growing up as a presbyterian, i would describe the general (not always) style of prayer to which i was accustomed as "formal." formal and looooooooooooong.
as a catholic, i would describe it, generally, as "formulaic."
as me, i would describe it as........me. i pray exactly how i talk. and i have never been entirely sure if that is o.k. maybe i need to use fancier language or something. after all, i am talking to God. maybe the vernacular ain't cool with God.
i pay a lot of attention to style of prayer. i always have. some jews shuckle (also called shokel), i.e. they rock back and forth, when they pray. some catholics hold their hands in very specific ways. mormons cross their arms. muslims get down on the ground.
evangelicals say "just" a lot. "i just ask you, Jesus" and "we just lift up....." i just wonder what an evangelical prayer would sound like without it. just not right, i guess.
most people close their eyes when they pray - but not everyone. clearly......i don't always. :)
some people wave their arms through the air. i don't do that, but i love to see it when others do. if you wave your arms through the air at a rock concert, don't you think you oughta do it when you pray to God?
hard to wave, though, when your arms are folded across your chest.
some of you reading this are gonna say none of this matters. but if none of it matters, then why don't religions agree on how to do it?
some of you reading this are gonna say because religions don't agree on anything. like it's their job not to agree with each other. but i disagree (ha!). i don't know of any faith tradition that says, look, let's be different just (not even the evangelicals!) for the sake of being different......just (not even the evangelicals!) to tick the other guys off. if there is a faith tradition like that, i don't know about it. and i don't want to know about it. so don't tell me.
one thing's for sure:
the worst style of prayer is none.
