First of all, religions have set prayers that can become empty words on repetition.
It centres largely on the exposition of the Scriptures in a sermon and emphasizes extemporaneous, rather than set, prayers.
Today, Jews use them as part of daily set prayers and also for receiving favour from G-d.
Silence, devotional readings, set prayers, the rosary (beads used as a devotional aid in Roman Catholicism), bodily postures and attitudes, music, and works of art, including the icons (images) of Eastern Christian churches, all serve to help the worshipper to concentrate his apprehension of the power of the holy and to intensify his sense of the presence of the holy.
As I sat in church this Sunday, I was struck with the ritual aspects of worship: the set prayers of the communion, the ritual dress of officiators, the songs sung, the architecture of the building itself, the division of men and women, the silence, the images of Christ displayed prominently, even the box of tissues placed at the pulpit for those speaking who were overcome by emotion.
The service is very unceremonial and informal, as there is no liturgy, singing, or pre-set prayers, and lasts from 15 to 30 minutes.
The day begins at 3am with individual pre-dawn prayers, then continues through the set dawn prayer; classes in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith; the Sufi disciplines of adab, spiritual etiquette, and "sciences of the heart"; and Qur'anic recitation, punctuated by more prayers, lectures and homework.
"Chinese tourists just barge in when we're studying," a middle-aged monk said as he fingered a set of prayer beads.
For days, the only sounds on the rhododendron-laden route are the rustling of leaves and the occasional whip of a set of prayer flags.
As his mother set down prayer candles underneath a canopy of orange balloons, gunfire punctuated the air just down the block.
