Prayer in Public Schools
The issue of prayer in public schools has been the subject of intense debate. That is because religious people would like for their children to be able to follow their religious teachings by praying in school but people who are not religious would prefer that religion was kept out of the public schools altogether. Prayer in public schools is also sometimes a problem for people who are religious but whose religions are not the religious traditions recognized in school prayers. The debate actually demonstrates the two fundamental ideas addressed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: (1) the establishment of religion by the government; and (2) the infringement of the free exercise of religion by the government.

The Two Constitutional Issues: eligious Infringement and eligious Establishment

When the Colonialists first left Britain to establish a new society in North America, one of the most important principles that they…...

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References

Dershowitz A.M. (2002). Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age. New York,

NY: Little Brown & Co.

Friedman, L.M. (2005). A History of American Law. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Gregory, R.F. (2010). Encountering Religion in the Workplace: The Legal Rights of Workers and Employers. Ithaca, NY H.R. Press.

Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home y Richard Foster
About the Author

Richard J. Foster is the author of many best selling books, which includes the most famous "Celebration of Discipline and Streams of Living of Water." He is also the founder of Renovare an infrachurch movement that is dedicated to the restoration of the Church in all her comprehensive expressions. In addition, his is a general editor of the forthcoming Renovare Spiritual Formation Study ible (1).

Foster is undoubtedly one of the foremost modern writers and speakers on Christian spirituality. His childhood was among Evangelical Friends. While, he spent his adult life among friends pastor and a professor of theology at Friends University, among the many positions he has held. Foster frequently made reference to Quaker historical figures and his own Quakerism both in his books and speaking (1).

Introduction

Richard J. Foster, the best-selling author has offered this time to his readers an…...

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Bibliography

1. Samuel, Bill. Richard Foster: Quaker Writer on Christian Spirituality. July 1, 2001. www.quakerinfo.com

2. Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. Bright field: Richard Book Review. Book Finder.com.

A www.bookfinder.com

3. Student Books Online. Faculty of Christianity.

Prayer at Public School Events
During the last few years there has been passionate debates concerning prayer in public schools and at public school events. Advocates believe that it is not only a moral issue but prohibition of prayer in public schools denies their right of freedom of religion, while opponents claim it is a violation of separation of state and church.

In fact, over recent decades, one of the most litigious areas of the First Amendment has been religion (Prayer pp). The United States Supreme Court has ruled in more than twenty cases concerning prayer, religion in schools, public access for religious purposes, and the observance of religious holidays in public places, to name but a few (Prayer pp).

In Engel v. Vitale, 1962, the United States Supreme Court held with Engel and ruled that the state could not require the recitation of a formal prayer in public schools (Prayer pp). Steven…...

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Work Cited

Matthew 18:20. The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments: King

James Version. National Publishing Company. 2000.

Bergel. Banning Prayer in Public Schools Has Led to America's Demise.

Accessed May 12, 2005.

Prayer in School
There was a time in America, where although the constitution guarantees a separation of church and state, many of the government institutions still encouraged or at least included components which were based on religious practices. In the past, the children of American public schools would enter the classroom, stand at attention for the pledge, and then join in with the class in prayer. In the locker room, the football or basketball coach would lead his players in a prayer both to win and that no one was injured in the game. The majority of the population of American citizens was Christian and so they would logically pray to a Christian god or to the savior of that religion. Students who did not belong to the Christian religion could either choose to abstain from this activity, or they could pray along with the other students in order to participate.…...

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Works Cited:

Duin, Julia. "School Prayer Charges Stir Protests." The Washington Times. 2011. Print.

Eckholm, Erik. "Battling Anew over the Place of Religion in Public Schools." The New York

Times. 2011. Print.

"Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools."

Prayers in Public Schools
In the case of Engel v. Vitale (1962), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayer in the U.S. public school system was unconstitutional and that such prayers "breached the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State." Ever since, the courts around the country have consistently turned down the efforts to reinstitute even the most innocent expression of religious devotion in public funded schools in complete disregard of an equally consistent American public opinion that has expressed its support for prayers in public schools. I believe that prayers in public schools should be allowed just as they were allowed during the first 200 years of our country's existence and shall argue in this essay why I believe so.

If we examine the U.S. constitution closely, it would be apparent that the founding fathers and the framers of the U.S. constitution had never intended a ban on prayers. In…...

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References

'James Madison." (2002) One Nation Under God. America's Christian Heritage. Updated: 14 July 2002. Retrieved on November 22 from  http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/cdf/onug/madison.html 

'Public Schools Don't Have a Prayer." (2004). U.S. Gov Info / Resources. About.com. Retrieved on November 22 from  http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa070100a.htm 

Shelby, Mark. (1992). Separation of Church and State: Has it gone too far? Retrieved on November 22 from  http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0183_Separation_of_Church.html 

Southers, Michelle Marie. (2002). School Prayer. National Parliamentary Debate Workshop July 10, 2002. Retrieved on November 22 from  http://www.willamette.edu/cla/rhetoric/workshop/DebateResearch/michellesouthers.doc .

Prayer in School and Its Historical Context:
Prayer in schools is one of the major issues that put teachers, parents, and administrators at odds to an extent that even simple discussions regarding the subject can degenerate into heated debates. In most cases, discussions on prayer result in heated sidebars about morality, rates of crime, and the Constitution. Even though parents, teachers, and administrators continue to debate about prayer, children still have to go to school. According to a 2005 Gallup Poll survey, approximately 76% of Americans support a constitutional amendment to allow voluntary prayer in public schools (Butler, 2012). This could be the reason why many schools continue to promote prayer on school compounds even though such practice is unconstitutional. egardless of the current heated debates, prayer in schools is an issue that can be understood from current practice and the historical context.

The heated debates surrounding prayer in schools can be…...

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References:

Butler, M. (2012, April 22). Prayer in Schools: Benefits from Both Sides. Retrieved October 19,

2013, from  http://www.education.com/magazine/article/prayer-in-schools/ 

"Prayer and the Public Schools." (n.d.). Americans United. Retrieved October 19, 2013, from  https://www.au.org/resources/publications/prayer-and-the-public-schools

They claim that it relaxes them and makes them feel at ease. How true is this and what are the reasons behind it? If they indeed do help in bringing relief from stress then this would be a medical breakthrough. People are seen to take many medications for stress, some go into a state of depression and the productivity of others falls to very low levels. If such a practice of prayers or meditation can actually eliminate and prevent stress then people would not need to spend so much money on medications and they can prevent themselves from coming under stress. After all it is true that prevention is better than cure. It would be really interesting to know the factor which causes such an action.
ESEACH PLAN

This research will investigate and analyze the studies done on this subject. Its aim will be to pinpoint and try to decide whether…...

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References

1) Anonymous - Spirituality for Stress Relief. [Online Website] Available at on: 12/11/2005]http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/psychology/stress/mental-health.asp[Accessed

2) Astin, M.C., Lawrence, K.J., & Foy, D.W. - 1993. Posttraumatic stress disorder among battered women: Risk and resiliency factors. Violence and Victims, 8, 17-28.

3) Robert Karasek, Tres Theorell - Book Title: Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. Publisher: Basic Books. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1990. Page Number: 34.

4) Pargament - 1990. God help me: Toward a theoretical framework of coping for the psychology of religion. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 2, p.195

Religious organizations like the Quakers have extolled the virtue of group prayer. In my experience with Christian group prayer, I have noticed that the practice serves several functions, including the increase in prayer power as alluded to in Matthew 18:19-20. Group prayer can help the individual focus on the prayer and on God rather than having the mind wander to selfish thoughts. I felt much more focused when praying in the group than I usually do on my own. My inner thoughts are private, but I am focused on the Biblical passage or concept being invoked for the purposes of the prayer. Therefore, group prayer can be helpful to beginners because it helps us to figure out how to pray and what to focus on while praying. I would not have known about the various Bible passages or prayers used had I not attended the group prayer sessions.

Another function of…...

There are other insights, also described above, that I have gleaned form reading this particular article, which is why I chose it. Though I have my own opinions about prayer within counseling, I do believe that everyone is entitled to handle his or her sessions as they would like. However, I was quite surprised at the 82% statistic, as I had often believed that those who underwent counseling would be much more liberal and would thus be less inclined to believe in any religious component to therapy. Often times, those seeking religious therapy would see a priest rather than a psychologist or psychiatrist. Yet it was quite illuminating to see that, perhaps, even those more liberal did not necessarily shun prayer as a means to understanding themselves and their surrounding. Yet, again, there is no basis to this latter statement, though it can be a component that a further study…...

To do so will invite the eventual backward motion and we will find ourselves returned to the times that minorities were mistreated for being different, only this time it will be based in religious differences. This was one of the things meant to be avoided by the constitution mandate of separating church and state.
If we uncover the initial understanding of the separation of church and state, we will discover that it implies a protection from discrimination by insisting that the non-religious state, which by law treats everyone equally, must be maintained as the powers of the public school system (ice, 1997).

The separation of church and state has become the crux of school prayer controversy across the country, but it's really a simple concept. We are not supposed to mesh church and state, period. The founding fathers that penned the constitution, did not allow for exceptions, nor did they suggest…...

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References

Rice, Patricia (1997, June). SOUTHERN BAPTISTS EXPECTED to BACK PRAYER AMENDMENT., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, pp 08A.

Shapiro, Deborah R.(1995, May). Shall we pray? Jews, Christians debate prayer in schools., Jewish Advocate, pp PG.

Prayer Invading Impossible
Building on Matthew 19:26, "With God all things are possible," Jack W. Hayford shows Christians that the power of prayer indeed means Invading the Impossible. The title of the book uses rather violent diction to describe the power of prayer: which many Christians associate more with surrender, mercy, and humility more than the militarism the term "invade" implies. However, Hayford is an impassioned Christian writer. The author never wavers from his stance that prayer indeed does invade -- take over from -- what was previously deemed impossible.

Published originally in the late 1970s and re-released in 2002, Prayer is Invading the Impossible can be considered a minor classic in its field. The book is written for a lay audience rather than for clergy. As such, the language, tone, and style of the book are informal. References to scripture are not as replete as some readers would like. Instead, the…...

" The desire of the humble is to be one with God and to heed God's Word without being demanding. To have faith and be humble means internalizing the words of God, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10). Trusting that God's kingdom is far greater than any person could imagine is the meaning of Christian faith. Likewise, Christian faith means praying for God's will to be manifest on earth rather than the will of human beings. Human beings are fallible, whereas God is not. To have faith in a person is good to an extent, but having faith in God is far more reliable and meaningful. "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man," (Psalm 118:8).
Jesus reiterates the importance of faith throughout his life and teachings. Faith and prayer remain closely linked in the…...

).
The superimposition may then change the meaning of the ritual. What after all is "pure" worship? As Smart remarks, the utterance of a group of ritual words complete with the relevant bodily postures made during the worship service. This can also be seen in readings of the Holy Quran where the opening verse is read out loud some thirty times per day. Much of this can be seen as pure worship with no ritual imposition. This practice literally is pure prayer and has no other interpretation, but given our definition of prayer as a ritual object is included, if nothing more for the fact that the quotation is from a literal book, that is, the Holy Quran (ibid., 74-75).

It is in the above way that Smart points out that the ritual is integrated into and becomes a part of a person's ritual life. In this way, worship is not divorced…...

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References

Ninian smart's seven dimensions or religions. (2010). Retrieved from www.maccray.k12.mn.us/css/../NinianSmart7demensions.pdf.

Smart, N. (1996). Dimensions of the sacred: An anatomy of the world's beliefs. Berkeley, CA: Harper

collins Publishers.

It is their way of participating in the mission itself without having to be there.
Prayer gives Paul strength. He asks others to pray for him to have strength when he was on a mission. Being on a mission can turn into a very lonely experience. He wanted prayer that he would be strong and lack timidity when it came to spreading the ord in a strange land. In Thessalonians, he writes, "Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you" (II Thessalonians 3:1). Here we see Paul's needs in prayer. He needs protection, comfort and the knowing that he is looked after by those above and below the heavens. There is no doubt that Paul is understood the power of prayer. He knew that he would need it when he was serving in the mission…...

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Works Cited

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1988.

Authentic Prayer in Habakkuk
The world today offers many challenges, especially for the person who is determined to maintain a sense of faithful love for God. In addition to the many scientific and non-faithful persons attempting to dethrone God from the faithful heart, personal struggles and challenges could also lead to significant despair. Even the strongest of faiths can be tested, challenged, and even a little shaken. It is my belief that this is one of the reasons why the Bible is filled with examples of everyday human beings who, despite the faith required for their positions as prophets or preachers, nevertheless experienced challenges that were every bit as hard on their faith as the challenges we experience today (Hays, p. 16). Hence, a prophet like Habakkuk and the nature of his prayers provide for the reader an honest rendition of what it truly means to have faith, and indeed, as…...

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References

The Book of Habakkuk

Arnold, Bill T. & Beyer, Bryan E. Encountering the Old Testament, 2nd ed. Baker, 2008

Chisholm, Robert B. Jr. Interpreting the Minor Prophets Zondervan, 1990

Hays, Daniel J. The Message of the Prophets. Zondervan, 2010

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