What Prayer?

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Lexee15

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Okay this may sound like a stupid question, but I’m going to ask it anyway since there are so many knowledgable people on this forum. What are the different ways of praying and how do you do them? For example, what the heck is contemplative prayer compared to regular prayer, etc.? Any help would be great.
 
best books that helped me was Prayer for Beginners by Peter Kreeeft (from Ignatius Press) and Appointment with God by Fr. Michael Scanlan TOR from Franciscan University Press, and the Art of Praying by Romano Guardini from Sofia Institute.
 
Read Part 4 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s on prayer. It’s really very comprehensive, I was surprised how much is contained there!
 
ok, let’s start with this definition from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

**2725 **Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.

Now, before we go any further, does this make any sense at all?
 
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LSK:
ok, let’s start with this definition from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

**2725 **Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.

Now, before we go any further, does this make any sense at all?
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Some of it makes sense, but I’m not sure if I’m understanding completely.
 
Basil Pennington gives this simple story and explanation
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I have often said that I first learned contemplation the summer I was four years old. That summer I was on the farm with my grandparents. For some reason it was just the three of us at times. After supper I would go out on the porch and sit on the top step. After a bit, Granddad would come out and sit on one end of the porch swing. After a while, Grandma would come (women always do more work than men). And we would usually just sit there in silence. I felt so wonderful! It was only years later that I realized what was happening. This man and woman, who had been together for so many decades, had no need to say anything. It had all been said. They just sat together in love. And that love embraced the little grandson on the top step. He felt good all over as he sat in that love. Now he sits in the love of his heavenly Father.
B. Pennington
 
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Lexee15:
Some of it makes sense, but I’m not sure if I’m understanding completely.
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Ok. Good. At least you are being honest…what part of that definition does NOT make sense.
 
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LSK:
Ok. Good. At least you are being honest…what part of that definition does NOT make sense.
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This is what I don’t understand, the other part I sort of get, this is what confused me.
We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.
Click to expand...
 
Ok - What the Catechism teaches is that our prayer life needs to be a reflection of our daily life. The two cannot be seperate from one another. I cannot consider myself a prayerful woman simply because I begin each day with the Rosary. I must also take the Rosary, what it means, its mysteries and its meaning, into my daily life.

So, in order to truly understand prayer we begin by making the decision to live, as best we can, as Jesus would have us live. One may make that decision in a very concious manner…perhaps by doing a very thorough examination of conscience, and then going to confession to be forgiven any and all your sins (of both ommission and commission). I did that - and then I did the ‘decision’ prayer. I did it every day, morning and night, for two weeks. It goes like this:

Lord, I offer myself to thee to do with me as you wish. Relieve me of the bondage of self so that I may better do thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I may serve of Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy Way of Life. May I do Thy Will Always. Amen.

At the end of those two weeks, I began to explore the different writings in in the Church on prayer. I added different daily prayers to my routine. Today, I say a Rosary daily, try to go to Mass three times a week (I’m a commuter so sometimes traffic makes that a real challenge, but I can always make it to Saturday morning Mass) and I have made a regular practice of going to Confession once a month. At night, I review my day and see if there is anything that needs to be set right. Do I owe anyone an apology or an amends for behavior that was less than what it should have been? What did I do right? I then offer the day to the Lord.

It has taken a lot of practice over the years. I began slowly, just that prayer, every morning and every night, for two weeks. It really helped me begin to learn the power of prayer.
 
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