Paper
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
632
The Experience of the Act of Praying
Gayle L. Casterline, PhD, RN, CNE, Mary Black School of Nursing, University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC, USA
| Learning Objective #1: describe the importance of praying to quality of life. |
| Learning Objective #2: apply relational concepts of Watson's caring science to the act of praying. |
The act of praying is a personal spiritual behavior, central to an intimate relationship with God, and a practice that provides comfort and peace to one who prays and for those for whom prayers are said. The purpose of this study was to discover the lived experience of the act of praying, to generate new knowledge about the act of praying to be used as a guide in nursing research and practice, and to contribute to nursing’s unique knowledge base by expanding Watson’s transpersonal caring-healing model. Moustakas’ heuristic inquiry method was used. Six participants volunteered to share their experiences of the act of praying, as well as personal artistic representations of the experience, such as poetry, diaries, music, and artwork. Individual portraits of the experience were constructed to form a composite depiction of the participants’ experiences. A creative synthesis was artistically integrated from this composite in the form of a poem put to music. Participants described a trusting, loving relationship with the sacred in which they shared inner thoughts and needs each day. Evolving from a consciousness of deep spiritual connection, the participants experienced a sense of physical and emotional healing, manifested in feelings of peacefulness, reassurance, protection, and joy. Findings from this study were connected to the transpersonal caring-healing model and the extant literature, thereby contributing to nursing knowledge, expanding theory, and enhancing the understanding of the experience of the act of praying as a way of promoting health and well-being. This study is unique in its use of the heuristic method to study the phenomenon of praying. Since no research has been published using a nursing theory to support the experience of the act of praying, this study brings new depths, insights, and meanings to nursing’s theoretical knowledge base.