Learning to Pray

“He who does not pray deprives himself of what is indispensable for life.”
St. John Vianney

Tis the season of reflection, renewal, resolutions, and the like. It also seems to me a great time to consider your prayer life. Why prayer? Because this is one of the most essential (if not the essential) component when trying to live a life fully alive in Christ. Why? Because prayer is our source of connection to God. It puts us into communication with him and allows our hearts to be in a disposition of openness and listening. Prayer allows our hearts to be held and loved by the one whom we were created for. And it is a means through which we can be changed.

Prayer is essential to living a life fully alive in Christ. And I don’t mean saying memorized wrote prayers before dinner or bed. I’m not saying those are bad things, because they’re not. But I’m talking about diving in deeper. Committing to daily prayer that involves abiding with God, resting in his presence, listening to him in the silence, and communicating the depths of your heart. Allowing yourself to be scooped up into his loving arms and resting in that embrace. 

Dr. Tom Neal, a professor at the Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, summarized my thoughts well in a recent blog post:

“Your commitment of time to prayer every day is the most important feature of your spiritual life. There is no close ‘second most important.’ It can admit of no compromise…Without daily prayer, your faith atrophies, the horizons of your vision become dark and unclear, doubts begin to populate your mind, and as you try to battle them alone, you lose. It’s futile. The fire within has cooled.” Neal Obstat, It’s insidious, 12/20/2019

My Journey

It was in my early years of high school that I had a profound encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. That encounter is what sparked a deep desire for prayer. It was sometime later, however, that I was taught how to pray. Prior to learning how to pray, I looked at the people around me and tried to do what they did. At one point, this meant asking for Christian Prayer for Christmas. Christian Prayer is the condensed-into-one-volume version of the Liturgy of the Hours. It is the prayer priests and religious are required to pray. So, never having been taught how to pray this prayer, I would try to pray morning, midday, evening, and night prayer before going to bed. Usually I fell asleep long before I got there. I had the desire, but not the practical knowledge to really dive in deeper in prayer.

You Aren’t Alone in this Journey

Again, prayer is essential, a non-negotiable. But can seem difficult and daunting. I know from experience that if we try to figure it out alone, we might approach it in a way that isn’t sustainable.  So, this is going to be my purpose in the coming month. I will write several posts about how to pray in different ways. I will offer tips, practical steps, and advice. My hope is that one of these forms of prayer will spark a new flame in your heart and lead you to a deeper, richer life of prayer.

If you feel like you don’t need any tips or instructions on praying in this manner, consider reading anyways. If you have settled into a prayer routine that is extremely fruitful for you, consider reading anyways. You might gain a couple things by reading. First, you might find a new way to approach something or a new tip that enriches your experience of prayer. Second, I can guarantee that there is someone in your life who is desperate for prayer and doesn’t even know how to begin. You can use this as a jumping off point to teach them yourself or to discuss prayer with them. 

So, as we look ahead to 2020, join me in a fresh start and a deeper commitment to praying well every day. And if there’s something specific you’d like to hear about in regards to learning to pray, please email me or comment below!

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For Reflection

• What are your strengths and weaknesses in prayer?
• Do you have a daily commitment to prayer? What causes you to ignore or forget this commitment?
• Do you have a quiet place where you like to pray? If you don’t, where could this be?
• Take a few minutes of silence. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray and show you how you could improve your life of prayer.
• Set some sort of resolution or commitment in regards to prayer, something attainable.