What is Prayer?
Prayer is talking to God and listening to what He says. St. Bernanrd of Clarveux says, “There are more people converted from mortal sin to grace, than there are relegious people converted from good to better”. I beleieve there is no such thing as reaching a point in spiritual growth and staying at the same place. I do not recall who said this, “you either grow in your faith or you slide back”. Remember Adam and Eve were taught by God Himself and yet the devil was able to deceive them. The mind map diagram below is based on the book by Peter Kreeft “Prayer for Beginners”.
We must strike a balance in prayer between taking up a thought about God and striving for a real encounter with God. The encounter in love is the purpose of prayer. It goes beyond what engages the mind in prayer.
To get a satisfaction that I am praying effectively, I have internalized what St. Augustine said about prayer. He said, “you can know something which you are unaware you know”. Whathe is saying is, God is working in our souls which our conscious mind may not perceive. Becuase it cannot percieve, we may think that nothing is happening when we pray. This will ultimately cause us to stop praying. So, it is important that we start our journey of a life of prayer with zero expectations.
How to Pray?
Listen to Bishop Barron - Video to the right hand
Prayer is easy. We can start with just sitting in a quiet place, without distractions, and just talk to Him. We first thank Him for His gifts to us. Request His permission to be in their presence. With the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Feel their presence. Ask Him whatever you want.
Pray the Rosary
The evil one hates the Rosary. This form of prayer is very powerful. These are not mindless repetiition of Hail Marys. Our Mother wants us to reflect on some important Gospel passages.
Prayers from Mother Church
One of the methods to pray is to use the words formulated by various saints and lay people as a starting point to pray and get close to God. Please click on the button below to navigate to a website created by Karen K where she provides links to various prayers. This is the foundation of our prayer life. Once you are ready to pray with your own words, move to that form of contemplative prayer. However, never abandon the pre-formulated prayers.
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It dates back to the early centuries of the Christian Church and was established as a monastic practice by Benedict in the 6th century. It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word.
What is Centering Prayer?
Fr. Thomas Keating says the following about Centering Prayer:
Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.
Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.
The source of Centering Prayer, as in all methods leading to contemplative prayer, is the Indwelling Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The focus of Centering Prayer is the deepening of our relationship with the living Christ. The effects of Centering Prayer are ecclesial, as the prayer tends to build communities of faith and bond the members together in mutual friendship and love.
Praying the Liturgy of Hours
This is an ancient form of prayer.
Become a Prayer Warrior
When we pray together, it has more power.
