How to pray?

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Timi_Celcer

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Are there any kind of things a prayer must have because i just to just talk to the Lord about stuff like i would to a friend but now i don’t know if im praying right. I opened my prayer with our father and then i would just talk to him. Do i have to do some special kinds of prayer, do i have to say something at the beginning and something at the end of my prayer?
 
There are two important questions here:
  1. How do you pray?
Answer: Just do it. Just talk to God in your mind, or out loud.
  1. How should you pray?
First there are different kinds of prayer in different contexts. There is liturgical prayer inside of the mass, and there are formalized ‘official prayers’ outside of the mass.

The official prayers outside of the mass is called the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours. It’s composed of psalms (indeed, the psalter is the official prayer book of the OT and NT church) with some other prayers. divineoffice.org is a good resource here.

There are other kinds of prayer as well. Meditative prayers for example. The rosary is a meditative prayer. The words that are said is only the surface part of the prayer, the deep part is the concentration on events in Christ’s life called the mysteries. You call you can google what are the mysteries of the rosary for more information.

In my opinion, there are many many right ways to pray but only two wrong ways: a) praying with your lips not your heart ie vain prayers and b) not praying at all.
 
And if you don’t know what to say, there’s always the Lord’s prayer and also the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.”
 
I can’t think of a WRONG way to pray. I pray in many different ways throughout the day. I pray the rosary, I go to Eucharistic Adoration, I pray memorized prayers,(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Hail Holy Queen, St. Michael Prayer, etc.) often, but most commonly I just talk to God as a friend. He is always there for me. He loves me. He wants whats best for me. In my book, that makes Him my best friend. Just make sure you adore Him and glorify Him, make sure you thank Him and praise Him. And don’t be afraid to ask Him for your needs and your wants, or afraid to tell Him when you are angry and disappointed. It is much worse to ignore the Lord than it is to complain to Him. At least when you are complaining you haven’t forgotten Him and you aren’t ignoring Him. Just another way that He is truly our Father in heaven!
 
7armyrugrats said:
I can’t think of a WRONG way to pray. I pray in many different ways throughout the day. I pray the rosary, I go to Eucharistic Adoration, I pray memorized prayers,(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Hail Holy Queen, St. Michael Prayer, etc.) often, but most commonly I just talk to God as a friend. He is always there for me. He loves me. He wants whats best for me. In my book, that makes Him my best friend. Just make sure you adore Him and glorify Him, make sure you thank Him and praise Him. And don’t be afraid to ask Him for your needs and your wants, or afraid to tell Him when you are angry and disappointed. It is much worse to ignore the Lord than it is to complain to Him. At least when you are complaining you haven’t forgotten Him and you aren’t ignoring Him. Just another way that He is truly our Father in heaven!
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Timi_Celcer said:
Are there any kind of things a prayer must have because i just to just talk to the Lord about stuff like i would to a friend but now i don’t know if im praying right. I opened my prayer with our father and then i would just talk to him. Do i have to do some special kinds of prayer, do i have to say something at the beginning and something at the end of my prayer?
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No, the way you are praying is just fine.
The psalmists prayed often from their heart alone.

Mary.
 
What excatly does praying in vain, that is without your heart only with your lips mean?
 
Timi_Celcer said:
What excatly does praying in vain, that is without your heart only with your lips mean?
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Great question. An example:

So my mouth says: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Meanwhile my lizard brain is saying silently to itself: “Is tomorrow business casual at work? I can’t remember. Crud, I’m out of dryer sheets. I’ll have to pick some up. I think I have a coupon. No wait, it expired. I don’t get paid until Friday and the rent check hasn’t come out yet, so just in case I’ll put it on the credit card. Yeah, I need to pray about that stupid credit card. Wait I’m praying right now, oh yeah, I forgot! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!”
 
If your heart isn’t in it, STOP!

Say a brief prayer maybe like, “I’m sorry Lord, I don’t feel like praying right now. Please give me zeal to pray.”

But never say a bunch of words for no reason.
 
If I’m not mistaken, St. Ignacius, in his Spiritual Exercises, advised us to talk to Jesus just like we were talking to a friend. Because we are. Just open and honest communication.
 
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