Don't give up so easily...convert it towards your advantage over the "created one". The trouble lately is that you are trying... therefore the other guy is trying to stop you. Just change the focus and make a promise to God that you can commit too. For example"Holy Mother, it has been very dificult for me to pray the rosary. I will promise to do the rosary for 7 days. Please open my heart to my next spiritual excersize". The importance is that you did not quit and you followed through with your devotion. But only promise what you can do. Don't make it so difficult so you will fail. Brother Al By the way...you are a saint too
Brother Al, Calling me a Saint is nothing short of heresy/apostasy ... but thanks for the Kind Thoughts ... the people of the cloth that have passed through my life and passed on are spinnin' in their graves! I'm just a old grounded CrewDog and ignorant pilgrim stumbling along The Path ..... trying not to become too distracted from my focus on Jesus and Salvation ..... Back to Prayers! Repetition of "tiresome" prayers is no sacrifice ... it's torture Oh!! I do repeat My prayers a lot ... like: Father, Please dissipate The Storm. Could You just send Jesus, The Holy Ghost and St Michael down here to clean up our mess and dump satan along with his pals into The Pit? Amen!! GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
As we can see, we all have different ways of praying... One thing I would say though is that there has to be a progression and growth in our prayer. If one is doing the same prayers for years and rarely sees an answer or an insight, then perhaps it could be that one is saying prayers rather than praying.
That is a great point. Prayer can be likened to water. When the water flows from the side of Christ and the Holy Spirit it is like a River, fresh and always new. This flows into our souls and we are refreshed. If we try to capture the water by damning it up, the pool providers refreshment for a time but it can then become stagnate. God then sends us back to the desert to appreciate the Water and our hearts beg for it, even as Psalmist says, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God” (Ps 42:1). If the Lord is especially magnanimous to us, he will turn the water into wine.
Something to consider... Jesus chose tough, hardworking, strong men to be His apostles. I'm sure they were a little rambunctious in the evenings. Their knowledge was about nature, sun, moon and the lake. They were very intelligent in their vocation. Other then that they were probably not very educated. Why would Jesus choose fisherman? Dedication - Perseverance - Strength My point is simple...you are closer to God then you think. I think the apostles had a lot of you in there persona. Note: i know you are very educated, that was the apostles i was talking about K
I have to say, I lean on modern prayer aids...aka prayer apps. My tablet is full of prayer apps and I use them constantly. My goal is always a morning rosary and divine mercy chaplet or Holy Spirit litany. I am not a morning person at all, but my mind does not wander far in the morning. Adoration is Monday nights for my 1:1 face time with my Jesus where "my spot" is the very first row, in front of Him and next to our lady. In adoration I really just sit there and try to listen. But my mind does wander a lot since I have had a long day. My full time retail job schedule does not allow for daily mass or even a regular mass time on Sunday, but I go every Sunday whether it be 7:30am or 6pm. And I am thankful that this Saturday will complete my first ever 5 Saturday devotion. So I have fallen in love with the rosary app with Father Kevin Scallon and Dana. You have probably heard them on EWTN radio's holy hour. It is also available on youtube or on CD at amazon. If you have trouble with the rosary, try it!! It is a mix of singing and great reflections to set up each mystery. It finishes with Mary's litany. The 5 mysteries take about 30 minutes. My second favorite rosary app is called Rosario I think. There is less singing and more scriptural. Lots of scripture, some songs, Mary's litany, more prayers. This one takes about 45 - 50 minutes. I listen to it every night to go to sleep. My favorite divine mercy chaplet is on Laudete. Music and ending with Jesus I trust in you repeated 3 times. Laudete has also recently added a very good rosary with I sometimes go to sleep to. Another great app is "Free Divine Mercy" which has 2 versions of of the chaplet in singing form, similer to what you hear on EWTN radio during their holy hour. There is also a great, traditional Stations of the Cross app that I do at adoration during lent. I can get more info on these apps for anyone who wants them. There are shorter rosary apps like Relevant radio or I heart radio if you have trouble with the rosary. Those are only 17 minutes. When life goes off the grid I will be in trouble, but that is the way I pray now. All my prayer, even with the apps, is mental and I rarely pray out loud. I offer up my day to Mary, since she knows how much I hate my job. So, that helps to make it worthwhile.
PS If I may make a suggestion in your mind wandering during adoration... what helps me is if I tell Jesus all my cares and worries and intentions, this in my case often takes over an hour and then when I have talked myself out, I find it easier to allow him to get a word in.. it's a bit like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, it was only when they stopped talking that he was able to get in. I hope this helps
Singing is a great way to pray. It was St. Augustine who said, "He who sings prays twice" and the Catechism quotes him saying, “How I wept, deeply moved by your hymns, songs, and the voices that echoed through your Church! What emotion I experienced in them! Those sounds flowed into my ears distilling the truth in my heart. A feeling of devotion surged within me, and tears streamed down my face - tears that did me good” (CCC 1157). Even if you don't know the words and simply babble. What Father does not take great joy at seeing his son or daughter babbling in song in their presence.
I try to "involve" Patron Saints in daily tasks ... be it house fix-it projects ... St Joseph .. garden - St Fiachra, .. or when walking the dog I'll talk to God about the nice or rainey day ..... even in the bathroom..... most people, like me, have trouble with "official" prayers at certain times .. at certain places .. it just discourages folks!! That kind of prayer life was designed for and by clergy in monasteries/convents ... or old folks stuck at home ;-( That's my Two Cents anyway GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
Lately, my rosaries are becoming easier to pray and incredibly peaceful since I started inviting Jesus to pray them with me in His will. I say, "Jesus, let's delight our mother!"
I was really struggling in adoration. I am a mother of four children who has been bombarded with a plethora of health issues. I made it a priority to go to adoration twice a week. I would cry, beg for a miracle, pray the rosary, negotiate, promise this or that if I could just be relieved of the physical pain. I prayed for direction but kept getting sent to the WORST drs with treatments that only complicated my issues. So, after feeling utterly forsaken, I drove to adoration, cuddled up to my rosary and said out loud, "dear Jesus, you know I ask to be healed. I don't know how else to ask. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do this. You know my heart. So I won't even tell you. I have no more words. No more prayers". I just sat there absolutely exhausted and in severe pain. And just thought about climbing into the wings of an angel and sleeping. I hadn't slept for weeks. And low and behold, in that adoration chapel, i fell asleep. My mind was awake, but asleep at the same time. I can't really explain what happened but I felt rested when I left. Jesus gave me what I needed at that moment and I didn't ask. He knew. For me, prayer has been about complete surrender.
This morning the month of the Holy Angels I slept on later than I have in many, many years. Five hours more than usual right up to nine. I must have been tired from work and it is very,very quiet out here in the woods
But I felt my Guardian Angel very close indeed. I love this so much about prayers, you never know who is going to turn up. Prayers for all affected by that terrible shooting in the. States
My Guardian Angel was reminding me this morning that he is not just an ornament that he is sent by God as a practical help and consolation in times of trouble and that I should turn to him more and with great confidence. How beautiful he is,like some stern Medieval Knight. But angels are not to be messed about with. They have totally one track minds,only concerned with God and the things of God. Nothing stall else interests then. How I dearly love him, but I don't know how he puts up with me with such great patience
Now we are getting to the heart of prayer . . . I am touched by your comments and they inspire me to pray more this morning. At university years ago I was far from God and almost did not pray at all. In one poetry class we read the American poet Eimly Dickinson. She was not religious really but one line struck me, "Atfer great pain, a formal feeling comes". It haunted me in a sense for years as I mulled it over. After our Lord had pity on me and came to me in my distress I understood it. Now, I would rather be with the Lord in pain than without him in perfect health.
Yes when we are nailed to our cross we are nailed to Christ. I guess we all of us have to walk our own Cavalry
PS, You do well to make good use with what is at hand. May Mary carve out a space in your heart, and may Jesus fill it with His peace-beyond-all-understanding! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
