Learning to Pray
We’re here to help guide you on the ways of proper praying.
Learning The Contemplative Way
Learning to pray is analogous to many of life’s endeavors – learning to walk, to read, or to speak. As you reflect on your prayer life and experiences, do you yearn for more, for something greater, to be closer to God. We all travel at our own speed. By participating in this experience, we will gain insights into prayer as an evolving practice, and we have the capacity to become mystics, forging a closer relationship with God, moving from being Martha to be being Mary. This will be a 4-week program.
Our prayer life can be divided into four basic stages or phases
1
We talk at God
The use of written prayers
2
We talk to God
The use of extemporaneous or spontaneous prayer
3
We listen to God
We pray with Scripture, especially the gospels
4
We are in
God’s Presence
without words
Prayer does come with its own challenges
- Distractions (large and small)
- Monotony
- Dryness
- Boredom
- Absence of God
Sessions will utilize the following approach:
- Opening prayer
- Brief talk
- Reading of Scripture using a modified Lectio Divina
- Faith Sharing
The main reference for these sessions will be Mark Thibodeaux’s, Armchair Mystic (Cincinnati, Ohio Franciscan Media, 2019, revised edition). To participate, you’ll need the book, a bible, and a journal.
We will delve into the significance of these issues:
Praying daily – at least 30 minutes
Establishing a place to pray
Determining your ritual for prayer
– use of candle
– use of prayer activities such as the rosary
The use of imagination in prayer
Importance of Gospel stories
The art of “noticing”
Importance of your feelings in prayer
Importance of journaling
– writing about what happened in my prayer time