We can read about prayer until we are blue in the face but what really makes the difference is when we start talking to God the Holy Trinity on a regular daily basis. For me, I have to be honest, it started when I was received into full communion with the Catholic Church and entered the life of the Church including her prayers. To me, it was entering into a life and rhythm of prayer for the Mass, the liturgy, the Sacraments, the doctrines and all the other prayers and aids to prayer that are geared towards making my whole life a prayer in union with Jesus Christ and His Church. So the life of prayer in my experience is both private and corporate.
It was after I became a Catholic that I started praying the rosary where each day I meditate on the meanings of 5 events in the lives of Jesus and Mary and then apply those meanings to my life and my prayers. There are 20 events in total and they are grouped into 4 themes or characteristics. The events are called mysteries because their meaning is deep and there is always more to be discovered as God reveals them. Typically I am involved with God in prayer for an hour or more per day through this prayer as well as other prayers and the Mass.
I understand my Protestant brothers and sisters have difficulties with Mary because I used to have them myself. And the rosary is not the only prayer that one can use to help lead them into a habit of daily prayer talking and doing life together with God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
There are plenty of prayers in the Psalms and the Old and New Testament as well as hymns and spiritual songs and the prayers of our brothers and sisters to help us get started and provide a segue into our own prayers. There is a resource called the Liturgy of the Hours that combines all of these elements into various daily prayers to be prayed at different times throughout the day. There is also the prayerful reading of the Scriptures which the Catholics called the Lectio Divina which a lot of Protestants are now using.
My concern is to help people who are experiencing difficulties in moving from knowing a lot about God to actually knowing Him through a life of prayer. Why? Because I've been there.
So develop a plan of prayer using these resources that God has provided and begin your journey into His heart today. Please be aware that it will not be easy. As you are learning and memorizing prayers it will often seem tedious at first but that will begin to change if you turn your heart towards God as you pray them. Also be aware that the enemy of our souls and his hosts do not want us praying and so they will oppose us to try and stop us..
I will be praying for you. And I will try to post resources as I find and develop them.
May the Chief Shepherd of our souls lead you ever deeper into the love of God. Amen.
Please feel free to leave comments on my blog or to e-mail me at howardsdsu75@gmail.com if I can assist you in anyway as you develop a prayer life with God.
