Concept Of Worship

It is related of Haatim bin Al-Asamm that he said in answer to a question about prayer:

"When the time for prayer is at hand, I make a proper ablution, go to the spot where I intend to pray and sit there until all my limbs and organs are in a collected state. Then I stand up to perform my prayer, facing the ka'aba between my brows, the bridge-over-Hell beneath my feet, Paradise to my right and Hell to my left, and the Angel of Death behind me, thinking all the while that this is my final prayer. Then I stand between hope and fear.

"I carefully pronounce 'Allahu Akbar!' Then I recite the Qur'an harmoniously, bow in humility and prostrate myself submissively. I then sit back on my left haunch, spreading out the left foot, raising my right foot on the toes. I follow this with sincerity. Then I wonder whether or not my prayer has been accepted."

Taken from: Ihya Uloom ad-Deen, Al-Ghazali