Prayer

The most common and easiest way of contacting divine Beings is prayer: talking to them, confident that they will hear you, but expecting no immediate answer. Basically, there are two different forms of prayer: formal vs. informal. Formal prayer is something that is said or done always the same way. An example would be saying grace at meals and using the same sentences every time. Doing it this way helps to build ritual, a sense of continuity, a sacred framework for life. At its best, formal prayer helps to express our feelings towards the Gods in a short amount of time. At its worst, it ends up an empty routine, something that is done but does not mean anything to us any more. If that is the case, it is a better choice to use informal prayer.
In what I term informal, or free, prayer, no ritual is followed or defined sentences are spoken. Instead, you contemplate what is in your heart, you think about your Gods, and you speak to them freely. (Of course, it is also possible to combine some formal elements like opening and closing statements with a free part in between.) The advantage is that you actually think about your life and share it with your Gods. The danger is that it grows to be more and more about you, and less about the Gods.
Another way to characterise prayers is for their intended purpose. Typical situations for prayers are when you either want to ask the Gods for something or when you want to thank them for something. It is of course possible to use prayers written by others[1]. However, even if you want to perform more formal prayers, my recommendation is to use ones you write for yourself. Alternatively, you can look for prayers specifically addressing the Gods you want to address, using either antique or modern texts.
This week, I want you to look up or create and say some prayers: one for saying grace at meals, one for greeting the Gods in the morning, one for thanking them in the evening. If you find another situation you want to include, do that.
I would appreciate it very much if you would post any prayers you like to share in the comments to this entry, and I will hopefully do the same of the week. If you took them from a different website or a book, please post a link or reference instead; respect other people's copyright.

[1] For examples take a look at beliefnet or look into the "book of pagan prayer" (Ceisiwr Serith, A book of pagan prayer. Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002)