Problems with dry prayer life

[roseproject]

In short, I feel that I’m trying to get the most out of every prayer offering at the beginning of my day. I try my best to cover all my bases; Spiritual Communion, a prayer for all those who are need of help, a prayer to my guardian angel and all angels, an offering to St. Monica for all those who are in danger of falling away, and a general offering of all that I do that day…in that order, every day.

I feel that if I change my prayer intentions from these, I’ll be lacking somehow or I’ll be cheating someone out there of a prayer of mine. I tried praying them using different words, but it basically ends up being the same prayers anyways. I want to deepen my prayer life and my love for God but my routine is feeling very repetitive.

Any advise? Thanks in advance

 

[robertmidwest]

A few suggestions:

I was reading a book by an Eastern Orthodox priest who said God is silent sometimes so that we remember that He is not robot that we program to give us whatever we want.

Faith without works is dead. Are you getting out and interacting with others? Do you have a loving charitable attire with others you interact with?

Try reading scripture. Also try reading the lives of saints sometimes.

God bless you.

 

[littlestsouls2]

Just an idea:

Immediately after making your spiritual Communion, you can meditate on the Passion (while praying a decade of the Sorrowful Mysteries, for example), and offer this prayer/meditation for “all those who are in need of help.”

St. Gertrude: “Alas, Lord! what remedy can we find to soothe the agonising pains of Thy Divine Face!”
Our Lord: “The most efficacious and the tenderest remedy which you can prepare for Me is to meditate lovingly on My Passion, and to pray charitably for the conversion of sinners.”

Pax!

 

[Dorothy]

When we consecrate ourselves to our Blessed Mother Mary and allow her to do what she wills (Her will is one with the Lord) with our merits and graces, then with such an act of surrender and trust (she cannot be outdone) she will also respond to our prayers for our loved ones and dear friends.

Father Michael Gaitley explains this so well in his book “33 Days to Morning Glory”.

 

[St_Francis]

I forget where I read this, but the priest recommended praying very slowly, so as to consider each phrase or even each word! You could do that with a different pray each morning.

It doesn’t matter if they are the same every day unless you start saying them without thought. I try to deepen them a bit by mentally picturing throne to whom the prayer is adressed (ok, a little wave to my Guardian Angel!), or to picture the one(s) for whom I am praying.

Are you doing spiritual reading or meditative prayer? That is very important for our prayer lives. Maybe God is calling you to add a bit at another time of day?

 

[JM3]

“One of the most common and deplorable illusions consists in judging of our prayer by the consolation or dryness we meet with therein; in thinking it good because accompanied by consolation, bad, if chilled by desolation. No, no, such is not the case. The best prayer, were it ever so dry, is that which leaves us more humble, more disposed to renounce ourselves, to practice obedience, to live the life of dependence which our state requires, to bear with our brethren, and never to be a burden to others; in a word, to do in all things the will of God. On the other hand, our prayer, were it an ocean of sweetness, is barren and even baneful when it leaves us more full of ourselves, more attached to our consolations; for our end here below is not enjoyment, but ever to tend to perfection.” The Ways of Mental Prayer by Vital Lehodey

 

[carefullytread]

It doesn’t matter if they are the same every day unless you start saying them without thought.

HI Francis,

I’m curious, do you mean to say that it is undesirable to only say prayers without thought or to ever say prayers without thought?

What are your thoughts on those times where your mind is almost blank and you repeat known prayers automatically? I find this happens to me during the rosary sometimes. It’s different than having your mind wander; it’s almost like my mind just empties.

I am never sure what to think of that and appreciate thoughts.

 

[roseproject]

A few suggestions:

I was reading a book by an Eastern Orthodox priest who said God is silent sometimes so that we remember that He is not robot that we program to give us whatever we want.

I definitely agree There have been times when God has been silent towards certain requests of mine but, in the end, He just wanted me to grow first before receiving said request (not that this is always the case, but it has happens).

Faith without works is dead. Are you getting out and interacting with others? Do you have a loving charitable attire with others you interact with?

I try my best. I still live at home so I try to make it a habit to keep an eye out for the needs of my siblings or parents; keep a servants heart in other words I haven’t been quite as physically active lately because I’ve been healing from ankle surgery for about a month now.

Try reading scripture. Also try reading the lives of saints sometimes.

God bless you.

Definitely good suggestions

 

[roseproject]

I forget where I read this, but the priest recommended praying very slowly, so as to consider each phrase or even each word! You could do that with a different pray each morning.

It doesn’t matter if they are the same every day unless you start saying them without thought. I try to deepen them a bit by mentally picturing throne to whom the prayer is adressed (ok, a little wave to my Guardian Angel!), or to picture the one(s) for whom I am praying.

Are you doing spiritual reading or meditative prayer? That is very important for our prayer lives. Maybe God is calling you to add a bit at another time of day?

Yeah, I try my best to be mindful of everything I’m praying. It’s just hard to not be bored when I’m saying them the exact. same. way. every day -_- I know prayer isn’t supposed to be entertaining or whatnot but, at the same time, I like to see prayer as talking heart to heart with a friend while, at the same time, asking this friend to help you and others in their struggles and with life in general. I don’t like that I feel bored with my prayer life with God.

I just don’t know if I’m obliged to pray for the same intentions every day…and the thing is sometimes, if I happen to read something like, for example, about the souls in purgatory or the importance of your relationship with your guardian angel or the rewards of a certain kind of prayer like the rosary or a certain devotion or whatnot, I’ll feel guilty if I don’t include a prayer for whatever thing I feel a book is pressuring me to take part in. Not that taking part in such devotions or caring for the souls in purgatory is BAD, certainly not! I just want to know which devotions God is calling me to pursue. It may be my OCD/scrupulosity talking

 

[Dorothy]

We all have different personalities and are attracted to various prayers and spiritualities (Franciscan, Carmelite, Dominican, etc.) Although all those names I mentioned, and more, lead to the same goal, our union with the Lord, they have different “mixes” of the same ingredients in their prayer journey.

You may pray in different ways at different times during the day. By all means, pray directly to the Lord, and even if you need to complain about something do it respectfully and wait for an answer. Looking at a crucifix answers a lot of questions.

The Lord wants to be our friend, so it is good to learn how to talk to him about what troubles you, and to ask Him to be your patience, compassion, and ability to correct others with love.

There is reading a few verses of the bible and meditating on them and applying them to yourself, and many other ways to meditate on the word of God.

Short prayers such as “Jesus I trust in You” helps a lot. There are ways to pray while driving in a car and ways to pray in the morning and evening. God is always listening; He can be asked to increase our faith, hope, and love.

And, while walking on the road to the Lord with Him, He may change, at times, the way that you pray.

 

[St_Francis]

HI Francis,

I’m curious, do you mean to say that it is undesirable to only say prayers without thought or to ever say prayers without thought?

When we find ourselves saying our prayers the way hungry children speed through grace before eating we should see that there is a problem to address. That’s what I was talking about.

Sometimes we are going to say our prayers in one state or another, and then it is better to say a prayer “badly” than to not pray at all: by this I mean that someone may be in a rush and still want to “touch base” with God, but usually their prayers are said with attention to God.

What are your thoughts on those times where your mind is almost blank and you repeat known prayers automatically? I find this happens to me during the rosary sometimes. It’s different than having your mind wander; it’s almost like my mind just empties.

This is probably something to discuss with someone who can ask you more questions than I can. Sometimes I am distracted during the Rosary, thinking of the grocery list. Sometimes I am “distracted” by an idea about the mystery, which is part of what prayer is supposed to do for us!

Being blank may be like driving and suddenly realizing you are almost home with no memory of the drive from your job: just spacing out. Or it may mean a more contemplative state, of “just looking at Him.”

But this is such an advanced sort of question that it ought to be answered by a more knowledgeable person in real life.

I am never sure what to think of that and appreciate thoughts.

I have so much advice because I am so bad at prayer If I am very tired I will find that my mind is blank and not on the Rosary, in which case I bring it *gently *back, but I am not sure what you are describing, so I don’t want to say one way or the other.

 

[St_Francis]

Yeah, I try my best to be mindful of everything I’m praying. It’s just hard to not be bored when I’m saying them the exact. same. way. every day -_- I know prayer isn’t supposed to be entertaining or whatnot but, at the same time, I like to see prayer as talking heart to heart with a friend while, at the same time, asking this friend to help you and others in their struggles and with life in general. I don’t like that I feel bored with my prayer life with God.

I just don’t know if I’m obliged to pray for the same intentions every day…and the thing is sometimes, if I happen to read something like, for example, about the souls in purgatory or the importance of your relationship with your guardian angel or the rewards of a certain kind of prayer like the rosary or a certain devotion or whatnot, I’ll feel guilty if I don’t include a prayer for whatever thing I feel a book is pressuring me to take part in. Not that taking part in such devotions or caring for the souls in purgatory is BAD, certainly not! I just want to know which devotions God is calling me to pursue. It may be my OCD/scrupulosity talking

That can be difficult, choosing devotions and intentions!

And OCD can definitely make it difficult to find balance. I have a sort of general plan of intentions: if I drew a diagram, it would be like a grid, with the first column being a list of those for whom I pray in order of closeness to me, and the across being their needs for prayer, like I pray more frequently for those with cancer than those with colds, but I prayed every day when my dad had surgery on his knee.

Part of growing in holiness is realizing our human limitations. We can not pray as much as we would like for everyone we’d like to pray for. I tend add in others, like if I am praying for one person with cancer,I want to add in all the rest, and their families, and their doctors and nurses, and so on.

So other people recommended splitting them up, and using an inclusive prayer: Bless all those for whom I ought to be praying… and I prayed for young people on Mondays and Thursdays, adults on Tuesdays and Fridays, and those who have died on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

It would be good if you could discuss your prayer life with a priest in real life, because he would be able to advise you according to your particular needs