HOW WE PRAY The two main types of prayer are vocal and mental. In vocal prayer we use prayers, such as the ones mentioned above, from books. Or perhaps those we’ve written down ourselves. In mental prayer we reflect on God’s word. (Mental prayer can also include meditation on various prayers and readings.) Note that, as the renowned Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once stressed “In prayer [we] do not do all the talking…we must also listen. God talks to us, more in meditation than in vocal prayer.” The two forms can also be combined and often are, such as in the Rosary. Vocal prayer can help with mental prayer. Reading can definitely help your mental prayer life as well! Try to read scripture or other devout material whenever possible, even if it’s just for 15 minutes or so, (at least a couple of times each week)! A good reading list includes: • The Bible (especially the Gospels and St. Paul’s letters in the New Testament, and the Psalms in the Old Testament). • Writings by various religious, theologians, or well known lay people (such as G.K. Chesterton or Scott Hahn). • Books by and about the Saints. • A book or magazine, such as “Magnificat” that contains the daily Mass readings. Be careful not to make all your daily prayers requests for favors. Don’t let them sound more like “Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie” than “Holy, Holy, Holy.” God wants us to ask for what we need, in accordance with His will. Still, we need to love Him as we love each other, just for Himself, and not think of Him as J.C. Penney. We should pray with confidence, humility, sincerity (from your heart), attentiveness and perseverance. Note the humility and confidence are not mutually exclusive here. We approach our Creator knowing we don’t always have all the answers as to what’s best for us. He does! With faith we have confidence that He will provide for our needs, thinking always of what’s best for our souls. As we say in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy will be done!” On being attentive, if your mind wanders, let God know in your own words that you’re sorry if you can’t concentrate but you’d like to pray anyway. If you find your prayers are on “auto-pilot,” slow down and try to focus on the words of each prayer and what they mean to you.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 06:39:50 +0000
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