What counts as Catholic prayer?

[josephback]

I realize this may be the wrong mindset but what counts as prayer in the Catholic faith? My prayer life has fallen by wayside but most of what I know for prayer is the emotive “get in touch with your inner self” effect gibberish I was originally acquainted with(outside Catholicism) and this turns me off. A great deal of emphasis was made in youth group when I grew up that one needed a “personal relationship with God” (read above) but with an obsessive Eeyore personality that’s not a good idea. Part of the attraction of Catholicism for me was it’s sheer predictability and lack of emphasis on an individualist spirituality. I trust the Church but not my own ability or desire to hear from God and it’s feeding a bitterness that threatens to leave me a hypocrite in the pew. How does one recover the initial enthusiasm for relationship with God without surrendering to subjective insanity? Is it okay to keep God mostly at a distance in the personal life so long as I keep the moral law? I don’t want to have “a personal relationship with God”—I’ve been there before. It almost killed me.

 

[pianistclare]

Well, I suppose I “get” what you are saying…but honestly.
One really has to have that relationship with the Most High…Christ is our brother, after all. Our Lady is our Mother. One can, I suppose, be the silent and non-verbal member of a family. But in doing so, we miss much of what makes the family great.
Communication. We communicate with God through rote prayers, spontaneous prayer, meditation on the Scriptures, being the hands and feet of Christ to others, being compassionate…to the least of these…remember?

I suspect what almost killed you is other people’s expectations, and the pressure they put on you to pray as they did.
Christ holds out His arms to us. We would be arrogant not to run to Him.
God bless you. It’s an interesting good question.
Peace.

 

[LaetenturCaeli]

I don’t want to have “a personal relationship with God”—I’ve been there before.

I think perhaps it’s important to make a distinction between having a relationship with Him and the sort of things some Protestant groups do. The Word of Faith movement, for example, will often recount some fairly extensive “dialogues” with God that many of their leaders claim to have. That, assuredly, is not what having a relationship with God ordinarily means.

To have a relationship with God is to trust Him, to love Him, to adore Him, to rely on Him. It is in being able to speak openly to Jesus, as with a friend, especially when before the Blessed Sacrament. It is in seeking to do the good, because we want to please Him as our Father. It is in submitting our lives to Him, and always knowing that, whatever might happen to us, He will bring good out of it. It is to thank Him for all of the good He does for us and for the whole world, especially as reparation for all of the ingratitude and self-absorption and self-reliance that constitutes this wicked world.

And guess what? All of those things are prayer.

 

[angell1]

I realize this may be the wrong mindset but what counts as prayer in the Catholic faith? My prayer life has fallen by wayside but most of what I know for prayer is the emotive “get in touch with your inner self” effect gibberish I was originally acquainted with(outside Catholicism) and this turns me off. A great deal of emphasis was made in youth group when I grew up that one needed a “personal relationship with God” (read above) but with an obsessive Eeyore personality that’s not a good idea. Part of the attraction of Catholicism for me was it’s sheer predictability and lack of emphasis on an individualist spirituality. I trust the Church but not my own ability or desire to hear from God and it’s feeding a bitterness that threatens to leave me a hypocrite in the pew. How does one recover the initial enthusiasm for relationship with God without surrendering to subjective insanity? Is it okay to keep God mostly at a distance in the personal life so long as I keep the moral law? I don’t want to have “a personal relationship with God”—I’ve been there before. It almost killed me.

are you married? would you keep your wife and children at a distance?

do you have friends? do you habitually keep them at a distance?

I know “personal relationship with God” is thrown around like some cheap catch phrase nowadays but it really is necessary. and have much more intimacy with communion

talk to him, use rote prayers is they help get some structure. use your own words too, because you wouldn’t always just read prewritten letters to the people you love either, would you? ask him questions, thank him for things, meditate on scriptures, pray with and for others

go to mass, receive the eucharist, go to confession

 

[Della]

I realize this may be the wrong mindset but what counts as prayer in the Catholic faith? My prayer life has fallen by wayside but most of what I know for prayer is the emotive “get in touch with your inner self” effect gibberish I was originally acquainted with(outside Catholicism) and this turns me off. A great deal of emphasis was made in youth group when I grew up that one needed a “personal relationship with God” (read above) but with an obsessive Eeyore personality that’s not a good idea.

I know what you mean. It’s the “let’s all share our faith with each other” idea which really means “Let’s all share our ignorance with each other and pretend we know what we’re talking about.” You don’t have to have an emotive relationship with God. Feelings are not a reliable gauge for how good is our relationship with God. It’s fine to have feelings, of course, we are not to rely on them. I think this is why your prayer life has dropped off–because you keep trying to get something going instead of simply putting yourself in God’s presence and letting God be God and you be you.

Part of the attraction of Catholicism for me was it’s sheer predictability and lack of emphasis on an individualist spirituality. I trust the Church but not my own ability or desire to hear from God and it’s feeding a bitterness that threatens to leave me a hypocrite in the pew. How does one recover the initial enthusiasm for relationship with God without surrendering to subjective insanity? Is it okay to keep God mostly at a distance in the personal life so long as I keep the moral law? I don’t want to have “a personal relationship with God”—I’ve been there before. It almost killed me.

The Church knows we humans need structure in our spiritual lives just as much as in every other aspect of life. My advice to pray the daily prayers of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours. The easiest form for lay people is Shorter Christian Prayer. It consists of Psalms, prayers, a reading for each hour and hymns. Praying each hour only takes 10 to 15 minutes. There are guides for how to use it online. There is no need for you to “wing it” on your own. You will find that praying structured prayer will open the door to praying in your own words–as a springboard for your own personal devotions. So don’t despair. If you pray SCP faithfully, it will open new understanding, give you new aspects of your faith to explore, and boost your ability to better relate to God and spiritual things.

 

[tawny]

Amen. Well stated.

 

[Bonnie]

You don’t have to have an emotive relationship with God. Feelings are not a reliable gauge for how good is our relationship with God.

AMEN to that! The emphasis on feelings in my Protestant days caused problems for me. If I was feeling good - then God loved me. If I was depressed - God didn’t love me, or I wasn’t doing enough.

That carried over as a Catholic, but gradually became less of an influence. It was quite freeing to realize that my faith had nothing to do with how I felt.

 

[josephback]

The Word of Faith movement, for example, will often recount some fairly extensive “dialogues” with God that many of their leaders claim to have. That, assuredly, is not what having a relationship with God ordinarily means.
QUOTE]

Thanks for the responses everybody. To the poster above I didn’t grow up Word of Faith but I was exposed to it. I know intellectually that the critic in my head isn’t God but find it hard to separate the two after being around it for so long. It was a revelation to read and find out the Catholic Catechism’s definition of faith after so much exposure to the alternative. I had someone recommend getting a spiritual director last winter and put it off during the school semester, but am looking to make it a priority when I get a chance in July. I’ll be reading what get’s posted and thanks again for listening.

 

[josephback]

That carried over as a Catholic, but gradually became less of an influence. It was quite freeing to realize that my faith had nothing to do with how I felt.

I wait for that day with pleasure. It comes every once in a while.

 

[josephback]

The Church knows we humans need structure in our spiritual lives just as much as in every other aspect of life. My advice to pray the daily prayers of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours.

I have one of those but fell away from using it. Maybe I’ll take it to Mexico Study Abroad (for my minor).

 

[Della]

I have one of those but fell away from using it. Maybe I’ll take it to Mexico Study Abroad (for my minor).

Good idea. The LOTH is like meat and potatoes–not always memorable, but satisfying and filling. We need daily prayer like we need daily meals. If extemporaneous praying is hard for you, then do pray the hours. It will regulate your prayer life so that, in time, extemporaneous praying won’t be so difficult. Certain concepts and phrases will come to mind at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. After all, praying the Divine Office is praying the Scriptures, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

I just want to add that we can offer our daily work, no matter how simple or mundane, to God as prayer, as well. Think of your whole life as an offering of prayer to God–it will give you a whole new perspective on the meaning of prayer and of your life in Christ.

 

[Della]

AMEN to that! The emphasis on feelings in my Protestant days caused problems for me. If I was feeling good - then God loved me. If I was depressed - God didn’t love me, or I wasn’t doing enough.

That carried over as a Catholic, but gradually became less of an influence. It was quite freeing to realize that my faith had nothing to do with how I felt.

C. S. Lewis is responsible for freeing me from the “feelings equal my relationship with God” thing I learned in the Assemblies of God. If we weren’t happy, happy, happy all the time we were led to believe there was something very wrong with our spirituality. I got so tired of “taking my spiritual temperature” and having others do it for me, that I simply threw up my hands and declared I couldn’t do it anymore. That got a stunned response from my AoG friends, I can tell you. It wasn’t long after that that I left them and began my journey into the Church. It can take a looooooooooong time and a lot of prayer to shake off such influences, but the Holy Spirit is good. He enables us to let go of such false ideas, and when empty of them, to fill us with the truth. Anyway, I too am so thankful to be free from that ridiculous notion, and able to embrace the true freedom of the sons of God. :yup: