God is always with us. He wants us to talk to Him and to listen to Him. In prayer we raise our hearts and minds to God. We are able to speak to and listen to God because, through the Holy Spirit, God teaches us how to pray. Christianity is not about a set of beliefs or rules to be blindly obeyed, it is about encountering the Living God. As Christians, we encounter God most deeply through prayer.
We Pray in Many WaysBecause prayer is so important, the Church teaches us to pray often and in many ways. Sometimes we bless or adore God (prayer of blessing and adoration). Other times we ask God for something for ourselves (prayer of petition). Sometimes we pray for others (prayer of intercession). We also thank God in prayer (prayer of thanksgiving). Finally, we can also praise God (prayer of praise). We can pray silently or aloud. We can pray alone or with others. Praying with others is called communal prayer. The Liturgy of the Hours or "Divine Office" is the official prayer of the church.
We Meditate and Contemplate One way to pray is to meditate. To meditate is to think about God. We try to keep our attention and focus on God. In meditation we may use Scripture, prayer books, or icons, which are religious images, to help us concentrate and to spark our imagination.Lectio Divina, The Rosary, and the Daily Examen are examples of this type of prayer.
We Get Ready to Pray We live in a very busy, noisy, and fast-paced world. Sometimes, because of this, we have difficulty concentrating. In order to meditate or reflect, we need to prepare ourselves. We can get ready for meditation by resting our bodies in a comfortable position. We can close our eyes, fold our hands comfortably in front of us, and silently take a deep breath and then let it out slowly. We can establish a rhythm by slowly counting to three while breathing in and slowly counting to three while breathing out. Concentrating on our breathing helps us to quiet our thoughts. The Jesus prayer is a good way to gently focus our mind on God and Rest in his presence.
We Avoid Distractions If we become distracted by thinking about something, such as the day at school or work, we can just go back to thinking about being in presence of God and rest in Him.
After a little practice we will be able to avoid distractions, pray with our imagination, and spend time with God or Jesus in our hearts.
The following tabs on the "Forms of Prayer" menu, offer some helpful guidance on prayer. The "Reflections" tab on the menu offer further study on growth in prayer.