Writing Prompt: Do You Recite Form Prayers?

Prayer Definitions Monday

During the month of March, we’ll discuss different definitions of prayer and how those definitions fit into your life. Today is all about form prayer, which is often referred to as pre-written or repetitive prayer. Frankly, I like to call form prayers “school prayers” because it is the stuff we learned at school and had to repeat each day by rote, almost meaninglessly. Your job is to answer this question: Do you recite form prayers?

Creative Idea Gal’s Thoughts

Growing up, I learned to recite many of these “school prayers” in Catholic school. Standards like the Our Father and Hail Mary became as second nature as the ABCs and the Pledge of Allegiance. We said these every day, all the time. The school prayers were about as important as algebraic equations to me; I only recited them because I had to. It wasn’t until I was much older, got married, experienced deaths in my family, had children, and lived an independent life that form prayers took on the special meanings that eluded my youth.

Helpful Resources
For today’s prompt, I offer:

Some thoughts on prayer

Writing Prompt 025

• Step 1: Think about your definition of prayer. Consider the different ways that you choose to pray, if you pray at all.
• Step 2: Answer the question: Do you recite form prayers? Explain the reasons why you do or do not recite form prayers.
• Step 3: Write! Suggestion: Write the answer to this question in the form of an opinion, essay, blog post, or social media blurb (status update, post, tweet).
• Bonus Step: If you own a blog and wish to share a link to the blog post that contains your response to today’s writing prompt, we welcome your permalink and encourage you to post it as a comment below!

Note: You get major brownie points for fleshing out your writing into rich subparts or adding historical perspectives to your writing.

Please be sure to leave comments about this writing prompt. We want to hear from you!

About the Author

Amanda M. Socci, J.D., is a freelance writer with 14 years of experience writing professionally. Socci currently cuts her blogging chops on her personal portfolio blog, the Creative Idea Gal blog, and on an online news site, Mount Vernon Patch. Inspired by Nina Amir’s Write Nonfiction in November writing challenge, she created a unique 10-month training program for Writenonfictionnow.com and Writenonfictioninnovember.com blog visitors.

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