How do you pray?

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I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
 
Today I prayed while riding around on the lawnmower. I prayed a rosary then had a ‘chat’ with God about what I was thinking about.

Not sure what everyone else does. 😉
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
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divineoffice.org/

peace
 
hazcompat,

Thank you very much for that link. I really appreciate it! :blessyou:
 
Prayer is the uplifting of your heart to God, as simple as that, sometimes I praise HIM, sometimes I thank Him, at other times I just like to tell Him how much I love Him and how I need him to be close to me and my dear ones. When I am down, I tell Him everything, yes everything and how much I need His help and guidance. When I spend time with HIM in the Blessed Sacrament, I just like to sit/kneel quietly and acknowledge that He is God, and that I am in the presence of my King ! . And yes there are times when I tell Him how sorry I am for offending him. HE is my best friend, my Lord, my King, so we have conversations everyday about anything and everything. After you receive Holy communion, that is when you see Him, touch Him and he is close to you, speak to Him as you would to your dearest friend ! My favorite prayer is ‘the prayer after communion’ by Padre Pio called “stay with me Lord” Above all ask Him to teach you to pray and without a doubt I am very sure He will !

Cdmello
 
cdmello said:
Prayer is the uplifting of your heart to God, as simple as that, sometimes I praise HIM, sometimes I thank Him, at other times I just like to tell Him how much I love Him and how I need him to be close to me and my dear ones. When I am down, I tell Him everything, yes everything and how much I need His help and guidance. When I spend time with HIM in the Blessed Sacrament, I just like to sit/kneel quietly and acknowledge that He is God, and that I am in the presence of my King ! . And yes there are times when I tell Him how sorry I am for offending him. HE is my best friend, my Lord, my King, so we have conversations everyday about anything and everything. After you receive Holy communion, that is when you see Him, touch Him and he is close to you, speak to Him as you would to your dearest friend ! My favorite prayer is ‘the prayer after communion’ by Padre Pio called “stay with me Lord” Above all ask Him to teach you to pray and without a doubt I am very sure He will !

Cdmello
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That was very uplifting, and very much appreciated. I think I now have a better understanding. :blessyou:
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
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Talk to God like He is your very own Father and He’s right there with you (because He is). Ask Him the way you’d ask a friend, to help you or your sick/troubled loved ones. Ask Him for relief for your friends and loved ones, or strength to get through it, if that is His will.

Talk to Jesus the same way. He is ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, so He is literally with us in a very special way. Jesus especially understands our human frailties, such as sickness, pain and suffering, because He experienced them first-hand. Talk to Him like you would talk to a friend who went through the same trials.

Ask the angels and saints, especially our Blessed Mother, to intercede for you. They are perfect in heaven with God and they know how to ask in the proper way. The Blessed Mother will take your requests and perfect them before presenting them to her Son. Her main job is to bring souls to her Son, and Jesus NEVER turns down a request from his mother. She is an amazing advocate. Talk to her like she is your mother, because she is. Ask her for help the same way you’d ask your earthly mother for help.

Praying isn’t always easy. The Holy Spirit draws us into prayer, so before you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to know God is with you, and your mind to understand and accept God’s will.

Good luck! And welcome home!!!
 
If you are a beginner, here is a good book on how a Catholic can best approach prayer which I myself have recently begun reading:

Prayer Primer: Igniting A Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
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its easy at the start of the rosary or whatever prayer you are making after offering it up for conversion of sinners and the holy souls ask also that it be offered up for your intention. Sometimes the mystery of the rosary leads into your intention for example I lately got to the wedding at cana and thought dear Lord you were a guest at this wedding of two people starting their lives and you helped them when they had a problem there are 2 young people getting married today Will & Kate help them and other newly weds like you did at cana. I oftem find my intentions can be woven into the mystery involved. Its personal I hope its not wrong 🙂
 
I don’t think there is any “right way” to pray. There is formal and informal prayer. Informal prayer is when you just talk to the Lord and tell Him what is in your heart. Formal prayer is more like using prayers that have been written down and used by many. Probably the most important prayer ( and the one I struggle with the most) is silent prayer. Just be silent and still and listen to Him. This I cannot seem to master because I just can’t shut up! My mind is always talking ( if that makes sense to anyone!) but I am working on it.

God is always happy to have you communicate with Him, in any form.
 
There are as many different ways to pray as there are people praying.
There are formal prayers composed by saints who have preceded us. There is simply talking to God as your most intimate friend. Every time you “lift your heart and mind to God,” you are praying. Prayer may be verbal or non-verbal. It can be meditative, focusing on a moment in the life of Christ, or it may be contemplative, sitting in God’s presence and listening with our heart to what He has to say to each of us.
There is the liturgical prayer of the Mass which contains the various types as we pray in community, and there is private prayer, those times when we are alone with God.
God comes into our private space, sanctifying it and making it holy (from today’s homily).

In the past, I have had people ask me to pray for them. Knowing my own memory, I have turned a simple act into prayer. I placed a holy card between my dresser mirror and its frame. I asked God to accept my simply seeing that holy card each morning as prayer for the priest who had given it to me. When a woman I did not know bought me a fedora, I asked God to accept each time I wore that hat as a prayer for the woman who had given it to me.
As long as you seek God with your heart, mind, and soul, and His Will in your life, there is no wrong way to pray.
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
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What we are obligated to give God, in order of importance are: Adoration, Praise, Thanksgiving, Propitiation, and then Petition. It is easy to see that we normally have these priorities completely reversed. We can also see that each of these oblations are contained, to a greater or lesser degree, within the others. In short, you cannot offer propitiation for your sin without simultaneously adoring Him, or praising Him, or thanking Him.

How we do this is as varied as there are souls on earth. I try to offer constant thanks to God during the day. Before my feet touch the floor in the morning, I offer several prayers. Thanks before each meal or snack - even coffee. Prayer for those walking beside the road as I drive, and for those who travel along with me. Saint Paul teaches us to pray constantly, and this is wonderful counsel. Make each day into an on-going litany of thanks, praise and petition. Your local Catholic bookstore will have books relating to prayer. Have a look.

A special way to raise the intensity of your connection with God is during Adoration of our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. There, you can and will be taken to a new level of prayer. This is absolutely he best kept secret of Catholicism. I urge you to check into it at your parish. It is known as adoration, or perhaps “holy hour”.
 
Our very lives are a prayer. OUr work, our play, our rest, our reading, our quest for knowledge, our vocation, our avocations are all prayers to the Lord. Before each task, before and after each days beginning and ending, offer up all that we are, all that we do and say to Him. Each breath in and out is a prayer to Him. Our hope and our salvation.
 
I give my most humble thanks to each and everyone of you who have replied to my question. I now have a better understand of praying. I truly appreciate all of you who took the time to educate me. God bless you all!
 
I pray a number of ways… sometimes “free form” just talking to God-- praising Him, thanking Him, asking for His help for me and for others, etc. Sometimes it is a Divine Mercy or Rosary where I contemplate certain mysteries as I pray the prayers. But the absolute core of my spiritual life is prayer where I am not saying anything at all, but just listening. As I’m sure you know, the bible says “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10) and it takes some real effort to stop everything to “be still” and “know”. I believe it must be pleasing to Him when we stop monopolizing the conversation and let Him have a turn. 🙂 I am sure God is pleased with any heartfelt prayer, but there is something very special about silent time with God (particularly in front of the Blessed Sacrament).
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
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In your area, you may want to find a parish with a perpetual adoration chapel…just being there, even for 5 to 15 minutes, contemplating the Lord can be a simple prayer in itself. Giving thanks for every blessing, your food, is also a form of a simple prayer.

As for the time when you want to pray for someone, something, you can mention your petition or intention at the start of your prayer…like saying…I am offering this rosary for…(state your petition)…after your prayer, thank the Lord for listening to your prayer, and thank the saint or the Blessed Virgin( whoever saint you asked for the intercession) for bringing your prayer to God.

Since today is Divine Mercy Sunday, you also may want to learn the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
 
TheBibleAddict said:
I’m new to Catholicism, and am aware of praying the Rosary, the mysteries, The Lord’s Prayer, etc. I was wondering how you go about praying to God for friends, illness, situations in life, safety of a loved one, etc.?

I used to be a Jehovah’s Witness, fell away for years, then I’ve found salvation through the Catholic faith. Their way of praying is very different than the right way (for lack of a better term), and I want to know how I should properly approach God when dealing with everyday issues.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
We pray as Jesus said to pray, i.e. Luk 11:2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say . . . .”

When I’m asking for something, I usually start out with a direct request, like:

“Heavenly Father, you are all powerful and can do all things” Then I will state what my need is and commit it to his will. If it is a long lasting thing, like a certain sin that I am trying to overcome, I will try other forms of prayer like when they prayed for 9 days in Acts, this is called a ‘novina’.

Hope this helps.
 
I believe that you can pray anywhere and at any time. As for me, it depends on how I am feeling and the time I have available. Sometimes I wake up and say a quick prayer, just two to three sentences saying thanks. Other times, I pray the rosary (on the train on the way to or from work, for example). When I am feeling down, I go somewhere quiet — my room, a secluded spot at the park — with my prayer card.
“How beautiful is the family that recites the rosary every evening.” – Blessed John Paul II
 
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