How to pray?

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hudson

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I don’t think I know how to pray. Is it ok to pray for things you wish to happen? Do you pray for only gods will to be done? If someone is sick then do you pray to god for them to be healed? When you pray to Mary or the Saints are pre written prayers what you pray or can you make up your own? When you do pray to Mary or the Saints do you always word it in the form of “pray for me, us”? If your wife was sick or may be sick how would you pray for her? I have learned a lot lately but something this basic I don’t grasp.
 
The answer to all your questions can be found in the following prayer:
Our Father, Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
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Great question and desire…and first answer.

The Our Father has all the elements to prayer…and we should say this exact prayer, with ever greater sincerity, abandonment, and simplicity.

But it also is a model for prayer…praise, adoration, reparation, faith, supplication.

Prayer should be utterly simple.

To kickstart it…“to open the door” we can use fixed/verbal prayers…but it should also move quickly into sincere Father-son, Father-daughter conversation. Very natural.

You can pray for things, but you should pray to change yourself, not God. Help me to know and do your will in the minutes of the day, My God. Help me to remember to be little. Help my mother.

Pray more for others than for yourself…spare the last minute or two for yourself.

Tell God you don’t know how to prayer…ask Him to teach you, to show you, to give you graces.
 
When one says verbal prayers, they must alway be said aloud? Or does the word verbal mean something else.
 
hudson said:
I don’t think I know how to pray.
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Nonsense. Prayer is a conversation. Just speak from your heart.
Is it ok to pray for things you wish to happen? Do you pray for only gods will to be done?
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Yes on both accounts. As the above poster wrote, the Our Father contains much good information on “how to pray” - the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. the “Our Father” is his response. Of course He also said to ask in confidence and with faith.
The thing to always remember though is to pray for God’s will first and last. But certianly we can pray for things we wish for…
If someone is sick then do you pray to god for them to be healed?
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This is an excellent thing to pray for. Another is that God give them strength to bear their suffering and to bring good out of it.
When you pray to Mary or the Saints are pre written prayers what you pray or can you make up your own?
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Either is fine.
When you do pray to Mary or the Saints do you always word it in the form of “pray for me, us”?
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Yes. In praying to the saints it is important to remember that you are asking for their intercession, not for them to act of themselves. God is always the object and source of our faith.
If your wife was sick or may be sick how would you pray for her?
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My wife is sick. She has Alzheimer’s. I have been through the litany. I have prayed for healing, for a miracle, for strength, for forbearance, and for God to take her sooner rather than later.
I have learned a lot lately but something this basic I don’t grasp.
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As I said at the beginning, Prayer is a conversation. It is also very personal. Some people like “prepared” prayers, others like to just extemporize. Most probably use a combination.

Be patient with your self and just talk to God as it comes to you.

Peace
James
 
hudson said:
When one says verbal prayers, they must alway be said aloud? Or does the word verbal mean something else.
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No, the only thing that is important is a struggle to keep saying them from your heart.

I mean the formula/fixed prayer…though I don’t like that word.

Sometimes it’s the “turning back” again and again which is all that matters.

Saying the Rosary might involve a conscious decision to turn back to God in prayer, again and again, 50-100 times in a Rosary.

And that’s a wonderful thing!
 
JRKH said:
Nonsense.

My wife is sick. She has Alzheimer’s. I have been through the litany. I have prayed for healing, for a miracle, for strength, for forbearance, and for God to take her sooner rather than later.
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A hero among us, and a saint in the making. God bless every effort you make to love your life. Prayers for you.
 
Edward can you explain what you mean further about “turning back”
Jrkh thanks for all that it was helpful.
 
hudson said:
Edward can you explain what you mean further about “turning back”
Jrkh thanks for all that it was helpful.
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Sometimes my mind begins to wander. No big deal. So I turn back to attend to My Father or Mother Mary. I make a decision to love. I invoke my will over my comfort seeking nature. But I do it like a child, no worries. No OCD, just like a little stumbling, forgetful, distractable child.

God has the heart of a perfect Father…how would such a Father act when His child turns back and wants to begin his/her conversation again with the Father? Beautifully, yes?

A child distracted, turning back to his parents, brings joy to his / her parents, yes?

So turning back is a deliberate act to love, to give more effort than before, to pay attention, to give attention to Our Father.

Turn back with the smile of a child. Utter simplicity. “Our Father”.
 
The dumbest of all questions, are we supposed to sign/bless ourselves at the beginning of all prayers? What if we just got done signing ourselves with holy water, then enter the pew to pray, are we supposed to then sign ourselves again? When we pray lots of prayers is it proper to sign before starting, then after all are said? When we pray in our homes, do we always kneel or it ok to pray at any time?

I really need to know all these answers, because all the books I have read have not addressed this.
 
hudson said:
The dumbest of all questions, are we supposed to sign/bless ourselves at the beginning of all prayers? What if we just got done signing ourselves with holy water, then enter the pew to pray, are we supposed to then sign ourselves again? When we pray lots of prayers is it proper to sign before starting, then after all are said? When we pray in our homes, do we always kneel or it ok to pray at any time?

I really need to know all these answers, because all the books I have read have not addressed this.
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No, these are all perfect questions. They are. I’ve asked them…and we all do.

We can sign ourselves if we need to…but we need not do so.

Short prayers…sometimes called aspirations…can be said quietly, invisibly…known only to God. “My Lord and My God, help me deal with this person”. Or simply My God and My All.

These are great ways to maintain a Presence of God during the day. I do this often.

Maintaining “a presence of God” is really about unifying your day, with God, for God. Prayer helps you do this.

Sometimes I sign myself too, e.g., beginning a drive. It’s just a form of physical prayer.

I usually kneel for my morning offering…and in the evening for a short, often very short, examination of conscience / act of thanksgiving for the day.
 
There are lots of ways to pray.

Aspirations are just very short prayers. Often the psalms from the day’s Mass readings can give you a good aspiration for the whole day.

You can offer your work as a prayer too.

Convert all you do…joys, sufferings, works, pains, annoyances into an offer of pray…with different intentions:

thanksgiving
adoration
reparation
supplication
praise
etc.
 
Thanks for the free PDF. I added it to my iPad to read later. I am about to read Triumph and then I may check out some of these.
 
Hudson, many saints have struggled for decades to learn to pray. Don’t get too caught up in the mechanics. Just taking time to pray each day is a great start.

One small book I will recommend and which one of the other poster’s linked is “Time for God” by Father Jaques Phillipe. Fr. Phillipe’s books are always small, very short, inexpensive and packed with good advice.

scepterpublishers.org/product/index.php?FULL=557.

-Tim-
 
There is of course always the public prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours.

For private prayer, God can read our hearts. When I have a particularly difficult dilemma to deal with, I find that the best solution is just to sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and to say to God “the burden is too great for me, I leave the problem in your hands”. I don’t ask for a specific solution, just a solution, and if a solution is impossible, the strength to endure whatever trials await me.

Usually, He has a solution in store. Not always the one I hoped for, but He has often surprised me. Patience is necessary though. I had one particular prayer that I had prayed back when I was a child. I had forgotten it over the years (I’m now 53), and to my great surprise, recently (last year), God answered me.

You see I had a particularly trying year last year. He answered the prayer when I needed it to be answered most. It got me through the year.

God is wonderful, God is great. Speak to Him from the heart!
 
Prayer can be defined as the lifting of one’s mind and heart to God. You can pray in any way that you’d like. You may say pre written prayers or just say whatever comes to your mind. You can pray by speaking out loud or just reflecting or meditating in your mind. You can make requests, praise God, ask for help, or just tell God what’s going on in your life during prayer. In my opinion the three best ways to pray are:
  1. Recitation of the Holy Rosary. St. Louis De Montfort said that the Rosary is the most perfect prayer we can offer up to God because we go through his blessed Mother. Jesus Himself came to us through Mary so the best way that we can go to him is through His Mother. She takes what we have to offer Jesus and “cleans it up” before offering it to Jesus for us. I like to mention what my intentions are then say a Rosary for those intentions.
  2. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours. You may want to get a little book of the prayers of the hours like Christian Prayer or Shorter Christian Prayer to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours is a set of prayers that are recited throughout certain parts of the day that are intended to lengthen the Eucharistic celebration, and pray together as a Catholic family. Every Priest, Deacon, Bishop, Monk, Nun, Cardinal, and even the Pope prays the Liturgy of the Hours, it is the prayer of the Church.
  3. Praying with the scriptures. I also like to pick up the Bible and read a passage, sometimes at random, sometimes whatever the reading of the day is, and meditate on what it means in my life today. Remember the Scriptures are the Word of God and he is trying to say something to you and I with them.
Of course these are all examples of personal prayer, the best prayer that you could ever participate in is the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. If you have something that you really need to pray for go to Mass and pray for it there.

Hope this helps!
 
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