In our Catholic tradition many are the forms in which we pray. As Catholics the Holy Sacrifice of Mass is the most perfect form of prayer and besides Mass we have more forms of prayer such Eucharistic adoration, The Holy Rosary, novenas, Lectio Divina just to mention some. One of the forms of prayer and practices within the congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit is Loving attention to God. Loving attention to God is a form of prayer in which invites to being in prayer taking the example of a sunflower.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church in the words of Saint John Damascene states prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God”. Trough prayers we direct our mind and heart to God to express our thoughts and feelings. In prayer is not the only the mind that make the union to God but the heart which makes the desire for God. From the heart is where our true longings for God come. God is always anting a union with us, but He does not force us to make that union, He gives us free will to make our own decision.
To those with the desire of being in a closer union with God trough prayer, God give the gift of prayer. Prayer truly is a gift from God, and not simply a fruit of our own power. Trough prayer we unite ourselves closer to God, presenting ourselves in all the needs that we may have or thanking God for his graces to us. The Catechism also mentions on its section on prayer that prayer may be expressed in words or gestures, and that according with the scriptures everything comes and is an expression of the heart. The Church is an example of what prayer is in the way we are encourage to live, act and testified our faith from the feelings of our heart, life and actions.
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...o someone sick laying in bed and it makes me fell sad. After seen a couple of patients and they were sharing they sorrow with me, I thank Jesus to let me share in the sick the sorrows and pain that he suffer for us on the Cross. In one occasion I was about to start a meeting with my spiritual director, I said to the Holy Spirit to help to se his presence o what he want to say to me in that meeting and indeed I really feel the his presence there.
Many times is easier to seat and prayer the rosary or to meditate a scripture passage, but many times we are out of our minds thinking in problems or things that we may have. Loving Attention to God helps me to trust in God all what I have and what I do, I trust to Him my whole being. I thank God for all what I received from Him trough the action of each person of the Trinity in me. I thank God for let me being a sunflower.
Father Solanus believed in a life of heavy worship. From the time he was a little boy to the time he died he prayed more than once daily. He held the belief that he would be sustained throughout his life by rosary devotion to Mary. Sometimes, during his life at the monastery, Fr. Solanus would fall asleep on the chapel floor while praying. Fr. Solanus believed praying helped him realize God's wonderful gifts and everlasting plans for us.
E.M. Bounds wrote a wonderful book devoted to prayer entitled Power Through Prayer. This book encourages the preacher to become a true prayer warrior. E.M. Bounds has written many books on prayer, encouraging Christians to devote their life to prayer. Since the writer is coming from a preacher background himself, one can clearly see the passion he has for prayer in his life. Fellow preachers will hopefully be encouraged by this and want to devote their life to prayer, so that they will better their preaching. Bounds exemplifies through his work that preaching has no power without prayer. He also sets forth the idea that prayer is the life-giving force behind our work for God. In reading this book, it inspires one to pray more and be able to be more effective in their ministry.
Throughout history and especially since the sixteenth century many Roman Catholic's like Martin Luther, have distinguished ordinary or "acquired" prayer, even if occurring at a super conceptual level of love, adoration, and desire for God, from the extraordinary or "absorbed" contemplation which is entirely the work of God's special grace. Only the latter is mystical in a strict sense, according to this view. Other writers, such as Bonaventure, can apply the terms of mysticism to all communions with God.
In the “Model Prayer”, Jesus taught that prayer is to be directed to the Father, showing His role in prayer: “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). Prayer, being directed to the Father, goes through Jesus (the Word), as He is the “one Mediator between God and men” (1 Timothy 2:5). Finally, the Holy Spirit’s role in prayer (though less clear than that of the other two) is to help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). It is in this area, more than almost any other, that many attempt to change the assigned roles of each member of the Godhead. While the Father’s role in prayer is for it to be directed to Him, many attempt to direct prayer to the other two members of Deity. Because each member of the Godhead has such a clearly defined role in prayer as revealed in Scripture, to attempt to change of modify those roles seems to be quite presumptuous, unauthorized, and dangerous. Instead, let us hold fast to the Divine pattern for prayer as laid out in the
the act of prayer. Stump points out since this is the definition of petitionary prayer, prayers of
Thank you Mr. Wiesenthal for letting me be able to read and respond to your book The Sunflower. The Sunflower has showed me how ruthless it was for Jewish people in the Holocaust. In your book Karl, an SS solider, tries to get your forgiveness for the wrong he has done to the Jewish population. For a person to ask for forgiveness means that they have realized that they have done wrong and want to repent for their mistakes. The big question in your book was “What would you do?” I would’ve done exactly what you did I wouldn’t have granted the solider my forgiveness because he didn’t deserve it.
Christian prays for a many reasons and for different purposes one reason they pray is because they are doing a form of serving God and obeying Him. Another reason to w...
Coming close to God through prayer soon became very important because everyone feared his wrath. It was said:
To a believing person prayer is powerful, it is a means of communication between a person of faith and God. Prayer is...
I agree with Camp’s discussion on prayer because, as the title of the chapter it self says, it demonstrates how Christian disciples trust in God instead of flawed human calculations of how things will turn out. Prayer also helps make us obedient to God’s will, especially when used in a context similar to “The Lord’s Prayer”, where we as Christians ask the Lord to fulfill His will on earth and provide for our daily needs as we take up our cross on a daily basis to help establish His coming
The main book that shows prayer in the Old Testament is the book of Psalms. On the other hand, another interesting place to see prayer used is in 1 Samuel 14:36 which states, “Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” This shows how Saul’s main priority was not prayer, which later lead to his death. He was then replaced by King David who is the author of the majority of the Psalms and always relied on God for
Book Review of The Path of Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by St. Theophan the Recluse
The Lord’s Prayer is given to us as an example of how to pray, we should pray simply, yet fully mean all we say. It is unnecessary to have repetition in prayer, for God knows what we need even before we ask. We need not to pray with the mindset of having what we think we need, but rather we ask for God’s will to be done.
There is no doubt that the fundamental idea of Church, faith, and prayer lived by the early Christian, needs to be rediscovered among many contemporary Christians. The conviction that the apostles had to preach the Gospel of Jesus certainly was aided by their idea of Church, faith, and prayer. In his book “Catholicism: A Journey to the Heat of the Faith”, Father Robert Barron tries to revive the idea of Catholicism that seems to weaken and lose its real sense. With my understanding of Church, faith, and prayer, I argue that because of the lack of understanding about Catholicism that exist today in our midst, many people fall short about what Catholicism really means. However, it is not my intention to answer this question.
According to the Meriam Webster dictionary, prayer is an address (as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought. There are many different religions and everyone has a different way to pray, address, or become closer to their god, gods, or goddess. Most religions have a quiet to yourself kind of prayer and a loud kind of prayer. Hinduism is one of those religions. They have a couple of ways and places to address their god, gods, and/or goddess. They also have daily rituals of praying.