Prayer

Prayer (from the Latin precari "to ask earnestly, beg, entreat") is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication.

Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words, song or complete silence. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creedal statement, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of prayer such as petitionary prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing transgressions (sins) or to express one's thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit, asking for divine grace, spiritual connection, or for the sake of others.

Some anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent modern humans practiced a form of prayer. Today, most major religions involve prayer in one way or another; some ritualize the act of prayer, requiring a strict sequence of actions or placing a restriction on who is permitted to pray, while others teach that prayer may be practiced spontaneously by anyone at any time.

Pray (Take That song)

"Pray" is a song by English boy band Take That. Written by Gary Barlow, it was released on 5 July 1993 as the second single from their second studio album, Everything Changes (1993). It is the first of twelve singles by the band to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, staying at number one for four weeks, and starting a streak of four consecutive number one singles. The song has received a Gold sales status certification and sold over 410,000 copies in the UK, won Best British Single and Best British Video at the 1994 BRIT Awards, and was the finale of Take That's Beautiful World Tour (2007).

Music video

The video was directed by Gregg Masuak and shot in Acapulco, Mexico. The clip features the band members in the exotic location singing and dancing. The band members are paired with a goddess of the four elements, taking on a different form with each – Air (Mark Owen), Fire (Jason Orange), Earth (Robbie Williams) and Water (Howard Donald) – with the exception of Gary Barlow who is represented in a neutral black and white context. In Barlow's autobiography, he stated that after the disappointment of where "I Found Heaven" was filmed, the band were a lot happier about the location for this video.

Pray (Rebecca St. James album)

Pray is the fifth studio album from Christian pop and rock artist Rebecca St. James. It was released on October 20, 1998 by ForeFront Records and was certified Gold by the RIAA in September 2006. The album won a Grammy Award for Rock Gospel Album of the Year, St. James's only Grammy so far. The album was produced by Tedd T.

Track listing

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - CCM Magazine (North America)

Radio success

In the United States the lead single "Pray" did well on the Christian Charts, while "Omega (Radio Remix)" also got good radio airplay. The song "Peace" did extremely well and is still heard on Christian Radio, ten years later in 2008. In the UK, "Pray", "I'll Carry You" and "Peace" all landed in the Top 100 Songs of 1999, while in Australia "Peace", "Give Myself Away", "Pray" and "OK" all made the Top 100 Songs of 1999. In 2000 "Omega" and "Come Quickly Lord" both landed in the Top 100 Songs of 2000 in Australia. Though never released as a single the song "Mirror" has become a major fan favorite.

Plaything

Plaything is a song by American singer Rebbie Jackson, the first single from her third album R U Tuff Enuff. It reached #8 on the US R&B chart, making it her second biggest hit on that chart after 1984's Centipede.

After Centipede and You Send the Rain Away it was the third single of hers that had an accompanying music video (overall she has four, the video for Yours Faithfully was released ten years after Plaything.)

Versions

Sources

Supernatural (season 2)

Season two of Supernatural, an American paranormal drama television series created by Eric Kripke, premiered on September 28, 2006, and concluded on May 17, 2007, airing 22 episodes. The season focuses on protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they track down Azazel, the demon responsible for the deaths of their mother Mary and father John. They attempt to discover the demon's plan for Sam and other psychic children—young adults who were visited by Azazel as infants and given abilities, and whose mothers often then died in a fire. During their travels, they use their father's journal to help them carry on the family business—saving people and hunting supernatural creatures.

The season aired on Thursdays at 9:00 pm ET in the United States, and was the first season to air on The CW television network, a joint venture of The WB and UPN. The previous season was broadcast on The WB. It averaged only about 3.14 million American viewers, and was in danger of not being renewed. The cast and crew garnered many award nominations, but the episodes received mixed reviews from critics. While both the brotherly chemistry between the lead actors and the decision to finish the main storyline were praised, the formulaic structure of the episodes was criticized.