Questions about prayer?

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tomspitzley3

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Hello all, I have 2 questions on prayer:
  1. When I pray, sometimes I find it hard to find and say the right words, so usually I just sit there, totally at peace, my eyes closed, listening. My senses feel sharper, I feel at peace, and I feel like I can actually feel the presence of God there with me. Is that ok?
  2. What is the proper way to pray? I know we pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, by the will I the Holy Spirit. Is this a correct example? Father bless me throughout the day, help me spread your word. In Christ’s name, amen.? Can we pray to Jesus like for the forgiveness of sins, or still in the same fashion pray to the Father in Christ’s name? Again, I understand prayer is like a team effort, but again, is it wrong to pray to Jesus?
    Why do some seem to love Jesus more than the Father if we are to pray to Him? We accept Jesus as Lord because he leads us to the Father? Guys I’m really confused about some of these topics and more, so please, answer to the fullest extent. Thank you, and God bless!
 
  1. there is no prayer technique that can be guaranteed always to produce the same results because prayer is a medium through which your relationship with God is expressed. As your relationship changes and develops so what you experience in prayer will change. There is always going to be a point at which you will experience spiritual dryness and a withdrawal of the graces that make you feel so good at the moment. So you need to have a way of praying that will help you at all times and under all circumstances. Prayer without the use of words, concepts or images is only sustainable for those with a very developed spirituality and can only be experienced by the rest of us from time to time through a special grace of God. I would suggest that you try holding in your mind and heart a few simple words, like ‘Jesus I love you.’ During periods of dryness you can focus on them and during periods of grace they can be there in the background.
  2. since God desires us all to be saved He has provided for means of access to Him for all sorts of personality types and all sorts of situations. St Bernadette said “there is no envy in heaven” if you pray to the Son the Father and the Holy Spirit will be as glad as if you prayed to them, which in a sense you are. If you ask our Lady and the Saints to present your prayers the Blessed Trinity will still be glad.
 
Some members here can recommend some excellent books on prayer.

Prayer is a wonderful journey with the Lord, and many who have gone before us share their wisdom, which is very helpful.

In question 1 …Of course it is good to sit in the presence of the Lord and listen to Him. That is an important part of prayer.
 
tomspitzley3 said:
Hello all, I have 2 questions on prayer:
  1. When I pray, sometimes I find it hard to find and say the right words, so usually I just sit there, totally at peace, my eyes closed, listening. My senses feel sharper, I feel at peace, and I feel like I can actually feel the presence of God there with me. Is that ok?
  2. What is the proper way to pray? I know we pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, by the will I the Holy Spirit. Is this a correct example? Father bless me throughout the day, help me spread your word. In Christ’s name, amen.? Can we pray to Jesus like for the forgiveness of sins, or still in the same fashion pray to the Father in Christ’s name? Again, I understand prayer is like a team effort, but again, is it wrong to pray to Jesus?
    Why do some seem to love Jesus more than the Father if we are to pray to Him? We accept Jesus as Lord because he leads us to the Father? Guys I’m really confused about some of these topics and more, so please, answer to the fullest extent. Thank you, and God bless!
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I recommend the book Prayer For Beginners by Peter Kreeft.
 
  1. There are many different kinds of prayers and many prayer styles, entire books filled with them! Prayer, though, ultimately, is about building a relationship with God, and to do that you need to use a style of prayer that brings you closer to God.
Prayers don’t need many words, though, and the most powerful two prayers in the world are the Our Father and the Hail Mary. You will grow in faith deeply by saying just those two prayers slowly and lovingly!
  1. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three aspects that are together one God. It is right to worship and adore all three aspects. It is not necessarily out of line for certain people to perhaps be drawn to pray prayers that are “directed” to one aspect more than others. For example, I have been praying many prayers ‘directed’ to the Holy Spirit recently, but it’s what I feel a stirring in my soul to do. 🙂
 
Praying is talking to God and listening to what He has to say. Like others have mentioned, there are many different ways to pray; you just have to find what works for you. Some people pray through walking in nature, others pray through physical activities, others pray in the silence of their rooms, etc.
 
There is also the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, and the Liturgy of the Hours.
 
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