Prayer…Make it a Habit

By Mary Jeppson

      There are many articles and books written on prayer and how to pray. Yet, as the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and he taught them the Our Father, we still are looking for the best way to pray.

      The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 2559 states “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God. But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer.  “Man is a beggar before God.”

      Prayer is the beginning of our personal relationship with God. As Catholics we traditionally have four kinds of prayer: 

Adoration: Praising God

Contrition: Asking God’s forgiveness

Petition: Asking God for a favor

Thanksgiving: Showing God gratitude

The Church believes the Mass is the highest form of prayer. It has all four elements of prayers listed above.

      One of the first prayers we learn is the sign of the cross. Romano Guardini, a spiritual writer, wrote in his book Sacred Signs of the sign of the cross:  “Think of these things when you make the sign of the cross. It is the holiest of all signs. Make a large cross, taking time, thinking what you do. Let it take in your whole being- body, soul, mind, will, thoughts, feelings, your doing and not doing and by signing it with the cross strengthen and consecrate the whole in the strength of Christ, in the name of the triune God.” For Catholics it symbolically reaffirms our salvation through the cross of Christ.

      Next we memorized the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and our guardian angel prayers. Over time we learned the Act of Contrition, the Morning Offering and the Rosary. Then we began to talk to God with our own words. Telling him what is in our hearts. God is our most intimate friend. He knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to be present and spend time with him to develop this relationship. Otherwise our words and actions become empty…a lie. However, we choose to pray the most important quality is that it comes from the heart and is honest.

      In order to make “time” for God one needs to make prayer a habit. Pick a time to pray each day.  Engage yourself in a dialog with God. Read the Bible and about the Saints and their prayer habits. Keep a prayer journal. If we can make prayer a habit then it can become a passion. After all, there is no greater thing to do here on earth…than talk to God!