Innovative methods of prayer

[mitabrev]

Hi all,

I thought it would be helpful to each other if we shared ways to improve our prayer lives.
Specifically, Id like to hear handy ways of saying small prayers through the day.
As an example, heres a few methods I tend to use:

1. I always say a prayer whenever I wash my hands
2. I always try to greet the guardian angels of new people I meet.
3. If I really want eg salt with a meal, Id purposefully not take salt, offering it as a sacrifice for my sins and those if my family and friends.
4. Offeriing a prayer for strangers on trains, in doctors offices, in shopping queues etc.

Id love to hear if others practice ‘10 second prayers’ like this.

Please share.

 

[Golf_Zulu]

The nuns in grade school trained us to say a Hail Mary whenever we heard a siren for the safety of the first responders and anyone involved in whatever the incident was. I’m 73 years old I still automatically say a Hail Mary whenever I hear a sireen.

 

[JRKH]

Hi all,

I thought it would be helpful to each other if we shared ways to improve our prayer lives.
Specifically, Id like to hear handy ways of saying small prayers through the day.
As an example, heres a few methods I tend to use:

1. I always say a prayer whenever I wash my hands
2. I always try to greet the guardian angels of new people I meet.
3. If I really want eg salt with a meal, Id purposefully not take salt, offering it as a sacrifice for my sins and those if my family and friends.
4. Offeriing a prayer for strangers on trains, in doctors offices, in shopping queues etc.

Id love to hear if others practice ‘10 second prayers’ like this.

Please share.

I love this list. Interestingly - in regards to the first one about washing hands - I recall at a senior center they had posted above the sinks in the lavatories a note saying that, to be sure you have washed you hands for 15 seconds (to kill the germs) say or sing “twinkle twinkle little star…”. It occurs to me that saying a short prayer (the Glory be) would do the same thing AND praise God.

One thing that I do is to say a short prayer each time I drive by a Planned Parenthood office near me…“Heavenly Father, protect the innocent. Convict and convert the guilty”.
Other things…
Make the sign of the cross when passing a Catholic Church building - It’s like “waving to Jesus” in the tabernacle.
Do not park near the doors of a store…park further out and leave the closer spaces for others. This is especially a prayer and blessing in inclement weather…Of course this one depends one’s particular health and circumstance…

Peace
James

 

[Nelka]

1. I always try to greet the guardian angels of new people I meet.

How do you do this?

Convict and convert the guilty".

If we were to convict everybody guilty of sinning then most of us would be squashed in prison.

 

[RPRPsych]

How do you do this?

If we were to convict everybody guilty of sinning then most of us would be squashed in prison.

I think what the previous poster meant was not a forensic / legal conviction, but making those in favour of abortion aware of their sins (a “conviction” by their own conscience, in other words). He certainly didn’t want them in jail - note that he said “convict and convert”!

As St. Paul puts it in the Epistle to the Hebrews, turning away from “dead works” (sin, in other words) must come before faith in God. Being convinced of one’s sins, and turning away from them, is the necessary precursor to conversion.

Back to the thread, I follow the Rev. Fulton Sheen’s off-hand recommendation (in The World’s First Love) to say the Rosary even when my beads aren’t handy. (The example he used was of doing so while stuck in traffic, using the steering wheel, but I don’t drive a car ) I also tend to say a Prayer for the Dead every time I see a patient going to or from the mortuary (very close to where I work, strangely enough), or if I hear of an unexpected or sudden death. I have also said my share of Rosaries (and Divine Mercy Chaplets) during long bus or car journeys. Not sure if that would count as “innovative” though.

 

[JRKH]

How do you do this?

I don’t know how the OP intends it, but to me, this can be done silently…Just as we try to “see Christ” in others, but not always express this verbally, we can see, recognize and “greet” the guardian angel of another.

Originally Posted by JRKH View Post
Convict and convert the guilty".

If we were to convict everybody guilty of sinning then most of us would be squashed in prison.

Sorry to be not clear…Note that the prayer is not for us to convict but for God to do so. The intention is that God “convict” (convince) them in their heart of the sin of abortion and then “convert” them to God and away from this sin.

Convict has two definitions…

1. to prove or declare guilty of an offense, especially after a legal trial: to convict a prisoner of a felony.
2. to impress with a sense of guilt.

The prayer is intended to convey the second definition…That God “impress” them with a “sense of guilt” over this sin.

Peace
James

 

[mitabrev]

Thank you for all of your replies!
I’ve added a couple of the items you all mentioned to my list!

Nelka: greeting a guardian angel is something I do inwardly. It’s not a vocal greeting, nor is it a particularly long one, just an “inward nod” to acknowledge the angels presence.