Short Prayers

[Shin]

I'm finding some success with short prayers asking for specific requests daily.

For example, I will pray, 'May God please grant me, perfect contrition, a true confession, and the grace to sin no more.'

And I can repeat this throughout the day, or morning and evening.

I'm going to say, three short requests like this for whatever I need, have helped me. I am experimenting with filling in other requests there, one, two, three.

What helps others?

[Brigid]

Talking to Him as I would have spoken with my earthly father. Direct and simple (with lots of "thanks" and "praises be to You").

[Shin]

I am having good success praying for other causes this way. It helps me to remember requests if I keep them together like this.

[Brigid]

I never thought of doing prayers in the way you speak of - sounds very, very interesting.

[Shin]

I never thought of doing prayers in the way you speak of - sounds very, very interesting.

Well, it's just natural since I picked up short prayers like 'Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us sinners', and 'St. Joseph model and patron of those who love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.' and 'St. Philomena, virgin and martyr, pray for us.'

Short prayers, morning and evening, well, it's natural for me to try to find more of them to simply say and make beginnings with. I remember when I was first starting out. . just making the sign of the cross.. on going to sleep and rising in the morning..

If you plant the seeds in the morning and in the evening. .

[Patricia]

O my Beloved who art also my God, make my heart a flame of burning love for Thee!

[Brigid]

It's interesting you should bring this up, Shin, since our Pastor was speaking of making short, simple prayers (from the heart) in his homily this morning.

[Shin]

O my Beloved who art also my God, make my heart a flame of burning love for Thee!

Amen!

[Brigid]

O my Beloved who art also my God, make my heart a flame of burning love for Thee!

Sounds like a prayer either St. Teresa of Avila or St. Therese of Lisieux would have prayed.

[Shin]

It's interesting you should bring this up, Shin, since our Pastor was speaking of making short, simple prayers (from the heart) in his homily this morning.

Seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive..

So to simply ask for something each day, each day we pray the Our Father.. 'give us this day our daily bread'..

So if there's anything that it's a duty to pray for, or something that we want, or want to achieve.. we work and pray for it every day.

The grace of final perseverance and salvation, a happy death, I have read of as a duty to pray for daily.. for example..

So even though I am only a poor sinner at the beginning, one can start praying perhaps for example, "Lord grant me heroic virtues, great sanctity, and the highest heaven, if it be thy Will.'  And perhaps even the bottom of the barrel sinner may in great charity given such gifts..

I read once long ago that there are so many forgotten graces. . . so that perhaps even the worst of sinners, if asking for them, might receive them because they are forgotten. I should like to read more on this possibility now that I think of it..

There's a pious practice of going to the foot of the altar, that is kneeling just at the edge of the sanctuary, and asking for forgotten graces for oneself and others.

[odhiambo]

I'm finding some success with short prayers asking for specific requests daily.

For example, I will pray, 'May God please grant me, perfect contrition, a true confession, and the grace to sin no more.'

And I can repeat this throughout the day, or morning and evening.

I'm going to say, three short requests like this for whatever I need, have helped me. I am experimenting with filling in other requests there, one, two, three.

What helps others?

Is this what is called " the prayer of simplicity"?I read something like that when I was trying to understand "mental prayer"

[odhiambo]

Still on " short prayers", can anyone please unravel for me the following:
contemplative prayer; centering prayer; the prayer of simplicity?
Try as I will, I just cannot grasp these method of prayers, especially contemplative prayer.

[Brigid]

Prayer of contemplation only God gives a person. Centering prayer is a method of 'getting' to contemplation (as if we could tell God when to give us contemplation) whereby the person tries to 'ground' himself to prepare himself for contemplation. Prayer of simplicity is spoken of by St. Teresa of Avila in her book (thats on this forum) "Interior Castle" as room 4. She has described it far, far better than I ever could.