Does shortening my prayers make them less effective?

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Sneaglebob

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Hello everyone.

I have an ocd like ritual of prayer that I say or try to say every night before I go to sleep. This ritual starts of with me organizing my prayers in priority levels, ranging from 1st priority for protection of myself and my family members, especially my family members that might need extra protection to 2nd priority which includes my requests for help in some of my issues that I encounter.

After mentioning these things to God, I would pray a hail Mary in Latin and then request the intercession of specific saints. Then I would thank God and Jesus and the Holy spirit as well as the saints and angels that serve God as well as Mary, and close with the sign of the cross.

Now being a sufferer of actual mild/moderate ocd I feel that If i forget to say these prayers then something bad might happen, such as my family members being hurt. So i strive to make sure i say this every single night before i sleep.

However this is making me lose sleep since and so I would like to know if there are any ways to shorten this ritual and if shortening it may reduce the effectiveness of the prayer.

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Sneaglebob said:
Hello everyone.

I have an ocd like ritual of prayer that I say or try to say every night before I go to sleep. This ritual starts of with me organizing my prayers in priority levels, ranging from 1st priority for protection of myself and my family members, especially my family members that might need extra protection to 2nd priority which includes my requests for help in some of my issues that I encounter.

After mentioning these things to God, I would pray a hail Mary in Latin and then request the intercession of specific saints. Then I would thank God and Jesus and the Holy spirit as well as the saints and angels that serve God as well as Mary, and close with the sign of the cross.

Now being a sufferer of actual mild/moderate ocd I feel that If i forget to say these prayers then something bad might happen, such as my family members being hurt. So i strive to make sure i say this every single night before i sleep.

However this is making me lose sleep since and so I would like to know if there are any ways to shorten this ritual and if shortening it may reduce the effectiveness of the prayer.

Thanks for the help everyone!
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It probably would be a good idea for you to talk this over with your priest, I don’t think anyone here should be advising you since you have OCD.
 
Shortening a prayer will not make your petitions less heard.

It is your choice how you wish to pray, but if I were you, I would reverse your order and start with praising God for your blessings, and then give petitions for loved ones and special requests, and then pray for your protection.

Having a prayer routine is valuable for keeping us organized and disciplined, but we must always remind ourselves that that is for our own sake, on our end. God requires no such routine or pattern or length in order to respond to our petitions. If we talk to him, then he delights in that.

“Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends.”
-St Alphonsus Liguori, Most Zealous Doctor
 
Shortening your prayers will not make them less effective:

"And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Matthew 6:7-8 RSV-CE)

That said, it seems that you have scrupulosity. I would strongly recommend that you get a good Spiritual Director to help you through this. I have scrupulosity and I also have a Spiritual Director. He helps me a lot.
 
Of course not.God is merciful, if you have OCD, he doesn’t want you to suffer just to say hi to him. its the message, not the length that matters, do whatever your comfortable with. he hears the prayer, no matter the length. Do as long a you can handle i guess.
 
Lately I have had to shorten the length of time that I pray for because I have had poor health. I know that God understands. I imagine the same thing would go for the OP.
 
Sneaglebob said:
Hello everyone.

I have an ocd like ritual of prayer that I say or try to say every night before I go to sleep. This ritual starts of with me organizing my prayers in priority levels, ranging from 1st priority for protection of myself and my family members, especially my family members that might need extra protection to 2nd priority which includes my requests for help in some of my issues that I encounter.

After mentioning these things to God, I would pray a hail Mary in Latin and then request the intercession of specific saints. Then I would thank God and Jesus and the Holy spirit as well as the saints and angels that serve God as well as Mary, and close with the sign of the cross.

Now being a sufferer of actual mild/moderate ocd I feel that If i forget to say these prayers then something bad might happen, such as my family members being hurt. So i strive to make sure i say this every single night before i sleep.

However this is making me lose sleep since and so I would like to know if there are any ways to shorten this ritual and if shortening it may reduce the effectiveness of the prayer.

Thanks for the help everyone!
Click to expand...
Please seek help from a trained professional for your OCD. We cannot help you with that here. It is not healthy to come here seeking opinions on your OCD rituals as it will not help you get better. It can cause you more stress as you will get random opinions from people untrained in psychology or familiar with your condition.
 
What is prayer? Getting right down to it, it is our means of conversing with God.

And while it may have forms (such as a Hail Mary, or part of the LOTH,), adn while it has four general areas (priase, petition, thanksgiving, and reparation), it is still our talking with God.

If you are getting into areas of feeling that if you don’t do something right, then something bad will happen, you are wandering close to superstition, and/or a feeling that somehow you can bind God and prevent Him from doing something; or that God is going to do something if you don’t follow a formula exactly.

As Ike said, this is an area for professional help. OCD can have some positive impacts on one’s life, if one understands how to use it positively. It also can be a tremendously heavy burden. No one ever asks for this burden, and there is no shame - it is not your fault. Please, seek professional help. And don’t stop until you find a priest who can effectively deal with it. Not all can.
 
I’m glad that there are other people who have similar “problems” as me. I’m probably going to start a thread of my own (I’m sorry I know people on these forums don’t like someone posting the same question twice) I just thought I would mention this here as well so you will know that I understand what you’re going through. My OCD occurs in the morning, especially if I’m going to be home the whole day. Today is particularly bad. My routine goes like this. When I’m still in bed, I start with the Angelus, then listen to the Franciscan Media’s saint of the Day, and then listen to the Divine Office morning prayer. I managed to get these done today early. Once I’ve gotten up and ready, I prepare for the Rosary and an online Mass. I used to get this done right away, but this has evolved into a ritual where I do a morning offering, followed by a prayer that I wrote in which I include my personal intentions and intentions for friends, a prayer to end abortion, a rather long prayer for times of doubt, and the Prayer of St. Francis. I’m still not ready to begin the Rosary and Mass. I’ve unfortunately began to dread the next part and that is why I procrastinate a lot. as of right now I’ve only done my first three prayers for the day. I used to only pray for the Pope’s intentions for the current month, but I have added some of his intentions from previous months. The worst part is not knowing how specific I should be with each intention. I know that God knows our needs before we state them, but for some reason I still like to be really specific. one of my least favorite things happened today. I procrastinated so much that I’m going to have to sandwich my midday divine office prayer between the Rosary and the Mass. I just had to get that all out. I will pray for the original poster and I will accept anyone’s prayers and advice.
 
TK421 said:
Shortening a prayer will not make your petitions less heard.

It is your choice how you wish to pray, but if I were you, I would reverse your order and start with praising God for your blessings, and then give petitions for loved ones and special requests, and then pray for your protection.
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👍👍

I agree that it might be a good thing to reverse your order of praying. If we look at the only prayer Jesus taught us, the Our Father, the first part of it is praising God, the second is asking that His will be carried out, and then we pray for ourselves/others. I try to keep this in mind when praying. I also remember that when Jesus prayed, he thanked God for answering his prayers, even before he asked for what he wanted.

As for short prayers, I do not think it is the length of our prayers, but the sincerity, faith and trust in our heart that matters to God.
 
1ke said:
Please seek help from a trained professional for your OCD. We cannot help you with that here. It is not healthy to come here seeking opinions on your OCD rituals as it will not help you get better. It can cause you more stress as you will get random opinions from people untrained in psychology or familiar with your condition.
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A site I saw advertized: catholictherapists.com/
 
Sneaglebob said:
Hello everyone.

I have an ocd like ritual of prayer that I say or try to say every night before I go to sleep. This ritual starts of with me organizing my prayers in priority levels, ranging from 1st priority for protection of myself and my family members, especially my family members that might need extra protection to 2nd priority which includes my requests for help in some of my issues that I encounter.

After mentioning these things to God, I would pray a hail Mary in Latin and then request the intercession of specific saints. Then I would thank God and Jesus and the Holy spirit as well as the saints and angels that serve God as well as Mary, and close with the sign of the cross.

Now being a sufferer of actual mild/moderate ocd I feel that If i forget to say these prayers then something bad might happen, such as my family members being hurt. So i strive to make sure i say this every single night before i sleep.

However this is making me lose sleep since and so I would like to know if there are any ways to shorten this ritual and if shortening it may reduce the effectiveness of the prayer.

Thanks for the help everyone!
Click to expand...
Is your faith in the ritual of your prayer routine or in God ?

God is compassion and mercy. Focus on who He is rather than your prayer routine, which seems to border superstition than what prayer is suppose to be.

Jim
 
Sneaglebob said:
Now being a sufferer of actual mild/moderate ocd I feel that If i forget to say these prayers then something bad might happen, such as my family members being hurt.
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Speaking theologically - such would be not a correct understanding of prayer and an not a correct belief. I would encourage you to work with a professional (see above post) and a Priest to work to overcome such.
Sneaglebob said:
However this is making me lose sleep since and so I would like to know if there are any ways to shorten this ritual and if shortening it may reduce the effectiveness of the prayer.

Thanks for the help everyone!
Click to expand...
I will note too in terms of prayer - “short prayers” (as prayers) are good…and recommended through the centuries. Prayers need not be “long” in order to be prayers. And God hears short prayers 🙂
 
In the Summa there is an article “Should prayer last a long time?” (STh II-II, q.83 a.14)

Here is a citation: "And so it is becoming that prayer should last long enough to arouse the fervor of the interior desire: and when it exceeds this measure, so that it cannot be continued any longer without causing weariness, it should be discontinued. Wherefore Augustine says (ad Probam. Ep. cxxx): “It is said that the brethren in Egypt make frequent but very short prayers, rapid ejaculations, as it were, lest that vigilant and erect attention which is so necessary in prayer slacken and languish, through the strain being prolonged. By so doing they make it sufficiently clear not only that this attention must not be forced if we are unable to keep it up, but also that if we are able to continue, it should not be broken off too soon.”

Here is the link to read the whole question/discussion: home.newadvent.org/summa/3083.htm

The Angelic Doctor, of whom is the author, is officially considered in the Catholic Church, numerous times (including in 1970) to be one of the highest teachers of the Church.
 
Well, when Jesus taught the apostles to pray-- He taught them a short prayer. The Our Father, but Jesus did set the example of praying often and in different ways.

I would recommend you read the Catechism on prayer. Here’s a couple of points.

2559 “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.”
…

Prayer as covenant

2562 Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.

Keep in mind the goal of prayer, not the means. Different folks find different methods/approaches to prayer work better for them in raising their heart and mind to God.
 
Short prayers are good and effective. Just make sure you pray a good Morning and Night Prayer every day – and don’t forget to pray your rosary daily. God bless you.
 
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