Writing your own prayer

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harrisunt

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I’m an RCIA, soon to be Catholic and my girlfriend was raised in the church. When we found out that I would be leaving next year for the Air Force we came up with the idea of writing a night time prayer that we would say at a set time as a means of mending the distance between each other by bringing us closer to God. Is this an acceptable practice?
 
Welcome to CAF, harrisunt and God bless you for your services.

Yes, we are allowed to write our own prayer. After all, we talk with God and pray to Him everyday using our own words. Writing is just another form.

I don’t know about all of us, but being able to pray with your own prayers + other formal prayers (Rosary, Divine Mercy, etc …), one can grow much more in prayerful life. What I mean is that we become to be more aware what we pray for and how we pray.
 
harrisunt said:
I’m an RCIA, soon to be Catholic and my girlfriend was raised in the church. When we found out that I would be leaving next year for the Air Force we came up with the idea of writing a night time prayer that we would say at a set time as a means of mending the distance between each other by bringing us closer to God. Is this an acceptable practice?
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I think it is a lovely practice. Make sure your RCIA director knows your deployment schedule, so your reception in the Church can be facilitated in a timely manner. welcome home, by the way.
 
My RCIA director and I have spoken about the fact that I may start officer training school before Easter and we have an “emergency confirmation plan” roughly in place. Hopefully I will have enough heads up from my recruiter to get everything done before I leave.

Thank you for your replies.
 
Awww…:crying: God bless you! :crying:

Welcome home! Welcome to the forums!
 
What a beautiful idea!

Watch out, though. You may find that writing prayers is MUCH harder than you think. It requires REAL concentration and much sensitive thought. If you are writing a prayer, it’s different from the kind of personal, private prayer we all do . . . the kind that muses and rambles and sits on the Lord’s lap.

Written prayers are a distinct genre.

Address: To Whom is this prayer addressed?
Attribution: What divine attribute are you appealing to?
Petition: What do you need/want?
Hoped-for result To what end do you need/want this?
Closing (through Christ Our Lord or other appropriate closing).

Again: what a beautiful idea to write this together.

The exercise can be extremely edifying.
 
I believe that the Holy Spirit was helping us create something beautiful when we were writing. It’s not complete but we are happy with what we have written to this point.

She collected many of the prayers and writings that I put into more of a poetic form… I was hesitant to post it but here it is. Remember that it remains a work in progress.

Far from home and those we love,
We find our thoughts turned to them with affectionate longing.
Great distances separate us,
Yet we remain strong through our love of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Separated by calling stars and calls to serve beyond our selves,
We ask that you protect us, and those of similar state and mind,
Keep our eyes steadfast in our goals and motivations,
While remaining strong against temptation and weakness

Let us feel no rain and coldness, for we are each other’s shelter and warmth,
Grant us the grace to love and forgive, as You love and forgive the world.
Bless us in times of separation and togetherness,
That our hearts will continually dwell together in Yours.

Grant that we may bring your Spirit into all that we do,
Remind us that love is patient and kind; never proud.
Remind us that love is without envy; calm and hopeful.
Though we bleed our souls on these city streets,
We offer our prayers and petitions to you.
Strengthen the love between distant souls,
Reminding us that through the darkness we will see Your light.
The more the room goes dark the more of You we will see

We offer our hearts as a sacrifice for all of the blessings bestowed on us.
May our greatest delight come from spreading your love and word
And living every moment of our lives, though apart phisically, together in spirit,
As ambassadors for your love,
With every drop of blood and every beat of our heart.

Amen.
 
harrisunt said:
I believe that the Holy Spirit was helping us create something beautiful when we were writing. It’s not complete but we are happy with what we have written to this point.

She collected many of the prayers and writings that I put into more of a poetic form… I was hesitant to post it but here it is. Remember that it remains a work in progress.

Far from home and those we love,
We find our thoughts turned to them with affectionate longing.
Great distances separate us,
Yet we remain strong through our love of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Separated by calling stars and calls to serve beyond our selves,
We ask that you protect us, and those of similar state and mind,
Keep our eyes steadfast in our goals and motivations,
While remaining strong against temptation and weakness

Let us feel no rain and coldness, for we are each other’s shelter and warmth,
Grant us the grace to love and forgive, as You love and forgive the world.
Bless us in times of separation and togetherness,
That our hearts will continually dwell together in Yours.

Grant that we may bring your Spirit into all that we do,
Remind us that love is patient and kind; never proud.
Remind us that love is without envy; calm and hopeful.
Though we bleed our souls on these city streets,
We offer our prayers and petitions to you.
Strengthen the love between distant souls,
Reminding us that through the darkness we will see Your light.
The more the room goes dark the more of You we will see

We offer our hearts as a sacrifice for all of the blessings bestowed on us.
May our greatest delight come from spreading your love and word
And living every moment of our lives, though apart phisically, together in spirit,
As ambassadors for your love,
With every drop of blood and every beat of our heart.

Amen.
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BEAUTIFUL!
 
:crying:

I’m so emotional today…I really need to stop reading this thread.

God bless.
 
Although writing one’s own prayers is a beautiful practice, I still believe that the best prayer to close the night with is still Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. And of course, as a liturgy, it has a unifying power inherent in all liturgical prayer.
 
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