How do you pray?

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EphelDuath

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Not necessarily you specifically, just – how do people pray in general?

Do you pray on your knees like at Mass?
What do you say when you’re praying?
What do you do before and after you pray?
How do you pray, like a conversation, or do you just repeat traditional prayers?

I’m just curious on people’s (name removed by moderator)ut or advice they have.
 
I pray in all sorts of ways. I pray on my knees before/during mass, say some formal prayers during the day (rosary, etc), and I just to a lot of chit chat about everything I’m doing during the day with the Lord, to keep mindful of His presence during my day.
 
I pray at any time. Many times I’ll just be in my car driving to the store and I’ll simply talk to God and thank him for my family, my car, my driver’s license and anything else I think of at the time. If there is something on my mind, the times when I’m alone are the perfect times to talk to Him. I don’t really care much for formal prayers. I much prefer to talk to God as I would to anyone else, as a friend or a family member. I’d rather say what is in my heart instead of formal prayers that I was taught to say. He wants to know what is bothering us as well as the thanks we should give to Him.
 
I try to make my entire life a prayer. Everything I do, I try to do for and with God, as a prayer to God, as an act of Love.
 
I like to do a lot of singing. Hymns or praise and worship music. I also just talk to him or try to listen.
 
EphelDuath said:
Do you pray on your knees like at Mass?
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I sit, knee, stand, lie down on my bed, etc …
EphelDuath said:
What do you say when you’re praying?
How do you pray, like a conversation, or do you just repeat traditional prayers?
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traditional prayers as well as my own talking.
EphelDuath said:
What do you do before and after you pray?
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Make a Cross sign before and after praying…and at the end, as my mom taught me when I was little to say “Jesus, Maria, Joseph! I love you, have mercy on all sinners”. Meaning that, I am sking Jesus to have mercy on me and on others and asking Virgin Mary and St. Joseph to pray for us all.
EphelDuath said:
I’m just curious on people’s (name removed by moderator)ut or advice they have.
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good advice is right here:
T.A.Stobie:
I try to make my entire life a prayer. Everything I do, I try to do for and with God, as a prayer to God, as an act of Love.
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Do you read scripture before you pray? In a specific order, such as a few psalms, or do you just flip to a page and read/reflect?

Do you do anything with your hands, such as hold them by your chin?

What do you do when you talk to God? There are people who can pray for several hours at a time, but I say all of the traditional prayers I know, thank God for everything I have/he’s done for me, ask him to protect the people I love, reflect on scripture, tell him about my life in general, yet that’s still – at most – only 30 minutes.

I just run out of things to talk about. Do monks just repeat prayers in their heads over and over again when they pray for four hours at a time?

I’m a new Catholic, by the way. Baptized this Pentecost.
 
EphelDuath said:
Do you read scripture before you pray? In a specific order, such as a few psalms, or do you just flip to a page and read/reflect?
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I read the daily Mass Readings and Gospel, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and to help me apply the Readings to my life. It is great to read ahead of time, and later go to daily mass, you can understand more.
EphelDuath said:
Do you do anything with your hands, such as hold them by your chin?
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My hands “fly” all over the place - sometimes on my head around my neck if it is tired. 😃 If I knee, then I fold my hands in my chest. If I seat, I have them on my lab or on the sofa’s arm.
EphelDuath said:
What do you do when you talk to God? There are people who can pray for several hours at a time, but I say all of the traditional prayers I know, thank God for everything I have/he’s done for me, ask him to protect the people I love, reflect on scripture, tell him about my life in general, yet that’s still – at most – only 30 minutes.
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I do about the same thing. I also pray for those whom I don’t know. For examples:
EphelDuath said:
I just run out of things to talk about. Do monks just repeat prayers in their heads over and over again when they pray for four hours at a time?
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I am sure they have many devotions to pray.
If you use some of the prayers from the books I recommended, you will find that you don’t have enough time to pray all. 🙂 But don’t overwhelm yourself. You can certainly ask God to help you with some devotion and to love to pray. The Holy Spirit will fill your heart with love and you will have the desire to pray for specific things. I love to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
EphelDuath said:
I’m a new Catholic, by the way. Baptized this Pentecost.
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Congratulations and thanks be to God!
 
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