Want to pray but don’t know where to start? In this video Jennifer shares with us different ways we can pray, and how we can incorprate them into our daily lives.
Hi, my name is Jennifer Stavinoha, and welcome to Beyond the Pew. Today we’re going to talk about the different ways to pray. There are so many different ways to pray, and it can be really overwhelming when we start talking about prayer. When most of us think about prayer, we think of just saying an Our Father or a Hail Mary, and while both of those are excellent prayers, there are so many other ways to pray that engage our minds and our hearts.
When I first learned how to pray, it really started off in college for me, as just a heartfelt, God help me. I started going to the chapel about once a day and just asking God to help me. I started doing that every day and as I grew in my relationship with God and I grew in prayer, I started to discover all these other different ways to pray that the Church gives us.
One of those ways to pray is something called Leccio Divina, which means Divine Reading. Leccio Divina is basically where you take your Bible and you find a verse in Scripture (if you’re not really sure where to start in the Bible, if it’s intimidating, just find a verse or a passage from one of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John). Find a passage or a verse that you like, and find a quiet place and read it slowly to yourself and the Holy Spirit to come into that place with you. As you read it, think about who the characters are, what the story is about, and what the point of the story is. Read it a couple more times, very slowly, and chew on the words, chew on the verses, and ask God what He is trying to tell you through that story and through those verses. If something sticks out to you, talk to God about it. It’s really an opportunity for God to speak to you through Scripture and for you to speak back to God. [tweetthis]Prayer is an opportunity for God to speak to you and for you to speak back to God. #beyondthepew[/tweetthis]
Another way to pray is to just find a quiet place by yourself and just tell God about your day. Tell him about the ways that you struggled, tell him about your joys, the things that you’re thankful for, and then also ask forgiveness if there’s any ways that you messed up during the day. Just talk to God and be honest as if you are talking to a friend who is sitting there right next to you. One thing that I like to do, is I like to keep a journal and I’ll write down the things that I say to God and my prayers to God and so that after I’ve grown in prayer, I can go to my journal and I can look back and see the ways that I’ve grown and see the ways that God has actually moved and come through for me in my life.
what God wants most from us
is a true, sincere heart
Another way to pray that is very simple (that I have found very helpful) is to just turn on your local Christian radio station. There’s always uplifting music on Christian radio stations, praise, and worship that give us words when we don’t have any. And often those radio stations do provide opportunities to pray throughout the day so if you’re new to prayer and not sure where to start or what to say, finding your local Christian radio station is a great way to pray. Once you’re a little bit more used to praise and worship, download some of those songs that you find uplifting on your phone or on your iPod, and listen to them as you take a walk and worship God as you go on a walk.
Finally, the greatest way to pray is the mass. The mass actually incorporates all of those ways to pray that we’ve just talked about today. In the mass, we hear reading from Scripture, we are able to sit and silence and listen to God’s voice, and we are able to sing to God and worship Him with our whole body. During the mass, Jesus becomes truly present in the Eucharist, and we are connected with the prayers of the angels and the saints. The mass is the most powerful way to pray so get connected into your local Catholic church, find the mass times, and get plugged in. [tweetthis]The mass is the most powerful way to pray. #catholic #mass[/tweetthis]
There are so many other ways to pray than what we talked about today, and I encourage you if you’re not sure what to do or how to start, start with five minutes a day and ask God to help you. Remember, even though there are all these different ways to pray, what God wants most from us is a true, sincere heart. We can say and do all of the right things, but if our hearts are not in it and if we are not coming to God with a sincere heart, then it doesn’t really mean much. So I would encourage you, ask God to help give you a sincere heart as you pray and be honest in your prayer with God, and He will transform your life.
[tweetthis]Ask God to help give you a sincere heart and be honest in your prayer, and He will transform your life. #prayer[/tweetthis]