Either the soul is praying or those prayers have become nothing more than a recitation by rote with little or no meaning behind the words that are mouthed mindlessly. It occurs to me that in the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, she recalls unwittingly engaging in mental prayer but that, far from being an absent-minded practice, it was done purposefully. (1) I would therefore reconsider the propriety of having woken up robotically vocalizing one’s prayers and endeavor to, in the future, imbue one’s prayer life with a firm and consciously willed set of intentions.
Personally, I dislike the concept of the soul praying apart from the consciousness, as though the soul is some sort of element apart from one’s being. This is the shadow of Manichean thinking, which seeks to divorce the body from the soul. We must also remember that to call upon God in prayer is grave matter and definitely not something one ought do idly.
Hope I don’t sound really clueless here - but what’s the “Jesus” Prayer? Are you referring to the Morning Offering? If not - what is the “Jesus” prayer, please?
Hi, Other Eric. I can see you point about our soul praying apart from our consciousness, but I’m not sure I agree with the above part of your post. I’ve always been taught that God wants a close personal reationship with us. Of course He can read our every thought, but I think He enjoys when we share all our thoughts & fears with Him. On the day of Judgement, we don’t want Jesus to say He does not know us.
One must remember always the commandment not to take the name of God in vain. One must also seek to gain a fear of the Lord, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Taken together, these principles point towards developing great respect for the manner in which we pray. It is not as if we are calling a casual friend up on the phone, we are accessing the awesome power Who is the beginning and ending of all things.
The Jesus Prayer is an Eastern Catholic prayer taken from Scripture (the words of the Roman Publician I believe who was asking his servant be healed, as well as the 10 lepers, and the blind man)
But this isn’t the only way I pray. It’s a conscientious effort to offer up my entire thughts & being to God when there’s no time to stop & pray.
Thanks, for that one, scapularkid8 -
This is an easy prayer to say once an hour. Try it; it only takes seconds.
If there is a conscientious effort involved in making any sort of prayer, then it is a conscious act of the will. What I am arguing against is the propriety of involuntary prayer, that is the idea that the soul or body operates on its own initiative apart from one’s own will. I maintain that to find oneself mindlessly reciting any prayer indicates that the value of prayer has been diminished in the individual to the point where it is nothing more than the wooden repetition of a few stock phrases, the original meaning having been long forgotten.
Thanks for your response, Other Eric. I understand you more clearly now, & I definitely agree about the need for a fear of & respect for the Lord. I think you are right about avoiding a casual attitude towards our prayers. Thanks!
I agree with this. But maybe I wasn’t clear earlier: my mistake. I do remember wanting to pray and then I had the Jesus Prayer leaving my lips before I knew what was going on.
I agree, the mind and soul are one and should not operate apart from one another. But are they operating separately if a person learns to recite prayers throughout the day without necessarilly stopping to formally think of each word? If we have the correct disposition in our life, even when we find ourselves saying a prayer without even realizing it, that prayer can be meaningful.