خلاصه ماشینی:
"We have argued above that the fundamental forms of prayer in theistic traditions like Islam, Christianity and Judaism are petition (in which we ask things of God), intercession (in which we pray for other people), confessing our sins and asking God’s forgiveness (in which we seek to overcome our estrangement from God and to be reconciled with Him), dedication (in which we offer ourselves to God in order that he might through us realise His purposes in the world), thanksgiving (in which we thank God for his grace, mercy and compassion), and praise (in which we acknowledge God’s greatness, holiness and glory).
Thus in petition believers face up to their own dependence on God; in intercession they face up to their own concern (or lack of concern) for the needs of others before God; in penitence they face up to their own faults as sins in which their fellowship with God is being damaged; in dedication they face up to their own commitment (or lack of commitment) to doing God’s will; in praise they face up to looking on the world as an expression of God’s goodness, holiness and glory; in thanksgiving believers face up to looking on they own capacities and opportunities and the fulfilment of their needs as gracious gifts from God. In this sense prayer is indeed a form of meditation in which believers consciously face up to the way in which they relate to God, to themselves, to the world and to other people in their actions and attitudes."