Deeper prayer life

[JennyS]

As a new convert to Catholicism, I have grown to love praying. As a protestant, I did not enjoy praying as much as I do now. I love going to the Oratory and praying before the Blessed Sacrament. I could easily spend hours.

It is all new to me now. I love the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I pray them often, but I don’t want to get to a point that it is routine or rote.

Any suggestions on how to deepen prayer life?

 

[water]

Welcome to the Forums, and welcome home!!!:harp:
I am not sure how to answer; however, for myself, getting to pray routinely is a very important step. Dedicating the same amount of time every day praying the same praying every day are great devotions already.

To help me deep in praying, I use some spiritual books written by saints or about saints - my favorite one is the Diary of Saint Faustina; I like to go to daily mass, frequent confession, and join different groups at the Church such as studying Bible, nursing home ministry, etc … through these activities, I’ve found more about the meaning of praying and the desire to pray.

God bless you, Jenny.

 

[InLight247]

I also do daily Rosaries and Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I never feel bored.

Rosary is by far the most powerful prayer. It includes professing our faith, claiming our relationship to God, petition, repentance, asking for forgiveness, blessing Mary and blessing the Lord, glorifying God, meditating our Lord’s life, intercession for sinners, and invoking our Holy Mother’s intercession. It is so rich and ever powerful.

In addition to Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, I recommend the St. Bridget’s prayer. It is a great devotion.

Bible reading and spiritual reading are also important. But my favorite thing is to make the Holy Hour after work, kneeling or sitting in front of the tabernacle, spending time with my Lord. Daily Eucharist adoration will definitely transform a person. The true presence of Jesus will bring a person to deeper level of communion.

 

[JennyS]

Welcome to the Forums, and welcome home!!!:harp:
I am not sure how to answer; however, for myself, getting to pray routinely is a very important step. Dedicating the same amount of time every day praying the same praying every day are great devotions already.

To help me deep in praying, I use some spiritual books written by saints or about saints - my favorite one is the Diary of Saint Faustina; I like to go to daily mass, frequent confession, and join different groups at the Church such as studying Bible, nursing home ministry, etc … through these activities, I’ve found more about the meaning of praying and the desire to pray.

God bless you, Jenny.

Water,

Thanks for your response. I LOVE Faustina. Faustina is my Confirmation name. I have been reading her diary and that has really helped me learn how deep of a connection we can have with God and that has inspired me to pray more. If only I could love and trust like Faustina. That is my goal…but I am far from it.

 

[water]

Water,

Thanks for your response. I LOVE Faustina. Faustina is my Confirmation name. I have been reading her diary and that has really helped me learn how deep of a connection we can have with God and that has inspired me to pray more. If only I could love and trust like Faustina. That is my goal…but I am far from it.

That is awesome to have her name as your confirmation name. Her trust in Jesus was just amazing!

It is good to know that each of us is still far from our goals. It is better than not knowing where we are in our spiritual journey. - having this knowledge, one can strive to be perfect - through mean of deeper prayer life.

 

[martinporres]

JennyS, welcome home!

If you haven’t considered the “prayer of the Church” yet, look into getting a small book called Shorter Christian Prayer. It’s an official, less involved version of the Liturgy of the Hours, which is the Church’s universal prayer prayed by clergy, religious, and laity all over the world, every single day (multiple times per day).

Shorter Christian Prayer gives you the basic Morning and Evening Prayers (the method of prayer based on ancient Jewish custom). It won’t be as tuned into the liturgical year as Christian Prayer (it’s larger cousin), which itself isn’t very close to the full four-volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours, but it is said that the prayer of the Church revolves around Morning and Evening Prayer, so Shorter Christian Prayer would do the trick – especially for starting out!

Just suggesting this in case you feel like supplementing your memorized/ad hoc prayer with something you’d need a book for and that is very universal.

God bless.

mp

 

[Enoch]

A few things that helped me were becoming a Benedictine Oblate, Daily Mass, Praying the morning and evening Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, and reading about the lives of the Saints along with books they have written.

See if you have any secular religious orders or oblates in your area.

As far as the Rosary, I’ve seen books that give you a Scripture passage to meditate on for each decade. That may help keep it from becoming mechanical and draw you deeper into Scripture.

 

[Dorothy]

Have you tried just sitting before the Lord (wherever you are, in church or at home) and talking to Him in your own words? And, then just sit quietly in his presence

Also, Lectio Divina is a kind of mental prayer where you take a few lines of Scripture, read it slowly several times, and let the Lord speak to you through it.

You can google “Lectio Divina” and get some instructions on it.

 

[JennyS]

Thank you so much for all the responses. In the past I always just prayed in my own words, which is good and I still do, but I’m not that creative and I get stuck in a rut.

But these ideas are great and will give me more to think about. I love the Rosary and all the prayers of the Saints that I have never heard before. They are beautiful.

 

[archangel63]

Prayer is awesome!
It’s a major stress release for me. It calms me down and soothes my anxieties and worries.

The internet is chock full of Catholic Prayer sites with tons of beautiful prayers:

ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm
catholicdoors.com/prayers/index.htm
catholic.org/clife/prayers/

Along the way you will collect prayers that you hold dear to your heart…

I also pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary (I love the rosary because it puts you in a tranquil state). You should try and find a Rosary companion book. You can read it along with your rosary. The mystery is expained in between prayers. I have one and it’s great. I also have a 1.5" stack of prayer cards that are beautiful. I buy them at a local Catholic Gift store. I buy a new one whenever I visit.

Also, you might want to investigate your patron saint more. This past Divine Mercy Sunday they had a big gift shop open in my church’s basement. You would have loved it. They had about 30 different books about St. Faustina. I bought one myself (“In Saint Faustina’s School Of Mercy”). I also bought a Divine Mercy lapel pin.

Another suggestion, try and find a Catholic store near you. We have a couple around here. Sometimes some of the bigger Catholic churches will have gift shops with all kinds of neat stuff!