October 3, 2013 – Catechism 2697 – 2708

I think it is so true what it says about prayer.  “But we cannot pray “at all times” if we do not pray at specific times, consciously willing it”. My family went to mass and we prayed before meals, but that was the extend of our prayer.  The rosary, reading the Bible, other forms of prayer, were not a part of our lives.  Making those different types of structured prayers a consistent part of your life allows you to build that relationship with God so that other actions can become prayers.  I remember the first time I heard about a 24 hour adoration chapel, I thought the people were a bit nutty.  I personally had a Thursday middle of the night hour for 5 years and just recently stopped.  I remember seeing people hold hands during the Our Father and thinking they were odd.  Now we do it as a family.  I just didn’t grow up with those specific types of consistent prayer, so praying “at all times” was something and continues to be something I struggle with.  But I am diving into these other types, so it is becoming easier.

My best experiences of praying “out loud” have been at shared prayers on TEC’s.  It is really the first time that many feel comfortable saying a personal prayer out loud.  It is interesting seeing the different ways it can shape itself and how when that damn starts to break, it seems to break down walls in others as well.  Personal petitions, past wrong, genuine thankfulness, they all come flooding out and as a small family we help each other in laying it out there for God.  It is really one of my favorite parts of any weekend and on many retreats the tipping point for many people actually encountering Christ.