How To Pray?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Untruth
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
U

Untruth

Guest
Hi there,

I’m not too sure how to pray exactly. At night what I normally do is just like talk with God, telling him how thankful I am for the things he’s done for me and discuss things in my life and then I’d say an Our Father and a few Hail Mary’s but I feel like those prayers that are just repeated are like nothing. I grew up in a primary school where it was basically like blindly repeating the same thing and in Church it feels the same way, but when I just like talk with God I feel better than just saying those prayers repeatedly. Am I praying wrong or is there a way to pray better and can someone elaborate on ways to make those repeated prayers maybe feel more effective for me?
 
This Lent, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the Carmelites, and especially St. Therese and St. Theresa of Avila. The Carmelites spend 2 hours a day in “contemplative prayer” with God. I’m still trying to figure out that one. But the more I read about the conversations that these women have with God, the more it makes sense for me to just get out there and pray, and eventually I’ll figure out what feels right and what does not.

Another thing that I’ve read to do is to sit quietly for 20 minutes and simply listen to God. I’m finding that if I sit quietly and try to listen, while it’s a struggle, it is really helping me to digest more concepts spiritually.

When I’m praying “freestyle” (as opposed to Pater Nosters/Aves), I like to think like I’m telling my best friend something. I tell the things that made me happy, that worried me, the changes I’d like to help make in myself, and pray for intentions for priests, the unborn, and for the holy souls in purgatory. One thing I’ve prayed for a lot this Lent is the ability to learn how to pray so that God can hear me and so I can hear Him. It seems to have helped.

Another thing I’ve done this lent is learn about the Divine Office. I’ve used both DivineOffice.org (Novus Ordo - current translation) and DiviniumOfficium.com (from 1962 - matches the TLM masses) to pray the offices, and find that both versions bring joy to my heart.

One of the issues I have with novenas and other devotional prayers is that many devotions seem to be very Mary-centric, saint-centric, or very specific prayers about Christ (Divine Mercy, Sacred Heart, five wounds, etc). But the Divine Office is simple and glorious praises of God as our creator and our Lord. They remind me of both my existance as a sinner, and my grace through God and Christ. Their beauty is in their simplicity. I find that, for me, they give me the feeling that I am truly spending time praising God.

I’m finding that the combination of at least one office of the Divine Office (usually in the evening), plus 5 decades of the Rosary in the morning, gives me a good basic spiritual prayer foundation, and gives me more to talk about with God at the end of the day during my “freestyle” prayer.

I hope this helps a bit!
 
Meditative prayer is probably what you are aspiring to. When saying the rosary, for instance, put yourself in the moment of one of the mysteries of the rosary for the entire decade and picture what you see, what those around you are saying and feeling, what Our Lord and Our Lady are saying.

On a smaller scale, break the Hail Mary into individual thoughts and meditate on one specific thought with each Hail Mary. For instance:

Hail Mary FULL OF GRACE … meditate on the state of Mary’s soul and the abundance of grace she was given to carry and give birth to Our Lord

… THE LORD IS WITH THEE … meditate on what it would be like to have the Lord with us to the degree He was with Mary

BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST WOMEN … meditate on Mary’s singular position across all ages as the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven and Earth

BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB … endless meditation on this phrase

HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD … meditate on Mary as the Mother of God, what that means, her role as the mediatrix of all graces…

PRAY FOR US SINNERS … meditate on our sinfulness, our need to repent of minor and major sin, and resolve to amend our lives and avoid all situations that put us in the occasion of sin

NOW, AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH … meditate on the state of our soul now and for the grace to accept whatever death Our Lord has for us, inclusive of whatever sufferings that might entail. Pray for the grace to have perfect contrition at the hour of our death and access to the final sacraments.

Likewise, the Our Father, if broken down this way gives us a multitude of meditation material. The repetitiveness of the prayers can work as an aid to meditation since you can concentrate on the meditation and not concentrate on finding the words for a dialogue. That said, dialogue with our Lord after meditation is equally important.
 
amazon.com/Catholic-Prayer-Book-Michael-Buckley/dp/0892832835

I have difficulty with prayer and how found this Catholic prayer book very helpful and interesting.

IMO, I am also praying when I read any material that brings me closer to the Trinity or watch shows that do the same:

Daily readings from Magnificat or Sacred Scripture
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Compendium of the Catholic Church
Pope Benedict’s Books
Respected Catholic Authors
EWTN programming
 
He looks at your heart. Pour it out before Him.Cast all your care on Him…I love the Lord’s prayer and also use it as a format for all my other prayer…I start out with praise and adoration then go into thanksgiving…I have a lot of prayer/intercession requests then
I ask Him to help me with all my thoughts,attitude, actions and help me to stay close to Him.
In these days before His return there are a lot of souls that need Christ…May the Lord bless
and reward you mightily as you pour our your heart before Him…
 
Untruth said:
Hi there,

I’m not too sure how to pray exactly. At night what I normally do is just like talk with God, telling him how thankful I am for the things he’s done for me and discuss things in my life and then I’d say an Our Father and a few Hail Mary’s but I feel like those prayers that are just repeated are like nothing. I grew up in a primary school where it was basically like blindly repeating the same thing and in Church it feels the same way, but when I just like talk with God I feel better than just saying those prayers repeatedly. Am I praying wrong or is there a way to pray better and can someone elaborate on ways to make those repeated prayers maybe feel more effective for me?
Click to expand...
there is no wrong or right way to pray so if thats the way you like to pray then go for it:thumbsup:

remember god knows all your thoughts, words, etc so he will hear every prayer you send him
 
Untruth, you’re doing just fine. Tell Him whatever is in your heart, just like you already do. He’s your Father, and He loves to hear that stuff from you.
 
Untruth said:
Hi there,

I’m not too sure how to pray exactly. At night what I normally do is just like talk with God, telling him how thankful I am for the things he’s done for me and discuss things in my life and then I’d say an Our Father and a few Hail Mary’s but I feel like those prayers that are just repeated are like nothing. I grew up in a primary school where it was basically like blindly repeating the same thing and in Church it feels the same way, but when I just like talk with God I feel better than just saying those prayers repeatedly. Am I praying wrong or is there a way to pray better and can someone elaborate on ways to make those repeated prayers maybe feel more effective for me?
Click to expand...
This may help. Prayer is the uplifting of your mind soul and body to Almighty GOD in order to communicate with him on a higher plane. Therefore , when you pray - talking alone is overrated just as mindlessly repeating repetitive prayers is overrated.

A person can pray 100 Hail Marys and pray well. A person can pray 100 Hail Marys and pray poorly. Because prayer is what you put into it.

So are the words you say all that important? Not really if the intention and methodology is poor. When we pray we should always pray well. You need to be in the right frame of mind. You have to want to communicate with GOD. If you are bored or feel you get nothing out of prayer - than you are right you dont , you have gotten what you are in essence praying for… But if you desire with your whole heart soul and mind to communicate with GOD then you are on the right track.

When Catholic pray the holy Rosary for example - they dont just mindlessly repeat the Our Father and the Hail Mary’s and the Glory Be’s - they have to be meditating on the Mysteries simultaneously. And they have to be doing so with the intention of Pleasing GOD.

I dont care who you are - if you do not have the proper intention when you pray then you cannot expect to get very much out of it. The uplifting of the mind body andf soul is key.

We say the words that please GOD in the Our Father and the Hail Mary and the Glory be - but the essence of the prayer is in the meditation and the intention , not merely the words.

Hope this helps
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top