one with god

[billcu1]

Everyday if I have time for nothing else I say the lord’s prayer, a hail mary and 3 glory be to the trinity. Would this simple act help in becoming one with god?

 

[IronMIke]

Indeed. I like how you have balance in prayers equal in number to Mary , God and the Trinity.

Sometimes sadly its all dedicated to Mary.

 

[JRKH]

Everyday if I have time for nothing else I say the lord’s prayer, a hail mary and 3 glory be to the trinity. Would this simple act help in becoming one with god?

Yes - of course it helps…All that we do that calls God to mind and more especially all that we do to live out our call as Christians brings us closer to God.

But I’m curious why you ask such a question? Is there more here than we know? Some deeper question or concern?

Peace
James

 

[Vouthon]

Everyday if I have time for nothing else I say the lord’s prayer, a hail mary and 3 glory be to the trinity. Would this simple act help in becoming one with god?

Of course. In fact if you said only one “Hail Mary” with true devotion, movement away from self and pure love of God above all things, in a renunciation of all save God in his Goodness, then that would serve you. It all depends upon your will, whether you surrender your self-will to God and seek his will.

Its not so much a question of what “you do” (although that’s important obviously) but rather what you “are”, what the intent is behind your prayers, your state of mind when you pray, your attitude. If your will is good and your heart pure, then a simple “Hail Mary” or “Our Father” once daily would mean more than a full night Vigil and the repitition of a hundred Psalsters. God looks at the heart of a man and not the exterior.

“…You ought to surrender yourself wholly to God in all things, and then do not trouble yourself about what He may do with His own. There are thousands of people, dead and in Heaven, who never truly and perfectly forsook their own wills. Only a perfect and true will could make one enter perfectly into God’s will and be without a will of one’s own; and whoever has more of this, he is more fully and more truly established in God. Yes, one Hail Mary said when a man has abandoned himself is more profitable than to read the Psalms a thousand times over without that…The most powerful prayer, one wellnigh omnipotent, and the worthiest work of all is the outcome of a quiet mind. The more free the mind is the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect the prayer is. To the free mind all things are possible. What is a free mind? A free mind is one which nothing weighs on, nothing worries, which, free from ties and from all self-seeking, untroubled and unfettered by anything, is wholly merged into the will of God and dead to its own…There is no work which men and women can perform, however small, which does not draw from this its power and strength…If the only prayer you say in your entire life is “Thank You,” that would suffice…”

- Meister Eckhart (1260-1329), Catholic mystic & Dominican priest

 

[billcu1]

Alot of protestants say that saying the our father literally is not what Jesus meant. It was a model. Am I right in believing that this prayer prayed literally is all god needs to give us what we need?

Bill

PS Is that what is meant by spiritually descerned?

 

[JRKH]

Alot of protestants say that saying the our father literally is not what Jesus meant. It was a model.

Well this is not really an “either or” but rather a “both/and”
I agree that it IS a model, but there is no reason to assume that it is not acceptable to pray it literally. An examination of the way the prayer is put together, the petitions involved etc gives a wonderful and compact lesson on what order our desires and our prayers should take.
I found that a good exercise for this is to “rewrite” the Lord’s prayer using synonyms (as much as possible) and your own phrasing. This exercise helps to open up the meaning of the words used and the intent of each part and petition. Then - as I pray it literally I have found that it has so much more meaning to me.

Often times what the protestant is concerned about is the idea of rote or repeated prayers. There is the Gospel admonition against vain and repetitious prayer (Mt 6:7).
This concern is a legitimate one for our prayers should not be mindless repetition, but it should be thoughtful and calling our minds and hearts to God and Christ who is our savior.

Am I right in believing that this prayer prayed literally is all god needs to give us what we need?

This can be a tricky question since I don’t know you personally or where you are in your faith journey. God needs us to give all to Him…our very heart and life. He desires our Love first and foremost. Prayers then flow from that Love…that desire on our part to open up to Him so that He may pour His Love, His grace, into our hearts.
If we seek to Love Him, then the number and type of formal prayer is less important because they will all come from that Love and really - all that we do will become prayer.

PS Is that what is meant by spiritually discerned?

Sorry - I’ll have to leave this one for another to answer…

Peace
James

 

[fred_conty]

Everyday if I have time for nothing else I say the lord’s prayer, a hail mary and 3 glory be to the trinity. Would this simple act help in becoming one with god?

It’s a start but not a ending.

We need to pray often and more. It isn’t a question of just doing the proper thing, or even just trying to do what someone else thinks we should do. WE need prayer to survive.

Good start tho.

Just a thought.