DO YOU STRUGGLE IN YOUR PRAYER LIFE?

[Michie]

THE BEGINNING
One of the biggest obstacles for me in the early days of my faith journey was the lack of a prayer life. I knew I needed to pray, but I couldn’t ever remember sincerely praying about anything. Perhaps part of me was struggling with the typical male challenge of asking for help- especially asking God for help! I rationalized this by thinking, “Who am I to bother Him with my petty problems?”

I went to one of our parish deacons, shared my prayer challenges with him and asked for guidance. He looked at me with a smile and said I was approaching prayer in the wrong way. “Don’t worry about asking for help just yet,” he said. His counsel was to simply go to the Lord with thanks and be grateful for the blessings in my life. The light bulb went on and I finally got it. Eventually, I learned to ask God for help and guidance. But my prayer life really began when I learned to simply offer thanks to God for the blessings in my life. There have been bumps along the way and dry spells, but my prayer life has continued to unfold and grow with each passing day.

Let’s be honest. Praying can be difficult. I don’t pretend to be an expert on prayer, but I know my life has been made exponentially better because I do pray. Prayer has enabled me to overcome countless challenges as a husband, father, and businessman that I could not have overcome otherwise. I would like to share with you the steps in my prayer journey as a Catholic, lessons I have learned, and insights into how I pray, in the hope you will find my experiences to be helpful.

Continued below.

Do you struggle in your prayer life?

Let’s be honest. Praying can be difficult. I don’t pretend to be an expert on prayer, but I know my life has been made exponentially better because I do pray. Prayer has...

integratedcatholiclife.org

 

[WarriorAngel]

I am excited to pray because the relief.
I am excited and the joy increases because the more you pray the closer Heaven is to you in mind and the more peace.

I am excited because it defeats all that ails us.

I have had a time or two without praying daily and it is not the same... it is not happy.

 

[WarriorAngel]

The enemy does not want us to pray.
Therefore; pray more.

 

[fide]

I'm sorry to complain, Michie, but I am so tired of bad advice on "how to pray". This author (a self-described "sought-after executive coach and leadership consultant for business leaders and companies all over the country") understandably approaches the supernatural as he has found success in the natural. This is common in successful "leaders". So much time is wasted, IMHO, with this beginning, and this tactic. One must, instead, become not a leader of others but a follower of Jesus, who is God.

St. John Vianney wrote, "Prayer is nothing other than union with God." The hint there, I believe, is that the first step in entering this prayer-union is to get oneself out of - and not persistently remaining in - the "it's all about ME" perspective on anything and everything, including prayer. GOD must be discovered, first of all! Then, prayer can begin. Thus, first of all, stop incessantly talking to/at everyone including God, and listen - listen to HIM - reach and wait and listen again and again to HEAR HIM. When a human person begins to hear Him, prayer begins. Union with Him begins, and can grow.

 

[Michie]

I'm sorry to complain, Michie, but I am so tired of bad advice on "how to pray". This author (a self-described "sought-after executive coach and leadership consultant for business leaders and companies all over the country") understandably approaches the supernatural as he has found success in the natural. This is common in successful "leaders". So much time is wasted, IMHO, with this beginning, and this tactic. One must, instead, become not a leader of others but a follower of Jesus, who is God.

St. John Vianney wrote, "Prayer is nothing other than union with God." The hint there, I believe, is that the first step in entering this prayer-union is to get oneself out of - and not persistently remaining in - the "it's all about ME" perspective on anything and everything, including prayer. GOD must be discovered, first of all! Then, prayer can begin. Thus, first of all, stop incessantly talking to/at everyone including God, and listen - listen to HIM - reach and wait and listen again and again to HEAR HIM. When a human person begins to hear Him, prayer begins. Union with Him begins, and can grow.

So it does not work for you. It does not mean his personal testimony and experience is wrong. There will be a second part coming up….