One of my childhood prayer books starts with an introduction telling me why the book was put together, then goes straight into daily prayers. Likewise, many websites out there will tell you how to pray the rosary or give you a list of prayers from the Catholic tradition. The problem? These tell you what to pray, but not how to pray.

To try to help, I've put together a set of suggestions as to how you can pray. None of these methods will work for everybody, you should experiment with what works best for you and God. Of course, we probably should introduce prayer first...

What is prayer?

Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there.

Psalms 139:16

If you're unfamiliar with praying, it can seem pretty daunting. Psalms 139 says that God knew us before we were even born, an idea shared by Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas who argued that our essence preceded our existence in the divine mind. What could we possibly have to say to a being who knows all about us?

Well, we can start by thanking such a being for creating us, and for the good things in our lives -- even if those good things seem few. You can ask for guidance, reflect upon the day's events, share your sadness and your joy or petition God.

Prayer is personal; when we pray, we get to know God who knows us.

Who can pray?

Anyone can! You don't need any special theological training, you don't need to be devout or go to mass every week; you just need to make time for God. Except not Susan Finchly – God doesn’t like her, she smells.

Who do I pray to?

God The big three are obviously God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Whilst they are all part of the triune God, we can pray to each of them 'individually'. It's good to pray to the Holy Spirit when we're preparing for something; we can ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to make sure everything goes right.

The saints We can also pray for the intercession of the saints, calling upon the Saints who are closer to God as they are in heaven (as part of the Ecclesia Triumphans) for guidance.

The Blessed Virgin Mary

Michelangelo's Pieta; showing Jesus in Mary's lap. The picture above is in the public domain.

From Mary we learn to surrender to God's Will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ her Son and the Son of God!

Pope John Paul II

I've heard people call Catholics 'Mary worshippers' who put Mary before God. It's true that the late Pope John Paul II was "Mary's Pope", devoting lots of time to Mary, but the claim that we put Mary before God is untrue. We have a lot of respect for Mary because she freely cooperated in God's plan. Nobody can argue that she wasn't a strong woman; she willingly accepted to birth a child that she knew would die before her, she nurtured him, she was with him at the foot of the cross when he died, helpless to act. It's for this reason that we pray to Mary for strength in our hour of need. She is a role of perfect love, living her life dedicated to Christ.

Will my prayers be answered?

Who am I… God? This is a tricky question that I cannot answer. It is important to remember, that just because God may not always grant our requests does not mean that he does not have the power to do so or that he does not care.

As an example, we may pray for an ill relative to live or for Angelina Jolie to love us back, but these requests may be seen as selfish. It is not in our best interests for God to grant these requests; we are not thinking about the pain that the relative is experiencing, or of Angelina's feelings towards Brad Pitt.

Pray-as-you-go

One of my favourite religious studies teachers taught us that it doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing, you can always make time for prayer.

People seem to get caught up in the 'protocol of prayer', it's easy to think that in order to pray you need to kneel, make the sign of the cross or bow your head. However, we don't need to do these things in order to pray, we can pray in the car whilst driving, or on the way to the shop for a bottle of milk!

‘Regular’ prayer

In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti. Amen.

Latin version of the sign in the cross

Having said that, the 'traditional' approach to prayer mentioned above does work well. People have been making the sign of the cross since about 400BCE, it's stood the test of time because it works.

You may find it useful when praying to sit or kneel, to bow your head and to make the sign of the cross before and after you pray. This can help you focus as it seems to 'frame' the prayer, or make it like a 'letter' where you start with a salutation (dear) and end with a valediction (yours sincerely).

Moreover, these things are symbolic. Kneeling reminds us of the need to be humble in front of God. The sign of the cross is a symbol of the cross of salvation, as well as an invocation of the trinity. Saying 'Amen' is saying 'yes' to God.

Chaplets

The picture above is from Flickr user quiplash and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA, the same as this site.

Chaplets are special prayers that involve prayer beads. The most common is the Rosary, but there are others.

You might be wondering what the point of the prayer beads are since we can pray without them. They are a 'tool' for meditation; not only do they help us keep track of where we are in the chaplet, they engage the body in prayer.

In a similar way, the repetition of a phrase or prayer, known as a mantra, occupies the body, allowing the spirit to focus fully on the thought at hand.

Here's a few chaplets that can be prayed using a 'standard' set of rosary beads:

• The rosary
• Chaplet of Divine Mercy
• Chaplet of Holy Wounds

The following chaplets may require special beads:

• Chaplet of the Sacred Heart
• Little Chaplet of the Holy Face
• Chaplet of Our Lady, Star of the Sea
• Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception
• Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary
• Chaplet of Saint Anthony
• Chaplet of Saint Joseph
• Chaplet of Saint Patrick
• Bridgettine Rosary
• Little Flower Chaplet
• Chaplet of the Way of the Cross
• Chaplet of Saint Michael the Archangel

Novenas

A novena is a process of praying for nine consecutive periods (usually days) in a row, usually with one focus or petition. The number nine hasn't just been pulled out of the air, it's based upon the nine days that Mary and the disciples waited for the Holy Spirit to come after the ascension of Jesus. They devoted themselves to prayer together, and after nine days the spirit came.

Litanies

Praying a litany is like listing all of the things you like about God, Mary or the Saints. It's usually prayed by two or more people, as there's an element of 'call and response' to it -- one person leads and the others reply.

The most common litany is the Kyrie used in mass; "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy".

Litanies approved for public recitation:

• The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus
• The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• The Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
• The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (my favourite!)
• The Litany of St. Joseph
• The Litany of the Saints

Using ‘props’

The picture above is from Flickr user Xerone and is licensed CC BY-NC.

Prayer 'prop's are tools or resources that can help you pray. We've already mentioned beads when talking about chaplets above, but there are others we could use. You might find that putting a crucifix on your bedside table before kneeling to pray helps, or perhaps listening to a piece of music makes you feel particularly spiritual. Experiment.

In a future post, we’ll look a music to pray to… stay tuned.

As a group

One of the benefits of a Catholic education is that we all pray together. Despite the differences we may have, for a few moments each day we are all united in prayer together. The best place to pray together is, of course, at mass... pop in one Sunday.

In Latin

Personally, I think Latin is great. I'm not sure why, I've just always had an attraction to it. I like the idea of praying in a language that has been used for years for prayer.

A good place to start with Latin prayers would be the ‘Our Father’ (Pater Noster) and the ‘Hail Mary’ (Ave Maria). I particularly like the Ave Maria; I have fond childhood memories of it.

How do you pray?

Share your method of personal prayer with the world… you could end up bringing someone closer to God! Post a comment with to this article.

Labels: prayer