Who to pray to?

[ACanthony]

Hello all I am 27 years old and turned to my faith about two years ago. I have just recently included morning and evening prayers to my life. I am really falling in love with God (and also the Catholic Church). My question is two parts:

1. I love praying to saints, and have been praying to Padre Pio, but wouldn’t praying directly to God be more effective? And if God can hear all prayers anyways, why pray to a specific saint? I love the idea behind that but am just trying to understand why.
2. Sometimes in my prayer life, I feel like I’m thanking God for the same things or asking Him for the same things. What is the best way to keep prayer ‘fresh’ for lack of a better word?

Thank you!!

Anthony

 

[Cairisti]

1. Of course praying directly to God is great, but there is nothing wrong with having a “friend” who just happens to be a saint who is in Heaven to pray with you. The priest at my parish was trying to explain to the RCIA folks about such prayer. Just imagine you want to ask something of the CEO of the company, but you just happen to have a friend who is high up in the company and can put a good word in for you. It’s great to have an extra hand, so to speak.
2. Not sure God tires of our “thanks”, but another priest I know suggested to just “talk” to God several times a day. It didn’t have to be a formal prayer, just something like a small chat with a dear friend.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

Here are a couple of points which have really helped me in my own prayer life. First of all— ALL prayer is ultimately directed to God. In my opinion, Catholics do not pray to saints, we pray with them and they pray with us.The saints in heaven who have been purified fully are righteous in God’s sight. Thus, their prayers for us are very pleasing to God, for the prayer of the righteous avails much. When you ask a saint to intercede on your behalf, you are asking them to present your prayer to God through their holy hands (so to speak). It is still your prayer, but you have someone else presenting it.

As to the other part of your post, I can only say that I do the same thing. Scripture does tell us to persevere in prayer so I don’t think it is bad to ask for the same things or thank Him for the same things. Remember that the most important part of prayer is not asking or even thanking-- it’s listening. If you want to jazz up your prayer life- pray the psalms. Or find a favorite scripture, read it, contemplate it, try to see what it means in your life and then just sit silently before the Lord. I cannot tell you what a difference reading the Bible has made in my prayer life! I also recommend you pray the Rosary while meditating on the mysteries if you can. I also like the Divine Mercy Chaplet while contemplating the sorrowful mysteries. (let me know if you don’t know what the mysteries of the Rosary are). I also like to just give praise to the Lord, and include all the titles for Jesus that I can think of. For example, " My Lord and my God, I adore you, O Christ! You are the Rock of my salvation, You are the Alpha and the Omega, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, you are my Redeemer. You are the Son of the living God, the Bread from heaven…" Some unbelievers mock this sort of praise because they think that we believe in a God Who is an egomaniac— but that is not what praise is about. When we praise God, it disposes our mind and heart to humbly seeking Him. God desires our praise not because of His ego, but our need for humility and truth. Anyway, these are some the ways that I pray. Remember that you pray so that you can know God, so silent time without words is really awesome. God may or may not speak to you in your silent time, but be assured that He will be blessing you with His presence when you take the time to be still and know that He is God (Ps 46:10)

 

[ljsedivy]

Wow – you really are a prayer warrior! I want to be you when I grow up - LOL!

Thanks for that very lovely post.

I have a certain list of thanks giving and praise and requests that I go through. I don’t feel bad or awkward in any way about it because I really feel the prayer in my heart as I visualize everything. Just try not to rush through your “list”. Say what you mean and mean what you say …as they say.

 

[ACanthony]

Thanks to all of you guys! What a help Especially Prayer Warrior!! It is very interesting to hear all the ways that people pray. I will incorporate all these forms one way or the other. I do like the idea of listening to God. In prayer it seems I am always the one doing the talking. I never really even thought that God would speak to me. But that is foolish to think otherwise. Keep the ideas coming if you could. This is a big help!