How do you pray?

DelMarMisty

DelMarMisty

Woodpecker
Woman
Orthodox
Hi all - I wanted to get some insights on how you all conduct your prayers. I follow a prayer rule, but at times, I find reciting the same prayers feels as though I'm running through them in haste rather than making a connection with God and heightening my spiritual life, as well as preparing myself spiritually for the day/night.

- Do you all practice a prayer rule?
- Is there a certain stance you hold as you pray? Sit/stand. Does this matter? I know a lot of people say you can pray anywhere and anytime.
- Do you ever feel you have to force yourself to pray, or do you look forward to it?
- Does your mind wander when in prayer?
- How often do you pray?
- When you follow the prayer rule, how do you then connect your own prayers? Things you're struggling with? What you needs guidance for?


Thanks all.

God Bless.
 
ally

ally

Pigeon
Woman
I don't have strict position when it comes to my prayer. There are times on my knees, bowing, but mostly I just sit, hands clasped while eyes closed.

There were times that I don't feel like praying as I already feel tired and just wanted to sleep, but one thing I realized is when you don't feel like praying, still pray and ask God to correct our hearts. Worshipping the Lord needs discipline, we can't base our worship based off of our emotions, we must be committed to Him.

I also don't like repetitive prayers, so what I do to is I talk to God about my day first, how it went, how I feel, tell Him my concerns, this is really helpful since our day isn't always the same and after that, that's when I'll proceed to my prayer notes. (Family, friends, etc.)

I easily get distracted, my mind always wander around, I'm also still struggling with this, but what I do is I just try to brush if off and, get back to my prayer.
 
messaggera

messaggera

Pelican
Woman
Other Christian
Traditional prayers - head bowed, hands clasps, eyes closed:
  • Before meals
  • Before bed
  • Before getting out of bed or before starting homeschooling
  • Hearing sirens going to help others - if in car we say a Our Father.
Conversational prayers
  • Throughout the day - thanking, praising, and/or asking for guidance
  • During walks outside
Singing - we keep several radio stations on throughout the day that have hymns. Or if driving we (child and I) sing along to Christian songs.
 
dragonfire00

dragonfire00

Robin
Woman
Protestant
Sometimes I pray different times during the day when I feel compelled to, but I try and make sure I pray every night before bed. Usually starts with asking for protection and good sleep, then concerns about certain people and then I just clear my mind and pray for random people that pop into my head. Typically people who have wronged me in the past pop up. I try not to pray for certain outcomes although its hard, but I know that God doesn't answer prayers with a "yes" all the time or the outcome that is wanted isn't always the best as it is his will so I try to be more vague about the prayers.

My kids are young but I need to start doing prayers with them before bed too and before a meal. I do one myself but not the traditional prayers.
 
Lamkins

Lamkins

Woodpecker
Woman
Protestant
I have an index card with some scripture God recently gave me during something terrifying I went through. I say it out loud. I consider it communion with Him, but it’s also for my own encouragement. Normally I just talk to Him though. Whenever, wherever. I cant pray long prayers as my mind wanders plus I figure why repeat myself? Once I’ve thanked Him or made my request I don’t see the point of repeating it. If I do go into nag mode it’s for my own peace of mind. You know, in case He forgot my request, lol. I’ve lately been reminded of Daniel and his prayer being answered immediately, but the angel being held up for 3 weeks.

The only time I’ve ever prayed on my knees was a few weeks ago when I was seeking God’s guidance intensely. It never once occurred to me till then.
 
Vigilant

Vigilant

Kingfisher
Woman
Protestant
Lamkins said:
I have an index card with some scripture God recently gave me during something terrifying I went through. I say it out loud. I consider it communion with Him, but it’s also for my own encouragement. Normally I just talk to Him though. Whenever, wherever. I cant pray long prayers as my mind wanders plus I figure why repeat myself? Once I’ve thanked Him or made my request I don’t see the point of repeating it. If I do go into nag mode it’s for my own peace of mind. You know, in case He forgot my request, lol. I’ve lately been reminded of Daniel and his prayer being answered immediately, but the angel being held up for 3 weeks.

The only time I’ve ever prayed on my knees was a few weeks ago when I was seeking God’s guidance intensely. It never once occurred to me till then.
Click to expand...
Fear is seen now, simply as an emotion, although the fear of God is healthy (means salvation), the fear of man is the snare and an evil.
I pray that God will provide you knowledge, understanding and His peace, in why the situation occurred and how you are to understand it, to His glory, in Jesus name, amen.

The fear of God is a legal requirement for justice. Both by the judge, the witnesses and all the people, they are all to fear God. Without the fear of God the legal system soon deteriorates. And justice gives way to tyranny.
It is divorced from law, and the justice system. Healthy fear of offending God's justice has been in history, the major fact in keeping a society law abiding. If men believe that they can with impunity break laws, and lay claim to rights to vindicate their lawlessness, then they are fully outlaws and an outlaw society is in process of developing.

To call for God's blessing on the righteous is, by implication, asking him not to bless the wicked, as we see in the all the Psalms.
Martin Luther observed, "I cannot pray without cursing" every blessing implies a curse.

I regularly pray for the repentance and salvation of an evil doer, and that if that wicked one is not part of His wheat, then God's will be upon Him, according to what he/she deserves.
 
Lamkins

Lamkins

Woodpecker
Woman
Protestant
Fear is seen now, simply as an emotion, although the fear of God is healthy (means salvation), the fear of man is the snare and an evil.
I pray that God will provide you knowledge, understanding and His peace, in why the situation occurred and how you are to understand it, to His glory, in Jesus name, amen.
Click to expand...

Thank you! You’ve no idea how appropriate this particular part of your response is. Truly, it’s a snare, a stronghold, that I think I understand the why of it, but I’m utterly helpless to change. I’ve reached the end of myself with this. Only God can help.
 
Vigilant

Vigilant

Kingfisher
Woman
Protestant
Lamkins said:
Thank you! You’ve no idea how appropriate this particular part of your response is. Truly, it’s a snare, a stronghold, that I think I understand the why of it, but I’m utterly helpless to change. I’ve reached the end of myself with this. Only God can help.
Click to expand...
If there is any way I can serve you in this, let me know. I will be prayerful on your behalf.
Providing an "outside" voice, which reaffirms the Word of God, is a practical outworking of St. Paul's instruction in the book of Galatians,
"to bear one another's burdens," and "to do good unto all men especially unto those of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:1-2, 10)
 
Lamkins

Lamkins

Woodpecker
Woman
Protestant
Vigilant said:
If there is any way I can serve you in this, let me know. I will be prayerful on your behalf.
Providing an "outside" voice, which reaffirms the Word of God, is a practical outworking of St. Paul's instruction in the book of Galatians,
"to bear one another's burdens," and "to do good unto all men especially unto those of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:1-2, 10)
Click to expand...

Thank you, Vigilant. I so appreciate your prayers. It’s been a rough day today, so I needed to hear this. I’m all teary-eyed. :)
 
catholicmom

catholicmom

Sparrow
Woman
I do a five-decade Rosary every day and rotate between the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries according to the days of the week. Because I have a little one, I am standing for most of the day, and really only sit or lie down while she is napping, so my prayers usually take place standing. Now that the weather is warming up, we often do the Rosary while walking outside.

I know the Rosary can look intimidating at first, but if anyone wants to get into praying it, I'd suggest doing one decade at a time until you can build up your prayer stamina. This is because in my experience, the most fruitful Rosaries are those in which you are actually meditating on the Mysteries AND Fruits. The Rosary is first and foremost a MEDITATIVE prayer. If you're not used to a 15-minute prayer, your mind will start wandering after a couple minutes. You can try dividing it up into five decades and pray those throughout the day.

However, at the same time, if your mind is fixating on something that is troubling you, perhaps it's worth meditating on the Fruits of the Mysteries as they pertain to that thing. That may help you to understand the ways in which God is asking you to approach that issue.

Other than that...during the day, if a random person pops into my mind (especially someone I haven't seen in years), I take that as a prompting to pray for that person (even if it's just a Hail Mary). Similarly, if I feel spooked, I'll pray a Hail Mary or the like. Admittedly, I don't do so-called spontaneous (or stream-of-consciousness) prayer as much. I pray spontaneously, but with the pre-fabricated prayers (Hail Mary, Our Father, Glory Be, Fatima Prayer, etc.). I often struggle with what to say otherwise.

I'd like to one day more consistently pray the Prayers of the Auxilium Christianorum.
 
J

Jen18

Pigeon
Woman
Like above, I try to say the Rosary every day. I found that having one headphone in to guide me is helpful as I have a bunch of little ones with lots of little needs :)

Roosh directed me toward the Jesus Prayer, which I find I can do most of the day, even though it's repetitive.

I have the Laudate app, which has a daily prayer and the daily bible verse, which I read through.

Today, I started the surrender prayer "O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!"

Talking to the Lord about my day, subconscious thoughts directed to him.

Finally, singing - Kanye's album, Jesus is King, singing Jesus Prayer, On Eagle's Wings, We Walk by Faith, My Lord's Gonna Come in the Morning, etc.
 
DelMarMisty

DelMarMisty

Woodpecker
Woman
Orthodox
How do
Jen18 said:
Like above, I try to say the Rosary every day. I found that having one headphone in to guide me is helpful as I have a bunch of little ones with lots of little needs :)

Roosh directed me toward the Jesus Prayer, which I find I can do most of the day, even though it's repetitive.

I have the Laudate app, which has a daily prayer and the daily bible verse, which I read through.

Today, I started the surrender prayer "O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!"

Talking to the Lord about my day, subconscious thoughts directed to him.

Finally, singing - Kanye's album, Jesus is King, singing Jesus Prayer, On Eagle's Wings, We Walk by Faith, My Lord's Gonna Come in the Morning, etc.
Click to expand...
How do you find that the Jesus prayer has helped you?
 
GodfatherPartTwo

GodfatherPartTwo

Kingfisher
Protestant
Vigilant said:
Fear is seen now, simply as an emotion, although the fear of God is healthy (means salvation), the fear of man is the snare and an evil.
I pray that God will provide you knowledge, understanding and His peace, in why the situation occurred and how you are to understand it, to His glory, in Jesus name, amen.

The fear of God is a legal requirement for justice. Both by the judge, the witnesses and all the people, they are all to fear God. Without the fear of God the legal system soon deteriorates. And justice gives way to tyranny.
It is divorced from law, and the justice system. Healthy fear of offending God's justice has been in history, the major fact in keeping a society law abiding. If men believe that they can with impunity break laws, and lay claim to rights to vindicate their lawlessness, then they are fully outlaws and an outlaw society is in process of developing.

To call for God's blessing on the righteous is, by implication, asking him not to bless the wicked, as we see in the all the Psalms.
Martin Luther observed, "I cannot pray without cursing" every blessing implies a curse.

I regularly pray for the repentance and salvation of an evil doer, and that if that wicked one is not part of His wheat, then God's will be upon Him, according to what he/she deserves.
Click to expand...
At my Bible Study, in our banter we'll throw some jokes at the expense of Jordan Peterson or Biden or whoever but as soon as we pray those are the first people we pray for.
 
Vigilant

Vigilant

Kingfisher
Woman
Protestant
GodfatherPartTwo said:
At my Bible Study, in our banter we'll throw some jokes at the expense of Jordan Peterson or Biden or whoever but as soon as we pray those are the first people we pray for.
Click to expand...
I believe the solution to our oppression is not revolution, but regeneration, and intercessory prayer, praying that the tyrants and all Christ haters repent, and if they do not, that they get what they deserve from God. We faithful are the wheat and if the tears are pulled, we too get affected, so we should be very careful how we pray against the wicked. Divorce between the faithful and the unfaithful is a messy business.
 
Vigilant

Vigilant

Kingfisher
Woman
Protestant
GodfatherPartTwo said:
At my Bible Study, in our banter we'll throw some jokes at the expense of Jordan Peterson or Biden or whoever but as soon as we pray those are the first people we pray for.
Click to expand...
From the little I watched on JP from some years ago, I had concluded that his humanistic wisdom would produce a more justified mediocre attitude in men, making them comfortable in not having a potent vision, as conquerors. This is why his theology appeals to a lot of men who don't want to be truly challenged to make a difference for progress.
 
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