Prayer

[MistyF]

When I was taught to pray growing up, I was taught that memorizing certain prayers was very, very wrong. All prayer was supposed to be “from the heart” and improvisational. I have prayed several times since opening my heart to God’s word recently, and I’ve been studying the Catholic faith for hours daily. But, when I lost faith in religion growing up, the first thing to go was prayer, because it never felt like I was talking to God anyway. And so, when I first began to believe in God again, I was really nervous about praying. And still am, though it’s better.

But, I’m wondering where I can go…to learn to talk to God, I guess is the way to put it. I know that the Catholic faith involves many prayers that are memorized and specific to certain situations. And I want to find out about this. But, I also want to know…what is it that I’m supposed to do when there’s something specific that I feel the need to pray about. For example - tomorrow will be my first RCIA class. And next week I will be attending my first Mass. And probably the biggest thing I feel like I need to pray about is introducing my children (boys, 5 & 7) to the concept of there being a God, who Jesus is, all the stories that so many other children have been taught from birth. Having been agnostic since before their births, they were never taught anything. I even asked them recently if they knew who Jesus was, and they looked puzzled. I bought them both Catholic versions of Children’s Bibles, and I plan on beginning to read with them. These are the things that I feel I need to pray about.

But I feel so strange, almost scared, about it. I don’t dread it like I did as a teenager. But, this time I believe in Him, and I believe that I should pray, I guess I just don’t feel worthy of it, and I feel like I don’t know how.

Any advice, or links to information that might help?

 

[preyoflove]

Sister in Christ, greetings of His Love, Mercy and Peace!

Have you ever tried Eucharistic Adoration? Have you sat down and just stared at the Blessed Sacrament? He is the very same one who taught the apostles how to pray, you know. Just go into an Adoration Chapel and look at Him in his simple disguise as bread and He will teach you how to pray and He will reveal to you his Glory and Splendour little by little as you fall deeper and deeper in love with Him.

Peace, so be it.

 

[MistyF]

preyoflove:

Have you ever tried Eucharistic Adoration? Have you sat down and just stared at the Blessed Sacrament?

No, I haven’t. I am extremely new to this. I’ve posted pieces of my story on other threads here, but basically, I was raised JW, then was agnostic for 10 years. When Pope John Paul II first got sick, I began asking questions here and there. 2 weeks ago (today) I began to look in-depth at bible teachings. Mostly this started out as me proving JWs wrong, because I needed to make peace with that before I could move on in some other areas of my life. But, then I realized after about a week and a half, that I was beginning to have faith in God, and that faith pointed me to the Catholic Church. I was raised that the CC was evil, the spawn of Satan, the Harlot of Babylon. And so, I knew almost nothing about Catholicism. My boyfriend is Catholic, which is probably the only reason I even considered that the CC could be right (at first, I tried to prove it had to be some other religion, but that didn’t turn out to be provable). Anyway, what I know of the CC comes from things I’ve read online, and asking my boyfriend questions.

As I said above, next week will be the first time I’ve attended Mass. So, I have not a clue what Eucharistic Adoration is (though I do have a basic understanding of the Eucharist, as much as I can have for not having even ever seen it). But, I don’t really know what you meant by what you said. I think I need something a little simpler for now…

 

[Church_Militant]

Hi MistyF!

Y’know why I memorize some prayers? Because they say what my soul needs to say better than I can do it. Consider the Our Father…Whew!

I have several favorites…

The Anima Christi:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
Oh good Jesus, hear me
Within your wounds, hide me
Never let me be parted from thee
From the malicious enemy, defend me
At the hour of my death call me
And bid me come to thee
That with all your saints I may praise thee forever and ever, Amen.

I love that!

and this:

The Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me, Amen.

There are more, but these will do for now I hope. To me Catholic prayers just get it all done inside of me. Most of the others that I come up with spontaneously feel like I’m reciting a shopping list or something.
Pax tecum,

BTW: you are now in my prayers…

 

[puzzleannie]

prayer is conversation with God that is and always has been Catholic teaching. there is the formal public prayer of the Church, the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours (psalms and scripture readings). then there is private prayer. that includes devotions like the Rosary which is a guided meditation on the Gospel in company with Mary, the mother of the Lord who alone was part of Christ’s life from beginning to end. It consists of formal prayers, and spontaneous meditation and prayer that flows from it. there is also mental prayer which great spiritual writers have guided us about.

One of the most accessible is Teresa of Avila, whose mental prayer came from her love of God and desire to open her heart to him. Mental prayer begins with meditation, founded on the Eucharist, scripture or other spiritual reading, and progresses to contemplation, simply being present to God, open to the promptings of the Spirit, physically, mentally, emotionally present, loving God. Some advanced souls, like Teresa and other mystics are given the gift of infused contemplation by God (it is not something that can be taught or achieved through any system of prayer) which is beyond description and is the closest on earth we can come to union with God which is our hope in heaven.

by all means continue to pray as you always have, do not abandon your habits of prayer and scripture study. as you progress on your journey you will learn more about the richness of Church’s teaching on prayer and spiritual advancement. The last section of the Catechism of the Catholic church (also the shortest) focuses on Christian prayer, based on the Our Father, and is a great place to start. The CCC is available in most bookstores or online at Catholic sites. The major difference between the Catholic notion of prayer and that of all other non-Catholic denominations (excepting Orthodox) is that it has its source and summit in the Eucharist, the presence of Christ on earth through the sacramental economy of the Catholic Church.

the best primer on prayer I know of is called Apointment with God by Fr. Michael Scanlan TOR, chancellor of Franciscan University of Steubenville, available from the U bookstore or any CAtholic book catalog or site. very small, intended for college students, very, very good.
welcome home.