Prayers, Moans, Groans and other Hymns

Brothers and sisters:

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;

for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. 

And the one who searches hearts

knows what is the intention of the Spirit,

because he intercedes for the holy ones

according to God's will.

Why do we fold our hands when we pray?  Is it required that we do so? Why do we often kneel when we pray? Who came up with that idea?  Why is prayer so mysterious? Saints, priests, nuns, and brothers pray and they seem, at least according to the stories, to get so much more out of it than I do when I pray. I never know what to say when I pray, I am not good with words, all of the "thee's and thou's" don't come naturally to me, my prayers sound so very plain. 

There is no subject more important to a Christian than prayer. Prayer is where our relationship with God begins. We do have some strange notions about prayer.  For example, why do we fold our hands when we pray?  To be honest,. most people do it because that is how they were taught. But when your hands are folded in prayer, they are not busy with other things or at least that is the hope.  You need not fold your hands when you pray. As a matter of fact, if that is what keeps you from prayer, don't do it!  Why do we sometimes kneel when we pray?  We Catholics kneel to show reverence at Mass for the Holy Eucharist which is the Lord Himself. In the middle-ages people knelt because it was very hard to draw a sword when in that position. In the time of Jesus, praying was done standing up.  Again, if kneeling is what keeps you from prayer, don't kneel unless you have to. 

Saints and vowed or ordained people seem to get more out of prayer for one simple reason, they do more of it but this is one case where practice does not make perfect. What the professional religious do that many of us civilians do not do is that they pray and build a relationship with God while many of us in the lay world try to say "the right things."  Prayer is getting to know God and by revealing yourself to Him, allowing Him to know you. Of course, He already knows you better than you know yourself, but what you share with Him shows how much you trust Him.

Prayer is not a mysterious thing.  There are no secrets to prayer that you cannot learn for yourself just by doing it. My advice is that before you look to experience the prayer life of St. Francis of Assisi, that you experience your prayer life first. There is no one size fits all method to prayer.  When we pray we are speaking to not some distant, uninterested sort of supreme being.  No, we are speaking to our Father in heaven.  He wants to hear from us. He wants us to be ourselves and to share our most intimate thoughts with Him.  Being God, He knows them already, but he wants you to think of Him as a friend, a personal, intimate friend.  

How you pray is not the issue. That you do pray is important.  Save the flowery language for professional prayer writers. If you are angry, tell God why, be honest and share fully. If you are feeling good, share that too. Be thankful for what you have and what you can do. Don't worry if your prayer doesn't sound like it came from a prayer book, just speak.  God wants to hear. 

Sometimes you will find it hard to pray. Cardinal Bernadine who died of cancer and finished a book literally hours before he died said that in his sickest moments he could not pray.  In these moments, the prayers in prayer books come in handy, they are a tool that was made for times such as these, for heaven's sake (pun intended) use the tools you have.  But if even that is too hard, your prayer can be contained in the tear drop that rolls down your cheek.  God knows why that tear formed and He will deal with it as if you had spoken to Him for hours. 

SPEAKING ABOUT PRAYER...PLEASE PRAY FOR THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY. THEY DEPEND ON US TO PRAY FOR THEM.  DON'T FORGET THEM TODAY...