Adding More Prayer to Life!

Well, the first month of 2023 is over & we are well into the month of February. Many at this point have given up or failed in keeping their New Year's resolutions. (I personally tend to set goals instead of resolutions, but that's a thought for another day.)

Was adding more prayer to your life one of your resolutions or goals this year? Are you finding it difficult to follow St. Paul's directive to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17)?

I would like to share some ways of adding more prayer to your daily life. You don't have to use them all or even any of them. They are merely suggestions to help get you started. Some may work for you; some may be too difficult. There are many other ways not listed here. Over the years, your prayer method may change depending on your stage of life.

1) The Five Finger Prayer (aka The Hand Prayer): This prayer has been attributed to Pope Francis, but I became aware of something similar many years prior to his pontificate. 

2) The Prayer Process: Matthew Kelley, of Dynamic Catholic, shares a 7 Step Prayer Process. This link will take you to his March 8, 2021 Best Lent Ever video about this process. (And if you haven't already, I encourage you to sign up for Best Lent Ever. You'll receive daily videos throughout Lent of inspiration from the team at Dynamic Catholic. They have one for Advent as well.)

3) Saintly Alphabet: Often, if I have trouble sleeping, I will pray a litany of saints alphabetically. Starting with the letter "A", I will ask intercession from any saints whose name begins with the letter. (ex. St. Ambrose, pray for us.) Once I can't think of any more, I go on to the next letter & work my way through the alphabet. Sometimes, for a challenge, I'll start at the end of the alphabet!

4) Litany of Names: Another bedtime litany uses a similar process, but for this one I pray for others. I think of a name of both a male & female I know for each letter of the alphabet. This could be someone in my current circle, someone I knew many years ago & no longer see, or someone I've briefly crossed paths with. I allow the Holy Spirit to guide whose names come to mind. I ask God to bless each person & meet whatever their needs may be at that time.

5) Lectio Divina (Latin for Divine Reading), is a 4 step process for praying with Scripture. This works well for shorter passages.

    Step 1: Read (Lectio) slowly & prayerfully through the passage. You may read more than once.

    Step 2: Meditate (Meditatio)on a word or phrase from the passage that stands out to you. Let God speak to you through that word or phrase.

    Step 3: Respond (Oratio) to God, starting a loving conversation with Him. Ask what He wants you to understand &/or how He wants you to answer His call to you.

    Step 4: Rest (Contemplatio) with God. Peacefully, sit quietly with Him allowing Him to act within you.  

6) Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) is a set of prayers rooted in the Psalms & a way of uniting with the entire Church in prayer. There are seven segments of prayer, each for a different hour of the day (hour meaning the time of day, not how long it takes - usually about 7-10 minutes for each segment). Here are a few links to resources for praying the Divine Office.

    * The Divine Office website (links in the side bar take you to the particular hours of prayer)

    * Download the Laudete app or iBrevary app for your phone

    * Christian Prayer from Catholic Book Publishing Corp. This is one volume edition of the Liturgy of the Hours. You would also want the guide (under $3) that comes out yearly which has reference to each day's prayers, including those for specific feast days.  

7) Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, spending time in quiet with Jesus: Many churches offer specific hours for Adoration. Some on particular days or hours throughout the week. Others have Perpetual Adoration, where parishioners sign up for timeslots within the 24 hour day so that Jesus is never left alone. I've heard people say that their best prayers are during that 2 or 3 am hour alone with Jesus!

8) Praying the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet

9) Here are some other opportunities I try to use for prayer throughout my day. I am no way near perfect on these, but I do try!

    * Pray the Hail Mary every time I hear a siren. We live less than five minutes from a fire station, so I have many opportunities for this prayer!

    * When surrounded by others who use foul language, I say, "Jesus, Mary, & Joseph!" in my mind. Oh, that I would have the courage to do so aloud!

    * Asking God to bless that person who cut me off when driving

    * Praying for my family while doing household chores. For example, when the kids were younger & I was still doing their laundry, I would try to pray for each of them as I folded their clothes.

    * I'm part of several groups (via Facebook, Messenger, or email) who share prayer requests, so I always have someone or something for which to pray. This includes prayers of thanksgiving when prayers are answered.

    * St. Augustine has been noted to have said, "He who sings prays twice." So, I often find myself singing hymns & other Catholic songs.

    * Just sitting in silence or with prayerful, meditative music playing can be a type of prayer, too.

    * While I haven't tried this yet, I'd like to do some type of prayerful journaling. I have this book, Praying with a Pen by Mary Beth Weisenburger, & she has some wonderful ideas for journaling prayer. 

As I said near the beginning, this list is in no way exhaustive. There are so many ways to pray. I encourage you to find at least one new way to add more prayer to your life. And if you do something other than these I've listed, please share in the comments. I'm always open to new ways to pray!

"No soul ever fell away from God without giving up prayer. Prayer is that which establishes contact with Divine Power and opens the invisible resources of Heaven. However dark the way, when we pray, temptation can never master us. The first step downward in the average soul is the giving up of the practice of prayer, the breaking of the circuit with divinity, and the proclamation of one's own self sufficiency."

(Fulton J. Sheen)