Is the Rosary "more powerful" than a simple Our Father? Why?

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ethereality

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Jesus teaches us, “This is how you are to pray,” concerning the Our Father. Mary promises us, “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.” (Jesus makes similar statements concerning praying in his name in particular, or praying in general with two or more or having faith the size of a mustard seed.)

Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice? If prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but only changes our will and draws us closer to God, and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming, is it better to pray an Our Father instead? Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer if God initially doesn’t grant our petitions: Is the Rosary a better way to beg God than with an Our Father? If so, why?
 
One time I as a single woman had trouble opening a jar of spaghetti sauce, so I prayed to God, something like “You are the strongest in the universe and can help me.”

The jar wouldn’t open. It seemed I was receiving a response “Go ask your mother.” I prayed to God again, letting Him know I wanted to pray to Him since He was strongest.

"Go ask your mother … "

"Hail Mary, full of grace … "

The jar opened.

That said, prayer to God directly is of course effective! The question is, how does He want you to pray? An Our Father? A whole Rosary? Best to ask Him how He wants you to pray, IMHO.

…
 
ethereality said:
Jesus teaches us, “This is how you are to pray,” concerning the Our Father. Mary promises us, “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.” (Jesus makes similar statements concerning praying in his name in particular, or praying in general with two or more or having faith the size of a mustard seed.)

Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice? If prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but only changes our will and draws us closer to God, and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming, is it better to pray an Our Father instead? Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer if God initially doesn’t grant our petitions: Is the Rosary a better way to beg God than with an Our Father? If so, why?
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To my mind there is only one reason to pray the
Rosary. It makes God happy. Happy you honor His Creation
and plan with Mary, happy she gave birth to His Son
and happy you honor and love God’s Mother
as your own.
To my mind God appreciates the Rossry said
appreciatively.
 
ethereality said:
Jesus teaches us, “This is how you are to pray,” concerning the Our Father. Mary promises us, “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.” (Jesus makes similar statements concerning praying in his name in particular, or praying in general with two or more or having faith the size of a mustard seed.)

Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice? If prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but only changes our will and draws us closer to God, and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming, is it better to pray an Our Father instead? Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer if God initially doesn’t grant our petitions: Is the Rosary a better way to beg God than with an Our Father? If so, why?
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Think of all the billions of rosaries that have been prayed.

Every time someone prays, mother of God, pray for us sinners, she does.
 
The Rosary is indeed a powerful prayer, just as The Our Father is and the very prayer Jesus gave us. What brings power to any prayer, however, to my mind is the devotion with which one prays and the holiness of the one praying. I don’t think personally that one prayer can be rated above another of itself. For me, The Our Father is a very powerful prayer simply because it is the prayer that Jesus taught us and it is included in The Mass - but it still requires the devotion and holiness, the attention, of the person who prays.
and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming
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If you find a certain prayer “tedious and time consuming” then that type of prayer is probably not your gift/call - or you might need spiritual direction re prayer generally and I would strongly recommend this anyway.
 
Not sure I’d ever say I tire of saying it? I usually feel way better afterwords. I’d say it’s more powerful than a single “Our Father” since it includes what, 6 of them?
 
ethereality said:
Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice?
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Don’t forget there are six Our Father’s in the Rosary so it is better than one Our Father.

Is it better that I stay up all night with my sick wife our just 30 minutes?

Maybe you should pray the Rosary as a Novena and afterwards pray a different chaplet as a Novena before coming back to the Rosary if you find it hard every single day.

I like Novenas because it “ties me into” more prayers and I also pray the Divine Mercy for nine days so I don’t pray the same every day/week.

The most important thing is it is better to pray than not to pray.
 
The “our Father” is part of THE most powerful prayer, the Mass.
 
ethereality said:
Jesus teaches us, “This is how you are to pray,” concerning the Our Father. Mary promises us, “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.” (Jesus makes similar statements concerning praying in his name in particular, or praying in general with two or more or having faith the size of a mustard seed.)

Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice? If prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but only changes our will and draws us closer to God, and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming, is it better to pray an Our Father instead? Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer if God initially doesn’t grant our petitions: Is the Rosary a better way to beg God than with an Our Father? If so, why?
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First of all - let’s look at the “single Our Father will suffice” view. A couple of thoughts…
  1. The Our Father is not simply a prayer to be recited. It is the archetype of prayer construct. By that I mean it contains both, all the essentials of a good prayer life, and the proper ordering of said prayer life. Thus, not only should we recite the Our Father, we should dissect it - embrace it - ponder and contemplate on it.
  2. The Rosary likewise is not intended to be simply recited. It is, or should be, a contemplative exercise in pondering the life, ministry and teachings of our Lord. The repetition of prayer - the Hail Marys - often serve as a “chant” so to speak that allows for said contemplation.
That said…praying the rosary is definitely NOT a requirement so if you find it to be tedious and not helpful, then do not use it.
However - do not pass on the rosary because it is “time consuming”. What else, or what better, use of your time could there be than in praying to God?
There is an old saying that if you are too busy to pray, then you are too busy.

So in conclusion - make time to pray. What prayers you use in that time…how you structure it…whether you simply pray or read scripture or the LOTH or whatever…make time to pray.

Just some thoughts

Peace
James
 
Nacho45 said:
Isn’t the Our Father part of the Rosary?
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Yes - but I don’t think that is the point of the OP.
To me the point is whether a quick simple prayer is less effective than longer or repetitious prayer such as the rosary.

At least that is what I saw.

Peace
James
 
ethereality said:
Jesus teaches us, “This is how you are to pray,” concerning the Our Father. Mary promises us, “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.” (Jesus makes similar statements concerning praying in his name in particular, or praying in general with two or more or having faith the size of a mustard seed.)

Why should we pray the Rosary if a single Our Father will suffice? If prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but only changes our will and draws us closer to God, and I find the Rosary tedious and time consuming, is it better to pray an Our Father instead? Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer if God initially doesn’t grant our petitions: Is the Rosary a better way to beg God than with an Our Father? If so, why?
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To me, the most obvious answer is that the Rosary contains six Our Fathers. And six Our Fathers have to be at least six times more powerful than just one.

If you are finding the the Rosary to be tedious, then that’s all the more reason to pray it. That’s an indication that you are not mentally disciplined in your prayer life.

Also,I would wager that you are not actual reading the mysteries, but merely stating them. What I mean is the first sorrowful mystery is the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Unless you are already intimately familiar with the Biblical passages about this, you should be reading them right after naming the mystery. While praying the decade, you should be meditating on the mystery.
 
Our Lord told us how to pray in giving us the Our Father. It includes praise of God as the first thing required of us; petition for our daily needs as befitting an ongoing every day relationship. It then includes a double edged sword asking for the same forgiveness that we offer others. It could have been written by a Jesuit! Then it allows us to ask for a lack of temptation, given our weakness a strong and reasonable request to an all powerful God.
The rosary on the other hand is a longer meditative prayer requiring concentration and time. It has the great beauty of the mysteries we are to consider whilst saying a set number of prayers almost by rote using beads so as we don’t get distracted by having to count.
A different form of prayer entirely. Our Lady and various visionaries have supposedly made promises of great spiritual gifts and graces to those who say it, especially during set forms of novenas.
More Powerful? All prayer is to God including those utilizing the intercession of His Mother. Does He want us to honour His Mother and give due reverence to her Fiat and her Immaculate Conception and her position as His mother; a position shown to be extremely powerful in the Biblical reference of the wedding feast. Do we do His will by saying the beautiful prayer of the rosary? Yes. Do we do the will of His Mother by doing so? Yes if we are to believe the faith of our fathers.
I have developed a great devotion to my Blessed Mother ( I am not sure of her feelings for me - disappointment through to a great love for His sinners, I hope).
I will do her will and pray the rosary knowing it contains His desired prayer as well,out of love for her entrusting in His demands for our respect and love for His mother.
All prayers go to our God and that is the power we all seek as His sons and daughters.
 
The Rosary is a type of meditation, so even if one is just repeating the words without much understanding, they are at least spending 20-30 minutes of the day where their concentration is focused on Our Lord, His Son, and Mother Mary, and their mind is not jumbled up with frenetic thoughts, many of which may be sinful.
 
Deus_tecum said:
The Rosary is a type of meditation, so even if one is just repeating the words without much understanding, they are at least spending 20-30 minutes of the day where their concentration is focused on Our Lord, His Son, and Mother Mary, and their mind is not jumbled up with frenetic thoughts, many of which may be sinful.
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This.↑
“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.”
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church
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Jeremyah said:
To me, the most obvious answer is that the Rosary contains six Our Fathers. And six Our Fathers have to be at least six times more powerful than just one.
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hhmmm…interesting view…but I wonder how true it is.
What is more important. The number of times said, or the faith, sincerity, humility and trust with which it is said - - - even once? To me…Sincerity, humility, faith and acceptance are what add power to prayer…not the number of times recited.
It’s not that I disagree with the sentiment in your comment above…I’m sure you and I are very much in agreement on this.
Just that I don’t want people to get the wrong impression.
If you are finding the the Rosary to be tedious, then that’s all the more reason to pray it. That’s an indication that you are not mentally disciplined in your prayer life.
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A very good point. Yet I would offer that the rosary is not the only way to add this discipline. For instance, one could use the Divine Mercy Chaplet instead of the Marion Rosary. One could use the Liturgy of The Hours, or scriptural reading or other spiritual reading as part of one’s prayer time.
Also,I would wager that you are not actual reading the mysteries, but merely stating them. What I mean is the first sorrowful mystery is the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Unless you are already intimately familiar with the Biblical passages about this, you should be reading them right after naming the mystery. While praying the decade, you should be meditating on the mystery.
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Amen. It is important that one at least attempt to meditate on these mysteries (sometimes easy - sometimes not 😊). It should be noted too that the act of praying the rosary can allow one to ponder various issues in their life. To become calm through the praying and to become more open to God’s voice.

So many benefits to prayer in one’s life.

Hope I don’t sound to critical of your advice above. As i said, I think you and I are in agreement on these things. We just express them differently.

Peace
James
 
It’s important not to diminish prayer, The Our Father or the Rosary or any prayer, to some sort of supersticious “quid pro quo”

Prayer is about relationship with God. It’s not “I do this and God gives me, or Mary, gives me something back that I want”

Prayer, meditation, contemplation is all about drawing closer to God and deep our relationship with Him.

Dont become supersticious about prayer.

Some of the most powerful prayers I have ever prayed consisted of one word “HELP” or “Sanctify”

Prayers are not about some form of hoop jumping to get something from God. That is not what prayer is about.
 
Marie5890 said:
It’s important not to diminish prayer, The Our Father or the Rosary or any prayer, to some sort of supersticious “quid pro quo”

Prayer is about relationship with God. It’s not “I do this and God gives me, or Mary, gives me something back that I want”

Prayer, meditation, contemplation is all about drawing closer to God and deep our relationship with Him.

Dont become supersticious about prayer.

Some of the most powerful prayers I have ever prayed consisted of one word “HELP” or “Sanctify”

Prayers are not about some form of hoop jumping to get something from God. That is not what prayer is about.
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👍
 
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