Prayer and Why We Do It How to Pray

What is Prayer? “An act of the virtue of religion which consists in asking proper gifts or graces from God.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia) Prayer is a conversation with God It is when you can ask Him to give you graces and help to get through anything in life

Why Pray? So you maybe thinking to yourself that prayer isn’t that important to your life… “I go to Church”…. “I am a good person”…. “God knows that I love Him”… “why pray?” Prayer is the single most important part of our Christian life!!!

The Importance of Prayer “Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy.... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin. Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned.” (CCC#2744)

If You Don’t Pray You Won’t Get To Heaven The Catechism just said that those who don’t pray are certainly damned….. That means hell

Don’t Worry God loves you and He isn’t going to send you to hell. The only way that you go to hell is if you choose it. So don’t choose hell

How to Pray There are so many different ways to pray that it would be a long talk to go over all of them. But I will touch on a few ways that we can pray. The first way is called formal prayer. The Second is Meditative or Contemplative prayer The third is prayer through offering up suffering and the fourth is prayer through song.

Formal Prayer This is when you say prayers like the Hail Mary, Our Father, Glory Be, and so on. This is a very important way to pray because it is a tested proven way to get closer to God. The most famous formal prayer is the Our Father This prayer was how Jesus told us to pray when He was asked by His disciples

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” ‘This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’”

The Rosary Traditionally the rosary was said to have been given to St. Dominic in a vision of the Blessed Mary in 1200’s. The rosary is a powerful prayer that we believe gives us special graces’. There are actually 15 promises that Mary gives to those who faithfully recite the rosary daily.

Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy The Chaplet of Divine Mercy was given to St. Faustina in the 1930’s. This is a powerful prayer for the salvation of souls, reparation for sins, and conversion of the world to Jesus!! It is said using the rosary beads but instead of praying Our Father and Hail Mary we say different prayers

“Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

Other Formal Prayers There are a lot of formal prayers that you can find in prayer books and online Most of the formal prayers that we have are written by saints so you know that they work Just look at them!! They have glowing circles of light around their heads so they must be holy!

Contemplative Prayer Contemplative prayer is EXTREMELY important!! When you pray using contemplative prayer you are listening to hear the voice of God!

How to listen to God!!! 1st) Sit or kneel in a comfortable position 2nd ) Focus on getting all those distractions out of your minds 3rd) Meditate on one word or a reading 4th) LISTEN!!!!!!!

Offering Up Suffering As Blessed Pope John Paul The Great said, “Don’t waste your suffering.” What he meant by that is that suffering is an opportunity to give your suffering to God as a gift for someone else or for your own sanctification.

The Saints on Suffering “If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings.” --Saint Ignatius of Loyola “When it is all over you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly.” --St. Sebastian Valfre

Prayer Through Song!! “Singing belongs to one who loves” – St. Augustine “Singing is praying twice” – (attributed to) St. Augustine

Singing To God “Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise. Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.” (Psalm 98) The Bible tells us to sing to God so it is important

There are many forms that are good Praise and Worship Church music Gregorian Chant

THE MOST IMPORTANT PRAYER What is the most important prayer in the Catholic faith? THE MASS!!!

Saints and the Mass "The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!" (Pope Paul VI) “The world could exist more easily without the sun than without the Mass.” (Padre Pio) “If we knew the value of the Mass we would die of joy.” (St. Jean Vianney)

Reason that the mass is so Awesome!! The Mass is Calvary continued. Every Mass is worth as much as the sacrifice of Our Lord's life, sufferings and death. Holy Mass is the most powerful atonement for your sins. At the hour of death the Masses you have heard will be your greatest consolation. Every Mass will go with you to judgment and plead for pardon. At Mass you can diminish more or less temporal punishment due to your sins, according to your fervor. Assisting devoutly at Holy Mass you render to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord the greatest homage. He supplies for many of your negligence's and omissions. He forgives the venial sins which you have not confessed. The power of Satan over you is diminished. You afford the souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief. One Mass heard during your life will be of more benefit to you than many heard for you after your death. You are preserved from dangers and misfortunes which otherwise might have befallen you. You shorten your stay in Purgatory. Every Mass wins for you a higher degree of glory in Heaven. You receive the priest's blessing which Our Lord ratifies in Heaven. You kneel amidst a multitude of holy angels, who are present at the Adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe. You are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.