- Jul 23, 2011
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I have been joyed to hear of one of my friends is going to be becoming a Catecumen after her graduation this December. She has asked me a couple questions about prayer, and among them, I had this response concerning making the prayers become personal to you, and not just "vain repetitions":
Don't just say the prayers. Own them. Read them and find out what they mean. Ask questions about the prayers. Find how the prayers resonate with your own life. Take the promises you make in the prayers and live them out to the best of your ability. When you pray at the end of a prayer, the phrase "that I may praise and hymn and exalt Your most glorious Name" make it your mission to praise and hymn and glorify the name of God. When you say "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit", mean it within your heart.
When you pray for forgiveness for yourself, think of the things you have done that need forgiveness, and realize that they are, indeed, forgiven!
When the prayers ask for mercy for those in need, think of specific people who you know are in need. When it says have mercy on those who hate you or are your "enemies", think of specific people in your life who you have had arguments, falling outs, or who have openly mocked you, and pray for them.
That last one is especially hard. I have had to learn to pray for my enemy and a few months ago I made it my duty to personally pray for my ex-girlfriend. She is now engaged, and I have never been happier, now that I am falling in love with my best friend.
That is what it means to make them yours. Like a football player makes the chant of his team his own, make your prayer rule YOURS by finding where it applies to your life. Don't pray just for the sake of praying. If you do so, you could fall into what Christ calls vain repetition. Pray as if these things were real in your own life. As you do so, you will realize more and more that they are, in truth, your own.
Sources:
Deacon Michael Hyatt, St. Ignatius Orthodox Church
Father Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus: St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary
Tell me what you think?
Don't just say the prayers. Own them. Read them and find out what they mean. Ask questions about the prayers. Find how the prayers resonate with your own life. Take the promises you make in the prayers and live them out to the best of your ability. When you pray at the end of a prayer, the phrase "that I may praise and hymn and exalt Your most glorious Name" make it your mission to praise and hymn and glorify the name of God. When you say "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit", mean it within your heart.
When you pray for forgiveness for yourself, think of the things you have done that need forgiveness, and realize that they are, indeed, forgiven!
When the prayers ask for mercy for those in need, think of specific people who you know are in need. When it says have mercy on those who hate you or are your "enemies", think of specific people in your life who you have had arguments, falling outs, or who have openly mocked you, and pray for them.
That last one is especially hard. I have had to learn to pray for my enemy and a few months ago I made it my duty to personally pray for my ex-girlfriend. She is now engaged, and I have never been happier, now that I am falling in love with my best friend.
That is what it means to make them yours. Like a football player makes the chant of his team his own, make your prayer rule YOURS by finding where it applies to your life. Don't pray just for the sake of praying. If you do so, you could fall into what Christ calls vain repetition. Pray as if these things were real in your own life. As you do so, you will realize more and more that they are, in truth, your own.
Sources:
Deacon Michael Hyatt, St. Ignatius Orthodox Church
Father Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus: St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary
Tell me what you think?
though I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the addition.
