Imperfect Prayer

[chubbychops]

A Catholic friend of mine recently said it’s better not to pray at all than to pray imperfectly eg he says if you can’t concentrate on the Rosary or can’t meditate properly on it there’s no point saying it. He also says if you haven’t read and reflected on the readings before going to Mass it means you can’t participate properly in the Mass.

Please can someone advise me on Church teachings or teachings by Saints etc on either of these points. Is imperfect prayer better than no prayer? Thanks

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I don’t have any official teachings on this, only my own opinion.

I think it’s better to pray imperfectly than not to pray at all.

If it is someone’s practice to pray a certain way every day, like the rosary every evening, it makes sense that there are variations in how fruitful that prayer may be. There are days when the prayer is very deep and consoling, and other days when it may be hard to even get started. But by putting yourself in the position of prayer, you’ll be there waiting for God and whatever graces he wants to bestow. If you’re not there, you’ll never know what might have happened.

My spiritual director has quoted Mother Teresa to me to the effect that God doesn’t call us to be successful, God calls us to be faithful.

 

[sudy]

I kind of understand what your friend means in the sense of imperfect prayer not being too great and just reciting the words without any real understanding or thought going in, but we all have things going on in life that if you follow that advice, you’ll probably not manage to make a start… our minds are often full of something or other. I’ve found that finding a quiet place is a great starting point… and if I’m still not praying effectively I find that slowing down the prayer can help enormously, even repeating it until I’m absorbing the words better. I absolutely agree with what the poster above said.

On your second point… that seems utter nonsense to me. I mean, sure, it’s great if you can study the reading beforehand to help you absorb the message… that does seem like a good idea. However, it’s certainly not obligatory as you hear and understand during the Mass, or you can reread it at the end.

Having said all of this though, I can’t tell you what the Church teaches officially regarding this… or what the Saints may have said about it. If I’m in error, I’d certainly like to know about it too.

Edit: actually the second point must be nonsense because what about all those generations of people who had to manage before they could read, or before the bible was published.

 

[bisco]

perfect prayer is impossible. if you say the rosary, you must have a reason for saying it. that’s what is important to God. and i never learned anything in rcia about reading the readings before mass, but i sometimes do, in the magnificat. definitely not required. i think your friend needs to show you the church teaching, sounds like he’s making things up.

 

[Robyn_p]

A Catholic friend of mine recently said it’s better not to pray at all than to pray imperfectly eg he says if you can’t concentrate on the Rosary or can’t meditate properly on it there’s no point saying it. He also says if you haven’t read and reflected on the readings before going to Mass it means you can’t participate properly in the Mass.

Please can someone advise me on Church teachings or teachings by Saints etc on either of these points. Is imperfect prayer better than no prayer? Thanks

What does your friend mean by imperfect prayer? If he means just going through the motions without having any love or devotion to God, I agree. Prayer doesn’t do much good in that case.

But if he means having distractions or troubles during prayer, then no. In that case it’s not better to avoid prayer. St. Therese used to fall asleep during prayer, but she said that she felt it was still worthwhile, because God knew she was praying out of love for him, even though it was hard for her to focus.

So I think that’s what matters most. Our love. Remember Paul’s words “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” It doesn’t really matter how eloquently we pray. What matters is where our hearts are.

 

[tawny]

I don’t have any official teachings on this, only my own opinion.

I think it’s better to pray imperfectly than not to pray at all.

If it is someone’s practice to pray a certain way every day, like the rosary every evening, it makes sense that there are variations in how fruitful that prayer may be. There are days when the prayer is very deep and consoling, and other days when it may be hard to even get started. But by putting yourself in the position of prayer, you’ll be there waiting for God and whatever graces he wants to bestow. If you’re not there, you’ll never know what might have happened.

My spiritual director has quoted Mother Teresa to me to the effect that God doesn’t call us to be successful, God calls us to be faithful.

Well stated.

 

[Nelka]

A Catholic friend of mine recently said it’s better not to pray at all than to pray imperfectly eg he says if you can’t concentrate on the Rosary or can’t meditate properly on it there’s no point saying it. He also says if you haven’t read and reflected on the readings before going to Mass it means you can’t participate properly in the Mass.

Please can someone advise me on Church teachings or teachings by Saints etc on either of these points. Is imperfect prayer better than no prayer? Thanks

Better to try than to give up.

I am sure none of my prayers are perfect.

 

[MarcoPolo]

All our prayers are in a sense “imperfect.” Luckily, we have the Holy Spirit to make 'em better:[T]he Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rom. 8:26-27)

 

[crumblymunky]

What your friend is referring to is spiritual dryness, which isn’t wrong. It is a condition.

 

[BarbTh]

My spiritual director has quoted Mother Teresa to me to the effect that God doesn’t call us to be successful, God calls us to be faithful.

 

[thistle]

A Catholic friend of mine recently said it’s better not to pray at all than to pray imperfectly eg he says if you can’t concentrate on the Rosary or can’t meditate properly on it there’s no point saying it. He also says if you haven’t read and reflected on the readings before going to Mass it means you can’t participate properly in the Mass.

Please can someone advise me on Church teachings or teachings by Saints etc on either of these points. Is imperfect prayer better than no prayer? Thanks

Your friend is wrong.

As I mentioned in another thread Saint Padre Pio once said that if he had to start the Rosary over again every time he got distracted he would go his whole life without completing a Rosary.

 

[ready]

Unfortunately, much of our prayer is imperfect, but we should persevere in praying to the best of our ability. If we can not pray our rosary *properly *while driving, etc., then it would be best to pray it at a more opportune time in the day, so we will not lose out on many precious graces. This is what I have gathered from my spiritual reading on prayer. God bless you.