How do you pray?

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The moment I wake up in the morning I say a prayer in thanksgiving for all of the Lord’s many blessings. Praying before the Blessed Sacrament is my greatest joy in prayer. When I’m distracted while praying at Eucharistic adoration I will use a hymnal and simply read the words from the hymns as prayers. It always seems to help me focus on the wonders of our God.
 
Wow what a great thread, thanks for starting it. I to pray in various ways. I am soon to be in the Catholic family, and the first Catholic prayer I learned was the chaplet of devine mercy(I love this). It is even done to song and it is very beautiful. The rosary is wonderful also. Other than that, I pray throughout the day just in talking to God. I drive a lot and will pray out loud in the van, I am sure people think I am nuts because it must look like I am talking to myself. My bedtime prayers are never the same. I always start by telling God all I am thankful for and counting all my blessings, then I will ask for things(such as my husband being protected on the way home. nothing frivolous.) Then 3 hail marys. I also talk to my favorite saint, saint therese the little flower. My children(5 1/2, 4, 3 and 16mos) are all very big into praying. My boys when they get into trouble which is quite often :whistle: will ask Mary and Jesus to help them behave it is cute. And my 16mo trys to make the sign of the cross and then sits with his hands folded and then says amen at the end. We have a picture of the holy family hang on our wall and this is where we look to when praying. I think everyone here is doing just fine with the way they pray. I for one am not really for scripted prayer, other than the ones up above, I like to just talk to God and let him know all I am thankful for. I know he knows my heart and can hear my thoughts, which I talk silently to him too a lot, but sometimes it just seems more meaningful to for me to hear the words come out of my mouth. Again great thread, and God bless keep praying.
 
I like to pray on my knees, for one thing. My favorite easy prayer is the Jesus prayer. “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner.” You can repeat that prayer while meditating on it’s meaning.

I like the rosary which I pray 2 or 3 times a week. I also try and recite the morning and evening and night prayers every day, from the liturgy of the hours. Plus, I pray persoanl prayers for help to avoid sin, because I keep failing and need Divine assistance. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/smilies/prayer/praying.gif
 
My favorite of all prayers is the Rosary; it is honoring Mary & Jesus at the same time. It enables one to become closer & closer to each.
I deticiate each Rosary for the release of a Soul in Purgatory; even keep a chart as to how many Souls have been released (to date: 135). I may do one a day or five or ten in a day. After awhile you get to memorize each of the Mysteries, and don’t even need a Rosary in your hand when saying each bead (cause’ the Lord did give us 10 fingers) same as each decade! I can say them silently to myself while walking, or taking a bus someplace.
When finished with a Rosary, I say a Hail Mary, Our Father & a Gloria for the remishion of sin; and the same three prayers again for the intentions of the Holy Father. Then I tell the released Soul to give all praise, honor & glory to God, and if it be possible, to say a prayer for me down here on Earth.
Each Rosary said is a partial indulgence; but one said in a Church is a Plenary idulgence! 🙂
 
Every morning I awake and say the Morning Offering. In a way every thing I do that day becomes a prayer to Our Lord. Offering all my acts, words, deeds, joys, pains and suffering.

In the evening I talk to God and thank Him for the day.
 
Another helpful site is regnumchristi.org You can sign up to receive daily meditations by e-mail. The meditation includes the gospel of the day with helpful comments to guide you in applying the gospel to your life.

—KCT
 
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Carolyn:
Greetings everyone.

This may seem like a silly question, but…

I’m not ever sure how to pray, aside from during the Mass. I have never said the Rosary, so that might be a good place to start. How do you prepare yourself to pray the Rosary if you’ve never done it before? How do you stay focused? Does it come with practice?

Usually when I pray I just talk to God in my head. Sometimes I feel like I am not worthy to complain or worry about the things that trouble me, because there are so many other people worse off than me. I also use prayer for thanks, but is my casual “talking to God in my head” OK?

How do YOU pray?
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Hello ! well I read about some of Saint John Vianney’s quotes and one of them is don’t forget your morning offering, he says if the Devil can grab the first moment of the day, then all the rest will be his as well.
Don’t fully understand the quote, but I do it every morning now, well if it good enough fo him ,it’ll do me.:yup:
Anyway I say the Rosary most days, then the chaplet of holy souls,divine mercy,and prayers to the Holy Face,plus the Fatima prayers, not in that order.
All I can say is maybe it’s better not to try and do the full Rosary, but to stick to Mysteries for that particular day.
I offer my intentions for the Pope,Priests and religious,HolySouls, and for poor sinners, Prayer is listening to God !!!

Anyway here is a little Rosary reminder and Divine Mercy Chaplet online if you like virtualrosary.org/

rosary-center.org/howto.htm

medjugorie.org/rosary.htm :blessyou:
 
A great question. For me, I try to be in prayer most the day if possible. It can be difficult in the world in which we live, but let me state what I don’t do … I don’t only pray at home. I work at a state agency, and one thing you always find on my desk is The Holy Bible. I pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily as well as the Rosary and the chaplet of The Divine Mercy.

"Seven times a day I praise Thee for thy righteous ordinances." says the Psalmist (Ps 119:164 RSVCE)

My normal day starts at 4:30 AM, and upon waking I roll out of bed and start with the morning offering. I arrive at work an hour before my offical start time which leaves me a bit of quiet time to reflect on the Mass readings of the day. I also have time to read the Daily Office readings. My morning break comes at 10, and before going to talk with my coworkers I read the mid morning prayers. I do the same at lunch and at my mid afternoon break. When I get home around 5, I find a quiet place and recite the Rosary along with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Evening prayers are said before dinner and night prayers just before turning in for the night.

I will admit, if you want someone to engage you in conversation regarding your faith, do not be afraid to be seen praying. I’ve had some of the best discussions with folks that I work with. There is no better way to defend your faith than by living it. Recall the teaching of St Francis when he said “Preach the Gospel constantly, and if need be, use words”

Some have said to me “You spend quite a bit of time praying.” I will normally remind them of the words of Our Lord to Peter " …So, could you not watch with me one hour?" Matt 26:40 (RSVCE)

May His Peace be with you …
 
I am glad to see people praying the Liturgy of the Hours. A comment was made about cost; there are, as far as I know, three different sets or books. One is a four week book with Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Night Prayer (Compline), is less than an inch thick, and reelatively inexpensive. The next one is about 1 1/2 inches thick, and contains more; it also comes with a guide (purchased seperate) and is more expensive. Then there is the four volume set; a tad bit spendy, and one to be worked up to. The thin volume may have a guide too; I don’t recall.
The Liturgy of the Hours is part of the official liturgy of the Church. The Rosary isn’t, but is the most popular devotion we have.
If you wish either to meditate on the readings of the Church, or meditate on passages of the Bible, I would reccommend the Magnificat (which has a small part of the Liturgy of the Hours), or God’s Word Today, or The Word Among Us all three are great.
One thing to remember about the Rosary is that it is not a stricty format; if you can only say a decade or two, fine; and the order is not critical (I have been asked some really interesting questions!).
 
Pray before your head leaves the pillow in the morning and when it hits the pillow again at night. I especially like to pray in the car unless I listen to Catholic radio. One great suggestion I heard on the radio is pray in the elevator for the other people in the elevator. You will see when you pray for people you love them more. How can we love our enemies? Pray for them.

When we open the lines of communication with our father in heaven he infuses us with love, peace, hope, and all the strength we need.
 
Glory to Jesus Christ!

What is the best form of prayer? THE ONE YOU WILL DO!

Anyway, this is a nice thread. I have three recommendations, the first two have already been mentioned.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Jesus Prayer, and I can’t recommend the Divine Office enough, someone had started another thread on that topic. I do both myself.

I would also like to recommend praying in the words of the saints, there are plenty of good books available with such prayers. They will inspire and teach.

You can go a step further and pray in the words of a Divine Liturgy. The liturgies of the Eastern churches are full of prayers that not only glorify God in beautiful ways, but teach our theology as well. That is how the faith is absorbed by the people in these churches, Eastern liturgies are like catechisms in full life!

You can find the text to many of these liturgies translated from the original languages on the internet.

God Bless and keep all,
Michael
 
What a great question. I think many of us feel that somehow we are praying in an inadequate way. I think any conversation you have with God in your head is a great place to start. I am very encouraged by how many people replied that they pray the rosary. Yeah…

I always try to give Thanks to the Father for all the blessings He has showered upon me, and I ask forgiveness of the Son for all my faults and transgressions and I pray to the Holy Spirit to give me strength and wisdom…
 
I pray for the Holy Spirt to come into me and fill me with His grace and love and peace throughout the day so that I may be a beacon of His love.

I also pray the rosary and do at least one hour of Adoration a Week.

One thing I have started doing at red lights is looking at each person as he or she drives past me and I’ll say outloud, “Lord bless him and her and them and him and him”… as each person passes me. It helps remind me of the presence of God within each person around me. It also helps me not get frustrated while driving!!!
 
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JennyM:
One thing I have started doing at red lights is looking at each person as he or she drives past me and I’ll say outloud, “Lord bless him and her and them and him and him”… as each person passes me. It helps remind me of the presence of God within each person around me. It also helps me not get frustrated while driving!!!
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I love this idea, Jenny. Thanks for sharing it…
👍
 
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Yirmeyahu:
Here’s a tip to stay focused… Think of the mystery you’re at (i.e. Glorious mystery, Resurrection or Joyful mystery, Visitation) then think of what Jesus did (i.e. Resurrection - Jesus went to heaven, Visitation - He leapt for joy). In each of your Hail Mary… in the middle where you pray, “… and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”, pause here and think of what Jesus did. I hope this helps.
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I just did this & I have NEVER been more focused during prayer! Thank you so much for this question & advice! 👍
 
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Carolyn:
Greetings everyone.

This may seem like a silly question, but…

I’m not ever sure how to pray, aside from during the Mass. I have never said the Rosary, so that might be a good place to start. How do you prepare yourself to pray the Rosary if you’ve never done it before? How do you stay focused? Does it come with practice?

Usually when I pray I just talk to God in my head. Sometimes I feel like I am not worthy to complain or worry about the things that trouble me, because there are so many other people worse off than me. I also use prayer for thanks, but is my casual “talking to God in my head” OK?

How do YOU pray?
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Pray from your heart, it’s the most powerful, say what you mean and mean what you say, everyones mind wanders when in prayer.
 
I say a morning offering prayer, a prayer to St Therese, the MI daily consecration, and the Lorica of St Patrick (beautiful prayer!) in the morning, the Rosary in the afternoon, and the novena prayers to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St Therese and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the evening.
 
I tried to learn to pray the Rosary. I took the large Catholic bible and opened the pages, put the bible on the couch and knelt down next to the couch. I had trouble following the words, the days on which mystery was to be said, distractions, etc. Most of all, I did not want my cradle Catholic husband to see me doing this because I did not want him to want me to actually say the Rosary…silly, huh?

I never did learn the Rosary that way…however, God is good - ALWAYS - and He hooked me up with a woman who walked in front of the death mill in our town. We prayed the Rosary as we walked - prayed the sorrowful mysteries…and it was there that I fell in love with the Rosary and began to understand the depth and beauty of it.

I used to say my prayers, laying on my back in bed at night before going to sleep. My husband always kneels and when saying prayers with our sons, I kneel with them. One day someone challenged me to kneel while saying my nightly prayers. I took up the challenge and have been at it for many months now…which I am grateful for.

First off, even though my prayers at night are not formal prayers, my posture is. My posture is one of submission to God and humility. Secondly, I ask for God’s forgiveness as I examine my conscience and then I say an act of contrition (sometimes the formal one, sometimes just heartfelt) Then I get into the meat of my prayers – THANKSGIVING for ALL that He has done for me in the day. And there is always a lot! Lastly I pray for my Godchildren and for my children and husband and family.

One of the most memorable sights I have ever seen is that of my fifteen year old son - I walked past his room one night and he was on his knees. I asked him what he was doing…“Mom! I am saying my prayers!”

Geesh - all those years of kneeling with our sons over the years and I thought it hadn’t taken hold! Does a mother’s heart good!

God bless -
 
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