Search Result for "prayer": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (5)

1. the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving);
- Example: "the priest sank to his knees in prayer"
[syn: prayer, supplication]

2. reverent petition to a deity;
[syn: prayer, petition, orison]

3. earnest or urgent request;
- Example: "an entreaty to stop the fighting"
- Example: "an appeal for help"
- Example: "an appeal to the public to keep calm"
[syn: entreaty, prayer, appeal]

4. a fixed text used in praying;

5. someone who prays to God;
[syn: prayer, supplicant]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Prayer \Pray"er\, n. One who prays; a supplicant. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Prayer \Prayer\ (?; 277), n. [OE. preiere, OF. preiere, F. pri[`e]re, fr. L. precarius obtained by prayer, fr. precari to pray. See Pray, v. i.] 1. The act of praying, or of asking a favor; earnest request or entreaty; hence, a petition or memorial addressed to a court or a legislative body. "Their meek preyere." --Chaucer [1913 Webster] 2. The act of addressing supplication to a divinity, especially to the true God; the offering of adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving to the Supreme Being; as, public prayer; secret prayer. [1913 Webster] As he is famed for mildness, peace, and prayer. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. The form of words used in praying; a formula of supplication; an expressed petition; especially, a supplication addressed to God; as, a written or extemporaneous prayer; to repeat one's prayers. [1913 Webster] He made those excellent prayers which were published immediately after his death. --Bp. Fell. [1913 Webster] Prayer book, a book containing devotional prayers. Prayer meeting, a meeting or gathering for prayer to God. [1913 Webster] Syn: Petition; orison; supplication; entreaty; suit. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

prayer n 1: the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving); "the priest sank to his knees in prayer" [syn: prayer, supplication] 2: reverent petition to a deity [syn: prayer, petition, orison] 3: earnest or urgent request; "an entreaty to stop the fighting"; "an appeal for help"; "an appeal to the public to keep calm" [syn: entreaty, prayer, appeal] 4: a fixed text used in praying 5: someone who prays to God [syn: prayer, supplicant]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

102 Moby Thesaurus words for "prayer": Angelus, Ave, Ave Maria, Hail Mary, Kyrie Eleison, Mass, Paternoster, adjuration, adoration, aid prayer, appeal, application, asker, beadroll, beads, bedtime prayer, beggar, begging, beseeching, beseechment, bid, bidding prayer, breviary, call, camp meeting, chaplet, church, church service, clamor, collect, communion, compline, contemplation, cry, devotion, devotions, divine service, duty, entreaty, evening devotions, evensong, exercises, grace, impetration, imploration, imploring, imprecation, intercession, invocation, invocatory plea, lauds, litany, liturgy, matins, meditation, meeting, morning devotions, night song, none, nones, novena, obsecration, obtestation, office, orison, petition, petitioner, plea, pleading, praise meeting, prayer meeting, prayer wheel, prayers, praying, prime, prime song, public worship, request, revival, revival meeting, rogation, rosary, service, sext, silent prayer, suit, suitor, supplicant, supplication, supplicator, tent meeting, thanks, thanksgiving, tierce, undersong, vesper, vespers, vigils, watch meeting, watch night, watch-night service, worship
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Prayer is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching the Lord" (Ex. 32:11); "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:15); "praying and crying to heaven" (2 Chr. 32:20); "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5); "drawing near to God" (Ps. 73:28); "bowing the knees" (Eph. 3:14). Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions. Acceptable prayer must be sincere (Heb. 10:22), offered with reverence and godly fear, with a humble sense of our own insignificance as creatures and of our own unworthiness as sinners, with earnest importunity, and with unhesitating submission to the divine will. Prayer must also be offered in the faith that God is, and is the hearer and answerer of prayer, and that he will fulfil his word, "Ask, and ye shall receive" (Matt. 7:7, 8; 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13, 14), and in the name of Christ (16:23, 24; 15:16; Eph. 2:18; 5:20; Col. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:5). Prayer is of different kinds, secret (Matt. 6:6); social, as family prayers, and in social worship; and public, in the service of the sanctuary. Intercessory prayer is enjoined (Num. 6:23; Job 42:8; Isa. 62:6; Ps. 122:6; 1 Tim. 2:1; James 5:14), and there are many instances on record of answers having been given to such prayers, e.g., of Abraham (Gen. 17:18, 20; 18:23-32; 20:7, 17, 18), of Moses for Pharaoh (Ex. 8:12, 13, 30, 31; Ex. 9:33), for the Israelites (Ex. 17:11, 13; 32:11-14, 31-34; Num. 21:7, 8; Deut. 9:18, 19, 25), for Miriam (Num. 12:13), for Aaron (Deut. 9:20), of Samuel (1 Sam. 7:5-12), of Solomon (1 Kings 8; 2 Chr. 6), Elijah (1 Kings 17:20-23), Elisha (2 Kings 4:33-36), Isaiah (2 Kings 19), Jeremiah (42:2-10), Peter (Acts 9:40), the church (12:5-12), Paul (28:8). No rules are anywhere in Scripture laid down for the manner of prayer or the attitude to be assumed by the suppliant. There is mention made of kneeling in prayer (1 Kings 8:54; 2 Chr. 6:13; Ps. 95:6; Isa. 45:23; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60; 9:40; Eph. 3:14, etc.); of bowing and falling prostrate (Gen. 24:26, 52; Ex. 4:31; 12:27; Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:35, etc.); of spreading out the hands (1 Kings 8:22, 38, 54; Ps. 28:2; 63:4; 88:9; 1 Tim. 2:8, etc.); and of standing (1 Sam. 1:26; 1 Kings 8:14, 55; 2 Chr. 20:9; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11, 13). If we except the "Lord's Prayer" (Matt. 6:9-13), which is, however, rather a model or pattern of prayer than a set prayer to be offered up, we have no special form of prayer for general use given us in Scripture. Prayer is frequently enjoined in Scripture (Ex. 22:23, 27; 1 Kings 3:5; 2 Chr. 7:14; Ps. 37:4; Isa. 55:6; Joel 2:32; Ezek. 36:37, etc.), and we have very many testimonies that it has been answered (Ps. 3:4; 4:1; 6:8; 18:6; 28:6; 30:2; 34:4; 118:5; James 5:16-18, etc.). "Abraham's servant prayed to God, and God directed him to the person who should be wife to his master's son and heir (Gen. 24:10-20). "Jacob prayed to God, and God inclined the heart of his irritated brother, so that they met in peace and friendship (Gen. 32:24-30; 33:1-4). "Samson prayed to God, and God showed him a well where he quenched his burning thirst, and so lived to judge Israel (Judg. 15:18-20). "David prayed, and God defeated the counsel of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:31; 16:20-23; 17:14-23). "Daniel prayed, and God enabled him both to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream and to give the interpretation of it (Dan. 2: 16-23). "Nehemiah prayed, and God inclined the heart of the king of Persia to grant him leave of absence to visit and rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 1:11; 2:1-6). "Esther and Mordecai prayed, and God defeated the purpose of Haman, and saved the Jews from destruction (Esther 4:15-17; 6:7, 8). "The believers in Jerusalem prayed, and God opened the prison doors and set Peter at liberty, when Herod had resolved upon his death (Acts 12:1-12). "Paul prayed that the thorn in the flesh might be removed, and his prayer brought a large increase of spiritual strength, while the thorn perhaps remained (2 Cor. 12:7-10). "Prayer is like the dove that Noah sent forth, which blessed him not only when it returned with an olive-leaf in its mouth, but when it never returned at all.", Robinson's Job.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

PRAYER, chanc. pleadings. That part of a bill which asks for relief. 2. The skill of the solicitor is to be exercised in framing this part of the bill. An accurate specification of the matters to be decreed in complicated cases, requires great discernment and experience; Coop. Eq. Pl. 13; it is varied as the case is made out, concluding always with a prayer of general relief, at the discretion of the court. Mitf. Pl. 45.