Prayer Intentions and Focus

[SavedByHim]

Question on prayer in general:

When I pray, I generally start by praying for someone/something in particular and it slowly balloons out to include more and more people. (For example, I may start out praying for my priest, and then I think, well gee, I should include the deacons, and then other local priests. And then, well, the bishop. And then all bishops… etc. etc.) It goes on until I feel like I’m just rambling.

Is it prudent to try and keep ones prayers more limited in focus? Because when I pray, I feel like I may as well just say “God, Please help everyone. Amen.” and that isn’t very thought-out, now is it?

 

[InLight247]

Talking about petition and intercession prayers, the way I usually pray is to categorize them. For example, I’ll say a Chaplet for our Pope and all the clergy and religious. It includes all the priests, nuns, brothers, deacons, etc. Then I’ll say another Chaplet specifically just for my Pastor and Vicar of my Parish.
When I pray for people’s healing, I’ll first state their names and then start my prayer. That Chaplet or Rosary will be specifically for A,B,C,D,E ‘s physically healing….
“God, Please help everyone. Amen,” is too general and seems lack of sincerity.

I often have to remind myself that petition and intercession should only be part of my daily prayers. I also need to spend time in adoration, praise, thanksgiving, reflection, as well as just being quiet in front of the Lord and listen.

 

[pray4peace]

I have had my prayers expand at times as well. I think it is okay, and that God is pleased we are praying for others. You can start your prayer by praying for family , friends, religious, and break it down like that if it helps.

Blessings

 

[ANGELIC_PEACE]

if you know what prayers you are going to say you could say an offering prayer before hand…or you could just offer everything that you are praying at that time if you are not sure how much you will be praying…
an offering prayer i made up is

lord jesus, through the immaculate heart of your mother mary, and also through her prayers and intercessions, i now pray and offer to you (name prayers) for ( name intentions)

i don’t think you should cut down on you intentions…i use this method and for my intentions

i include all the needs of mankind, mercy for mankind, in atonement and reparation for my sins and the sins of all mankind, in thanksgiving for all the graces and blessings and heavenly favours and miracles that have been bestowed upon me and upon mankind, for all the needs of the entire roman catholic church through out the whole world, for the needs of our holy father the pope, and all the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, nuns, brothers, missionaries, for my family and friends and relatives and benefactors and aquaintances and for everyone else and everything else that i should be praying for, for the curing and healing of all the sick and dying people in the world, for the conversion of sinners, for the enlightenment of unbelievers, for the perserverance of the just, for all the dying people in the world especially those who will die within the next 24 hours, for relief and deliverance for all the holy souls in purgatory, for relief and deliverance from purgatory for the souls of my family and friends and relatives and benefactors and aquaintances who are in purgatory, for the intentions of the god the father, for the intentions of god the holy spirit, for the intentions of the sacred heart of jesus, for the intentions of the immaculate heart of mary, for the intentions of the saintly heart of st joseph…

i have tons more intentions too…the point i’m trying to make is that if i were to pray for all these intentions seperately i would be there all day so i say my offering prayer and include lots of intentions (i think god would be more pleased with us if we chose to pray for lots of intentions rather than cut our intentions down) then i can just focus on saying the prayers i have offered …knowing in my heart that god will apply them to all the intentions i have told god about…saying an offering prayer beforehand means that i know what i am praying for and that halfway through my prayer i’m still not trying to include my intentions and get myself confused…

maybe using an offering prayer like the one i made up would help you get all your intentions in order…remember there is no limit on how many people we are allowed to pray for and there is no limit on how many intentions we are allowed to have especially when are intentions are actually for other people

ANGELIC PEACE

 

[LilyM]

Well, you can’t get much more general than ‘give us this day our daily bread’ can you? That little phrase encompasses all the material and spiritual needs of the entire world

The best thing to do is with your Morning Offering start off by simply offering all through Mary’s Immaculate Heart for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mama Mary and Our Lord can be trusted to apply your prayers and sacrifices better than you could think of :yup:

 

[SavedByHim]

The best thing to do is with your Morning Offering start off by simply offering all through Mary’s Immaculate Heart for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mama Mary and Our Lord can be trusted to apply your prayers and sacrifices better than you could think of :yup:

So, basically you’re saying that Mary and Our Lord know the prayers within my heart and if I say a simple offering to them, that they will know all I am praying for?

ANGELIC PEACE, thank you for your response and for your offering prayer… I am going to put that one to use!

 

[LilyM]

So, basically you’re saying that Mary and Our Lord know the prayers within my heart and if I say a simple offering to them, that they will know all I am praying for?

ANGELIC PEACE, thank you for your response and for your offering prayer… I am going to put that one to use!

I’m saying more than that - Mary and Our Lord don’t just know the things you ARE praying for in your heart (what you want) they also know what you need (in other words the things you SHOULD be praying for but aren’t!).

And being the generous dears they are, if you leave it up to them you just might get both!