Prayer; just do it

[CelticWarlord]

Here’s a very good piece from Father Ron Rolheiser’s book, Prayer, Our Deepest Longing .

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" Prayer as one of it’s oldest definitions puts it is “lifting mind and heart to God”. That sounds simple but it can be hard to do. Why?

Because we have the wrong notion of what that means. We unconsciously nurse the idea that we can pray only when we are not distracted, not angry, not emotionally or sexually preoccupied. We think God is like a parent who wants to see us only on our best behaviour. So we go into God’s presence only when we have nothing to hide, are joy-filled, and feel we can give proper attention to God in a reverent and loving way. Because we don’t understand what prayer is, we treat God as an authority figure or a visiting dignitary-as someone to whom we don’t tell the real truth. We don’t tell God what is really going on in our lives. We tell Him what we think He wants to hear. "

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[drac16]

Thank you for posting that. There’s a lot of wisdom therein.

 

[fide]

It is good to pray to God, saying what we KNOW He wants to hear - and saying those words as honestly believing that those words are TRUE. For example: praying, in sincerity, the prayer Jesus taught us, the “Our Father.”

It is also good to pray a prayer confessing our honest thoughts and feelings, knowing and admitting to God that we are wrong to feel that way, and think that way. And then pray to rid ourselves of those disordered and confused thoughts and feeling, and pray that He would replace them with thoughts and feelings that are in His will for each person - thoughts and feelings that direct us to holiness, to purity, to agape love/ holy charity, to authentic faith in God and sincere hope for His kingdom: may it come, and soon.

Authentic prayer is loving union with God. Say what works toward union.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Like St Teresa of Avila said: prayer is the greatest of all gifts, the channel through which God grants us favors, the beginning of all virtue