Back to Basics: Prayer

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scapularkid8

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Here’s a dumb question: how do you pray?

It seems like I go through my LOTH Psalms and I love them, but in the end, what is my prayer doing? Why do I do it? Does God really hear every word I pray? How important is my level of concentration? How do I listen to God talk to me as I pray because it seems like I’m doing all the talking?

…never hurts to always come back to the fundamentals of the faith I guess!
 
scapularkid8 said:
Here’s a dumb question: how do you pray?

It seems like I go through my LOTH Psalms and I love them, but in the end, what is my prayer doing? Why do I do it? Does God really hear every word I pray? How important is my level of concentration? How do I listen to God talk to me as I pray because it seems like I’m doing all the talking?

…never hurts to always come back to the fundamentals of the faith I guess!
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I recommend two books by Peter Kreeft:

Prayer For Beginners
Prayer: The Great Conversation
 
Not a dumb question, at all! Formal prayer is very important, but sometimes it can “feel” kind of mechanical. I agree.

Nevertheless, I still believe that God does hear every “Our Father”… every “Glory Be” and every “Hail Mary”. He knows the very number of the hairs of our heads. And so, He also hears every word we utter. Having said this, though… I do think it’s a wonderful thing to pray to Our Heavenly Father… by simply talking to Him… as any child would to it’s father. God is our “Abba” (Daddy). 😃 Romans 8:16

In fact, a priest once told my mother (and she later, told us) that regular conversation with God (telling Him about your day, telling Him of your hopes and fears,… or just saying, “I love You, Father” etc.) is one of the “highest forms of prayer”. And something we can all do! 🙂
 
scapularkid8,
the form of prayer you’re describing is the very beginning of a life of prayer.

If you remain here, you will God forbid, give it up, as it dries out.

You must move toward contemplative prayer. In contemplative prayer, you turn toward God, who dwells within. You are praying in His presence, but mostly, your prayer is an act of love, without words.

Saint Teresa of Avila calls it mental prayer, others call it Centering Prayer, and others may call it something else. Either way, it is the action of your will toward God, who dwells within.

From the depth of your being, is where God speaks to us best, St. Teresa says.

There are books on the subject and I recommend reading them, but there is also much misunderstanding about contemplative prayer, which I’ve come to see in this very forum.

It would be good if you could find a priest or spiritual adviser, who could help you to learn about contemplative prayer.

Feel free to PM me if you desire.

God Bless
Jim
 
scapularkid8 said:
Here’s a dumb question: how do you pray?

It seems like I go through my LOTH Psalms and I love them, but in the end, what is my prayer doing? Why do I do it? Does God really hear every word I pray? How important is my level of concentration? How do I listen to God talk to me as I pray because it seems like I’m doing all the talking?

…never hurts to always come back to the fundamentals of the faith I guess!
Click to expand...
I do the LOTH as well. There are days when things are dry and mechanical, but there are other days where each and every word is as though it were coming from the mouth of God himself. And you learn things about God in the LOTH. They are his thoughts conveyed to us which we can meditate on and conform our hearts and minds to. I think that is what I like so much about the liturgy. It speaks to the heart and the mind.

Then there are the prayers, that lead us in how to pray, always ending in the our Father. The prayers teach us to pray for the souls in purgatory, our priests, bishops, and the Pope, those who labour, the sick and the dieing, those who are outside of the church, prayers for personal conversion of heart, prayers for charity, hope, and faith, prayers for the poor, etc…

Then there are the days comemorating the lives of the saints, uniting us and reminding us that there is a heavenly host of saints out there who are interceding for us, and who will listen to our prayers, and pray with us as well.

Then there are the readings from scripture and the church fathers, giving us further insight into the mystery of God, his church, Christ, the sacraments, the spiritual war that Christ has won.

What is it doing? It is a spiritual treasure trove.

God bless,
Ut
 
Praying the Our Father we learn “How” to pray

Our (Not just my, me, I but you, we, our, us. We are all in this together, not alone, a group, a family, a community, when one suffers, we all do)
Father (Daddy, Provider, Helper, Teacher, all the things that make a father a father, pick me up brush me off kiss my boo-boo)
…
I encourage you just sit down and break down the Our Father like this. You will never look at prayer the same again.

All the great prayers are like that. Lots of devotion and love went into the great prayers. Do some research on the Hail Holy Queen and see what the author went through in his personal life and you will have a great new appreciation for especially the pain it was written in.

Contemptalives have given us so many wonderful prayers. Don’t rush through your rosary, love it, cherish it. God bless you.
 
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