Prayer

It’s a lovely sunny Sunday and I have just attended Mass virtually. I was thinking about how prayer affects you psychologically. Just as when the sun comes out and you find your spirits lifted, it can often be the same with prayer. Sometimes you can start praying and possibly it can be when you are feeling low or you are in a rush or you are doing it because it is a habit – a good one – but you don’t quite feel you want to – you feel as uplifted as if the sun has shone through the clouds on a grey day.

I make it a habit to always pray first thing in the morning – I use a morning and evening prayers book (A Shorter Morning & Evening Prayer – Collins), the Magnificat, the Simple Prayer Book and I also have a book by Stormie Martian called ‘The Power of a Praying Parent’ which I use to pray for my sons. Morning prayers can be very uplifting – you can use the psalms or bible passages from that day’s readings and let God speak to you in this time with him.

Sometimes it feels like a struggle to start, especially if I have a busy day ahead and want to get going. I try never to miss them out because it doesn’t matter how I feel when I begin them; at the end I feel uplifted, sometimes more than others and it draws me closer to God.

Prayers are basically conversations with our God. We need to keep in touch with him and let him know he is important to us. Just as with a relative or friend, you need to sustain that relationship in order to develop it and remain close.

There are no wrong ways to pray. Even talking to God and telling him how you are feeling and inviting him to help you is enough. Jesus taught us the ‘Our Father’ and just praying this and giving God time to answer is okay.

We can’t put God to the test but I can assure you that he listens to all prayers and has answered many of mine. Not necessarily in the way I hope but he is always there for me and will be there for you. I pray for a fruitful, loving prayer relationship for you and our God.

God bless,