Prayer Life

[Adammi]

How do you guys pray? Do you prefer mainly structured prayer or unstructured and how do you juggle between the two.
Also how do you go from asking one saint's intercession to another to God himself. That is where my main problem is, I spend most of my prayer time asking saints to intercess. Once I call on one, there I go down the list calling on everyone I've heard of.
Now that I think about it, that isn't a bad thing because there prayers are far better than mine.
And something else, how often do you pray, when, and where?
( I LOVE Catholic prayer!!!)

~I am on my journey Home

 

[ps139]

Hey brother!
During the day at different points I usually either talk to God or say the Lord's Prayer. At night I get on my knees and pray to God, I pray for all of my friends and family and coworkers and for those in my family who have passed on, and other intentions. I usually "open up" with an Our Father, then I just talk to God and thank Him for everything and ask for strength. I also ask the saints to pray for me, particularly the Virgin Mary, St. Augustine, St. Monica, St. Peter, & St. Paul. Sometimes I invoke all of Heaven

 

[ZooMom]

Hi. Prayer is a wonderful and personal thing. We are exhorted in the Scriptures to pray 'without ceasing'. Doesn't sound like we'd have much time for anything else, does it? What it really is is offering every thought of every minute of every day to God. The human mind is a messy place. Jumbled and easily distracted. That is where the beauty of structured prayer, meditative or contemplative, comes in. In my case, I found I was unable to pray coherently. I jumped around, completely lost track of my thoughts, and sometimes just started daydreaming and forgot my purpose. :o I began with the Rosary. This marvelous devotion had the awesome effect of training my mind to prayer. It gave me a focus and way to keep that focus. Once I was able to discipline myself in this way, it became easier and easier to turn my mind to prayer more and more often. Keeping visual reminders about helps as well. Most of my spontaneous prayer is directed to God the Father, or the Christ. I ask them for help alot. Especially for patience. I have 'structured' prayer time in the mornings and evenings, but I pray all day. I am constantly talking to God, to our Lord Jesus, or to our Blessed Lady. I ask for special intercession from certain Saints for specific causes, but I don't usually invoke them in general, unless I'm praying a litany that invokes the Saints. Which I don't do often. I have a new devotion, a novena, that I am praying in the mornings , I pray the Rosary and the DMC every night, and I pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday. I try to get in at least one more Rosary daily.

God bless you on your journey home.


Peace be with you!

Sandy

 

[faerieevaH]

I start the day with a prayer. Either a morning dedication prayer, a prayer from a prayer book, the Our Father, or just a few words to God. It varies. When the tram is not too crowded, I try to say a rosary on my way to work. Then there's a quick [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] prayer before I start my first class.
I say a quick prayer before each class and sometimes in between classes ask for specific Saints to intercess (Saint Joseph more particularly, or the blessed virgin, Saint Therese of the child Jesus or Saint Anna, and of course Saint Anthony when I misplaced something yet again.)

Again, when the tram is not too crowded in getting home, I may try to pray a rosary. Then some more 'talking to God', ejaculations or requests for intercession during the evening and one unstructured prayer before going to bed.
I try to go to adoration once or twice a week, and am planning on joining a group for the evening prayers two days a week in the San'Egidio community.

 

[Adammi]

Thanks for the answers so much! Keep 'um comin'.

 

[Dream]

For me, I pray small prayers throughout the day such as "Thank you Lord for this beautiful wheather" or saying grace before eating. Usually, at the end of the day, I reflect on what is going on in my life and pray deeply.

Just so you know, there are 4 basic types of prayer:
1) Adoration - Glorifying God
2) Thanksgiving - Thanking God
3) Contrition - Asking God for forgiveness
4) Petition - Asking God for a favor

If you're ever struggling for something to pray about, just pick one of the 4 types and expand on it as much as you can.

 

[Irenaeus]

When I rise in the morning, I put on my Miraculous Medal with these words:

"I am thine and all I have is thine, O Most Loving Jesus, through Mary, thy Holy Mother."

My devotions are very Marian, coming from the St. Louis de Montfort. You may want to do some reading on him, ATShavout. I'm trying to become more close to my Guardian Angel, also.

I say a Rosary daily before I go to bed, and a friend and I pray in the morning in what we call now the "School catacombs" a place in the back of the school where there is a bench and no people early.

I cannot sing the praises of the Rosary enough. Ever since I started praying it, I have never been as filled with faith (even when I doubt) hope (even when all things go wrong) and charity (even when I feel tepid). Meditating on the divine mysteries gives me great peace and God has sent me so much light. I would go across the world if I could get one person to pray the Rosary daily and with devotion.

Our Lady has a special love for those devoted to her, and she will obtain for them all that they ask according to the will of the Blessed Trinity.

I also ask for the intercession of St. Augustine, my spiritual patron and friend. Even though I can't see him praying for me, I have always felt especially drawn to him and he's the brother I never had.

Oh, and a biggy: EUCHARISTIC ADORATION!!!! Nothing is better than seeing God, and talking to him, physically present before you.

Also, ejaculatory prayer, if you did not know what other posters were talking about, is a fancy word for prayer that is said at the spur of the moment, with love. Like just saying, "Jesus, I love you," out of the love of your heart, just randomly. Such prayers are a great aid to a perpetual attitude of prayer, as ZooMom quoted from 1st Thessalonians 5, "Pray without ceasing."

You make me so happy in your zeal to learn about our Catholic faith, ATShavout. You are in my prayers. Be patient and let the Lord guide you.

 

[Adammi]

When I rise in the morning, I put on my Miraculous Medal with these words:

"I am thine and all I have is thine, O Most Loving Jesus, through Mary, thy Holy Mother."

My devotions are very Marian, coming from the St. Louis de Montfort. You may want to do some reading on him, ATShavout. I'm trying to become more close to my Guardian Angel, also.

I say a Rosary daily before I go to bed, and a friend and I pray in the morning in what we call now the "School catacombs" a place in the back of the school where there is a bench and no people early.

I cannot sing the praises of the Rosary enough. Ever since I started praying it, I have never been as filled with faith (even when I doubt) hope (even when all things go wrong) and charity (even when I feel tepid). Meditating on the divine mysteries gives me great peace and God has sent me so much light. I would go across the world if I could get one person to pray the Rosary daily and with devotion.

Our Lady has a special love for those devoted to her, and she will obtain for them all that they ask according to the will of the Blessed Trinity.

I also ask for the intercession of St. Augustine, my spiritual patron and friend. Even though I can't see him praying for me, I have always felt especially drawn to him and he's the brother I never had.

Oh, and a biggy: EUCHARISTIC ADORATION!!!! Nothing is better than seeing God, and talking to him, physically present before you.

Also, ejaculatory prayer, if you did not know what other posters were talking about, is a fancy word for prayer that is said at the spur of the moment, with love. Like just saying, "Jesus, I love you," out of the love of your heart, just randomly. Such prayers are a great aid to a perpetual attitude of prayer, as ZooMom quoted from 1st Thessalonians 5, "Pray without ceasing."

You make me so happy in your zeal to learn about our Catholic faith, ATShavout. You are in my prayers. Be patient and let the Lord guide you.

I see that you have disabled your reputation!
But to me you have a very high reputation!!

 

[faerieevaH]

Also, ejaculatory prayer, if you did not know what other posters were talking about, is a fancy word for prayer that is said at the spur of the moment, with love. Like just saying, "Jesus, I love you," out of the love of your heart, just randomly. Such prayers are a great aid to a perpetual attitude of prayer, as ZooMom quoted from 1st Thessalonians 5, "Pray without ceasing."

I have heard from others that ejaculatory prayer is also one of THE greatest weapons in a battle against a potty mouth! Each time you feel one of those words already in your mouth, or even the first letter escaping rephrase it into an exclamation of your love for the Lord.
Or as a good friend of mine does: "GOD..forbids swearing, but he makes it hard at times"
Though it may seem funny but using apropriete language is one of those parts of 'making your entire life a prayer'. After all, would you like to stand before the throne of the Lord and say some of the words you use in daily life?

 

[Irenaeus]

faeriva,

Great point!

Even St. Francis De Sales says when we speak of Divine things, we must speak as if the sweetest honey were on our lips. No better way than prayerful ejaculations.

ATShavout,
Yes, I disabled my reputation points. Instead, if people think I say something good, instead of giving me points, I want them to pray a Hail Mary for me and for the unborn. If they're Protestant, they can pray an Our Father.