayer in school that binds them to a particular religious orientation. Instead, these rules by the US Supreme Court hold the government accountable for ensuring that the state will not sponsor any prayer in schools. This is in line with the Constitution’s First Amendment, which in part, prohibits Congress from establishing any laws that respect the establishment of religion. The same amendment also prohibits making of laws that illegalize the practice of any religion (Holy Bible n.pag.).

In conclusion, owing to the various facts, most of which are legally binding, one must inevitably accept the need to recognize that there is a thin line between religions, state and morals. The only way out of this is to ban public acclamations that announce, propagate or adhere to a religion such as a prayer. Prayer is free to all but must be recited in privacy or silence. According to the words of the Christian Bible, “pray secretly to your God whom we seek, and he will openly reward those prayers”. The public does not have to be engaged in your prayer and laws should make sure of that. Public prayer in school should not be allowed, and any form of prayer in school should grant the students the right to abstain from it and leave. Prayer must also be conducted in the places with no common facilities such as playgrounds or halls.