Prayer Facts for Kids

Mary Magdalene by Ary Scheffer (1795–1858).

Praying Hands by Albrecht Dürer showing the hand position of a medieval commendation ceremony.

Prayer is a communication to God. Many believe their prayers are answered and evidence of it is primarily reported in the Old and New Testament. Later miracles and graces have been reported by the Church and by common people. Prayer is done by those who trust the power of word and thought. Jesus taught people to say the Lord's Prayer.

Prayer can be spoken, silent (no talking), or in a song. It can be used to praise God or to ask for something including help and forgiveness. Prayers can be said over and over again as in a Rosary or just once. The Rosary includes Lord's Prayer and several others. . Sister Lucia of Fatima said that Virgin Mary "in these last times in which we live has given new efficacy in the recitation of the Holy Rosary" and that " She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families … that cannot be solved by the Rosary".

Islamic prayer, or salat is a duty to be performed five times per day. Hinduism has prayer to various divinities or holy beings. Some people say that prayers for sick people bring them health.

Images for kids

Praying Hands by Albrecht Dürer
Old woman praying by Théophile Lybaert
David Prays for Deliverance, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
Captain Samuel Cass, a rabbi, conducting the first prayer service celebrated on German territory by Jewish personnel of the First Canadian Army near Cleve, Germany, 18 March 1945
Orthodox Jewish men praying in Jerusalem's Western Wall
Jesus praying in Gethsemane. Depicted by Heinrich Hofmann
Muslims in prostration at the Umayyad Mosque in Syria
Buddhists praying with incense at Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand
Shakta Hindus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pray to the goddess during Durga Puja, October 2003
A Sikh holy man, doing Sikh prayer (Ardās)
Many Thelemites recite "Resh" (Liber Resh vel Helios, or "Liber CC") facing the direction of the ever-present sun as it rises in the East, triumphs in the (northern-hemisphere) South, sets in the West, and "hides" in the North. Image shows a close-up of the Stele of Revealing.
To pray over an individual while laying hands on them is a form of faith healing in Christianity.

Prayer facts for kids

Images for kids

See also