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Want to pray?  What is prayer?

There are as many different definitions of prayer as there are people who pray!  But try this:

       Prayer is all about opening yourself up to that which is beyond you to a broader picture of reality

       Prayer is about asking and seeking, waiting and receiving, celebrating and remembering, imagining the world through other people’s eyes and trying to discern life through the lens of God/the divine

       Prayer is done instinctively by most people – but most people don’t often know they’re praying

       Christians believe that prayer is done supremely ‘to’ or  ‘in the name of’ Jesus, but, for some, also of/to his Mother Mary and the Saints.

       Real prayer is risky (the word ‘precarious’ means prayerful!!) – because it changes people for ever.

       We can pray for other people and situations – and find ourselves being drawn to involvement in their lives.  So watch out!!

       We shouldn’t worry too much if other folk have different definitions of prayer – the important thing is to try and it make a daily habit of practising it as we are best able.

       Pray as you can – not ask you can’t.

Intercession is about:

       focusing on people and situations

       calling down the Holy Spirit of God for blessing and healing

       allowing your heart grow bigger

       discovering who and what you are – and where you’re meant to be

Something to think and pray about this week:

       keep reading the newspaper and stay up-to-date with the world news

       the needs of people across the globe

       the people you meet each day, for those you work and study with, for those who’re struggling and lonely, ill or anxious

       that you may be open to the beauty of the world and all the good things that come your way

Meditation & Contemplation

       Much has been written to make these things seem unduly complicated or elitist

       But as with all things, practice makes perfect!

       Click here for a beginner’s meditation exercise

Do you want to pray now?

       It could appear very odd to pray at a computer screen, especially if there are other people all around you, or if you’re in a noisy, busy place.

      Yet God is everywhere, all around us, constantly calling out to us and trying to get our attention – no matter where we are.

       When we know this with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!  Nobody will know that you’re doing it!

       Start by listening to each noise around you, naming it and letting it go; visualize who or what you want to pray for: a face, name or simple idea.  Let this fill your whole mind and body.  Stay with it for a few moments….

Try praying for the people in your life at the moment:

       family

       friends

       people you find difficult

       those you see on your TV screen – those you’ll never meet

Try praying with this piece of scripture: (This sort of prayer is called ‘imaginative contemplation’) 

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.                                                John 15.1-10

The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Begin by getting comfortable and minimize possible distractions.  What follows will take about 15 minutes.

Ask that God will speak with you in this prayer – but don’t worry if you can’t picture it all….

STEP ONE

Close your eyes and imagine yourself leaving the room and going into a garden.  Perhaps one you know, or have visited, perhaps not.  In your mind’s eye walk around this garden and see what can be seen: flowers, trees, grass.   What can you see? Stay with this for a while.

STEP TWO

As you walk around the garden you come to a grapevine – supported on a trellis, wire or wall.  Go up and have a good look at it.  Notice the strong, gnarled, twisted trunk and how all the branches, and leaves are supported by it.  Have a good look at that trunk, its texture, bark, the shapes it makes, its colour.  Stay with this for a while.

STEP THREE

Suddenly you become aware of someone next to you.  It’s the gardener who, proud of his vine, wants to explain it all to you.  He touches the trunk, branches, leaves and the fruit.  He is so pleased with the fruit?

Look closely at the fruit, how delicious it looks.  You try a grape.  Taste it how good it is.  Stay with this for a while.

STEP FOUR

The gardener asks you a question.  What fruit would you like to grow in your life? Think about this for a while.  Then respond.  Ask for any help you need to live a fruitful life…….

When you are ready thank the gardener and come back into your room

Try praying with this piece of scripture:  (This sort of prayer is called ‘lectio divina’: ‘sacred praying’)

But now thus says the LORD,
   he who created you, O Jacob,
   he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
   I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
   and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.

The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Begin by getting comfortable and minimize possible distractions.  What follows will take about 15 minutes.

Ä  Read the scripture through 2 or 3 times and listen to see which words or phrases leap out at you.

Ä  Ask why it is these phrases might have come to your attention

Ä  Then, closing your eyes, stay with these words or phrases, repeating them quietly a few times and taking them deep down inside you.

Ä  Ask for an insight, a feeling, a picture or idea about these words and their meaning for you.

Ä  If something suggests itself stay with it for a while and see how it feels.

Ä  Take what you have been given and return to your own place.

Or try out these one of these links for inspiration:

www.jesuit.ie./prayer/

www.graceway.org.nz

www.ascension.uk.net/devotions.htm

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/index.htm

www.prayingeachday.org/

What happens when praying is difficult or when you feel you can’t pray?

If we decide to pray we shouldn’t be surprised if it sometimes feels hard-going and unproductive or ‘dry’.  

Most people pray hoping to find love, joy and peace – or else answers and outcomes, but this may take time.

Try not to get disheartened!

When we come face to face with our own spiritual inability or ‘dryness’, or else feel overwhelmed with negative thoughts, it can seem that there’s an impossible mountain to climb.  We might even feel like giving up altogether and letting despair fill us completely.

Paradoxically these feelings of struggle could well be moments of growth and change when we are moving from one sort of awareness of God/the divine to a different one.  So it’s best to try and stay with the process and to open ourselves up to what lies ahead. 

Hold on to the fact that, while we may feel that the praying is all up to us, perhaps the right thing for us to do is just to ‘rest in the Spirit’ and let God/the divine come to meet us where we are.  Give it a go!

You may also like to speak with someone who is also, like you, traveling the spiritual path, and see what might come of that encounter.

And does God answer prayer?

       Most Christians would say: ‘Yes, always!’  But sometimes it doesn’t feel like it…..

       It largely depends on what you think prayer is.  If you pray for a particular thing to happen and it doesn’t appear to - then perhaps it was the wrong thing to be praying for.  Or else, perhaps your prayer was answered but not in a way that you expected or can recognise. 

       If we believe in a loving God who cares for all of creation for each individual, regardless of who or what they are, then we need to believe that God will not ignore us.

       Perhaps too when we pray for God to do something in a situation, we ourselves should be more involved in making that prayer happen.  Why pray for God to end all famines – if we don’t do anything to help??

       Prayer is never an excuse for not being involved ourselves.