What do you do instead of pray?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Reformed_Rob
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Reformed_Rob

Guest
I’m talking about those times when you planned to pray and you didn’t, or you didn’t pray and you wished you would have.

Personally, I sleep in longer than I need to. Part of that has to do with staying up later than I should:yawn:.

Also, I snack, read, get busy with other things like cleaning, or talk on the phone, or rent a movie, or surf the net, including these forums.

I’m sure many of those distractions (not all of them bad in themselves) are the same for you. What are your prayer distractions?
 
tv, computer, phone, bed… sometimes i start to pray, but the cat will come in demanding i pet it, or that song i haven’t heard in ages will come on the radio, or my mom will come up and offer me something to eat… or i start to focus on how hot or cold it is, the position i’m in, that itch i can’t reach…anything and everything to distract me from my prayers. i try to say my rosary everyday, but a major problem i had was that i would keep putting it off… ‘oh, i’ll say at 3 pm… oops, i’ll say it at 9…meh, i’ll say it at 10’ and so on and so forth. then i read a post here (i believe it was here) where someone asked if saints ever went to purgatory and someone replied that yes, a saint had appeared after their death to someone and told them that they had indeed been through purgatory because they had kept putting off their prayers. :rolleyes: well, i don’t do that anymore!
 
40.png
little_flower:
he cat will come in demanding i pet it, or that song i haven’t heard in ages will come on the radio, or my mom will come up and offer me something to eat…saint had appeared after their death to someone and told them that they had indeed been through purgatory because they had kept putting off their prayers. :rolleyes: well, i don’t do that anymore!
Click to expand...
Maybe you should shut your door and turn off your radio. Alas, I don’t have pets inside, but most of what you say is common in me as well.

I wanted to know what caused other people to stumble, and hopefully how you worked in your life to get around them. I’ve just seen such a pattern in my life, that when I stop praying regularly, then so much else goes awry. But it’s so hard to pray once a day, for like you know, more than a few minutes.

And you could say “I pray constantly” and that’s a good attitude to have, but I mean, if monks and nuns pray so many hours a day ( or at least used to?), and I’ve read about so many godly men and women that prayed a lot, then there must be something there that molds us into better servants of Christ.

Afterall, does not Scripture say that “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowrul; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:11

We should show our dependance on God by the frequency and length to our communication with Him.
 
Reformed Rob,

This is an interesting question, and it’s good that you bring it up so that we can take the opportunity to look at our habits—thanks.

I would say that sleep is what I do instead of praying! I tend to put off some mental prayer (my “list” of intentions, that is) until I go to bed. But sometimes I’m so sleepy then that I have a hard time making it through my list—I realize that my intentions are wandering off into half-dreams. I started to work on that, though, and this is what has helped: first, I have some formal prayers printed on paper that I pray at the end of my usual evening reading, before I go to bed—this includes Fr. Frank Pavone’s prayer to end abortion, which always then reminds me to pray for Terri Schiavo, who is on my intention list. This way, certain prayers aren’t neglected. Then, next to my bed, I have printed out a morning offering. Before I start to get going in the morning, I read that. Doing that puts me in the frame of mind to continue with mental prayer before I get too distracted.
 
Dear friend

The only secret to having a regular prayer time is practice, with practice it becomes habit and in becoming habit, it becomes second nature.

It really is all about forming a good habit of speaking and listening to God regularly, all day when the habit is well formed. That habit only starts with practicing the first stumblings and growing in them, persevering through the times you are distracted or dry in spirit.

It is repetition , practice and habit, through this there is growth in spirit , lessons learnt in daily life and a slowly developing relationship with Divinity. That relationship only is complete and perfect once we die. Here in this life we are given every opportunity to develop a relationship with God, to PRACTICE, to sometimes fail and learn in failing (the man who never made a mistake, never made anything), the strive forward in holiness which is achieveable for every human being and holiness of which, does not rely on being perfect.

Holiness cannot be achieved without converse (prayer) with the Almighty. The pivot of any Catholic is prayer, the axis of faith is prayer, the greatest love you can show any human being is to pray for them…in prayer we are united in Christ, life is prayer, Holy Mass and the Eucharist is the greatest prayer of the Church.

The secret…repetition and practice, to grow in love and to grow more Christ-like.

God Bless you
 
I read that the things that distract us in prayers are the things that are important to us. Since Satan doesn’t want us to pray, he tempts us with the things he knows we’re attached to.

I find this to be true, and it’s amazing what silly little things keep me from God! Since I learned that tip, I’ve learned more about myself and my attachments. I just make a mental note that this is what the devil thinks can keep me from God and move on from there.

That brings me to this forum, which has kept me from my prayer life lately. (I still pray, but not as much.) It also gives me points to ponder as I do my tasks, but I used to reflect on the writings of the saints which I love to read. So, I guess I’ll need to pray about my use of this forum.
 
40.png
springbreeze:
Dear friend

The only secret to having a regular prayer time is practice, with practice it becomes habit and in becoming habit, it becomes second nature.

It really is all about forming a good habit of speaking and listening to God regularly, all day when the habit is well formed. That habit only starts with practicing the first stumblings and growing in them, persevering through the times you are distracted or dry in spirit.

It is repetition , practice and habit, through this there is growth in spirit , lessons learnt in daily life and a slowly developing relationship with Divinity. That relationship only is complete and perfect once we die. Here in this life we are given every opportunity to develop a relationship with God, to PRACTICE, to sometimes fail and learn in failing (the man who never made a mistake, never made anything), the strive forward in holiness which is achieveable for every human being and holiness of which, does not rely on being perfect.

Holiness cannot be achieved without converse (prayer) with the Almighty. The pivot of any Catholic is prayer, the axis of faith is prayer, the greatest love you can show any human being is to pray for them…in prayer we are united in Christ, life is prayer, Holy Mass and the Eucharist is the greatest prayer of the Church.

The secret…repetition and practice, to grow in love and to grow more Christ-like.

God Bless you
Click to expand...
Hi Springbreeze,Im in agreement with your secrets 👍 What I do is devote 2 hours in the mourning and go to church and offer my prayers and readings. You do this for 14 straight days and you will become prayer trained.It takes repetition,and sacrafice but you will reap the rewards.The closer you draw to the Lord the closer He will draw to you. God Bless.
 
so far as praying constantly goes… anyone here ever read The Practise of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence? very simple and effective method.
 
40.png
gardenswithkids:
I read that the things that distract us in prayers are the things that are important to us.

That brings me to this forum, which has kept me from my prayer life lately. (I still pray, but not as much.)

So, I guess I’ll need to pray about my use of this forum.
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s why sometimes I just don’t come to the forums. I’ve found that it’s hard to spend just 30 - 60 minutes here. Time goes so fast.

No, I have not read that book, “Practising the Presence of God”, I think I’ve heard of it, but that may have been a different book by the same title.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top