our father – Mark Joseph Ministries

Most of us don’t want to waste our time. As such, we don’t spend time on things that we perceive won’t benefit us. I believe this is at least one reason that so many people don’t pray. They don’t perceive that prayer is a benefit to them.

What if I told you that there’s a way to pray that will work very well for you? Read on.

Growing up, my family always said grace before meals and prayed before going to bed. I then did the same with my kids, although not praying much by myself prior to my conversion. For a long time, I primarily said rote prayers, i.e. the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Then that all changed.

What Changed My Prayer Life

One of my favorite Catholic authors and speakers is Matthew Kelly, who founded Dynamic Catholic, an organization doing great things for the Catholic Church. Years ago, I read Matthew’s book, Rhythm of Life, which was life changing for me. Since then I’ve given a copy to well over 100 people and recommended it to far more. If you’ve not read it, do yourself a favor and do so.

Great Prayer Process

In the book, Matthew talks about the “classroom of silence”, where you take time for prayer, to talk to our Lord. My take on the process he suggests for discerning an issue looks something like:

Describing to God an issue, challenge, or decision that is in front of you
Tell Him what is on your heart and mind, explaining the situation
Detailing for God your ideas and solutions, including the pros and cons for the various options you’re considering
Share your feelings on the issue
Sitting in silence, listening for God’s direction and inspiration

Very interesting…every time I have done this over the last 14 years, it works. It really works. In working through this process, taking the time to do all the steps, praying through it and asking God for his wisdom and direction, I’ve come away with a clear answer and direction every time, which is then validated in the peace that I feel over it.

To be clear, the most important relationship we can have is with our Savior, Jesus Christ. As such, I believe that prayer is critical to our faith journeys and in fact, to living a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment. Not only is prayer good for us, but God deserves our adoration. In addition, we ought to be repentant and express gratitude in prayer. I pray daily, including the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be that I mention above, in addition to reading Scripture, and yes…participating in the classroom of silence.

Take It Slowly

If you don’t have a strong prayer life, don’t worry. It’s never too late to start. Take it slowly. Try what I describe above from Rhythm of Life. If doing everything in one sitting seems like a lot, say some rote prayers at another time during the day. If you want to start praying through Scripture, you could look to the daily Mass readings, which can be found at www.usccb.org/bible/readings.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew…it’s not a race. God is much more interested in your availability than your ability.

I encourage you to try the things I identify above. See if they work and feel free to comment to me at [email protected].

May God Bless you on your journey of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

Last week’s blog was titled, “The Gift of Our Faith”. To realize and maximize that gift, we need to be in relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ His Son, while calling on the Holy Spirit, who lives within each of us. Prayer is critical to that relationship, in its many forms.

Do you have a favorite prayer or prayers? How is it that you pray? Rote prayer, reading and praying through Scripture, meditative or contemplative prayer? The Catholic Church offers many prayers for us, including the Mass, Rosary, and Divine Mercy Chaplet. A simple internet search will take you to an exhaustive list of Catholic prayers.

Yet most people I know, including those actively engaged in our faith, will tell you that they struggle with prayer. I do too. Why is that? I assume your experience is the same as mine…that is that anything you get really good at takes work. It takes dedicated effort. God wants nothing more than us to be in relationship with Him. Given the free will He has provided us, God leaves it up to us. Just like our earthly relationships, where we have challenges, we’re challenged in prayer. Keep at it. It’s what God desires and it’s good for us…just ask anyone who prays regularly.

My favorite prayers are the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, long form of the Serenity Prayer, and a prayer I wrote in 2009, which I call Thank you God; Thank you Jesus!!! For each, I say them incredibly slowly, praying through and hanging on every word. They are my “go to” prayers. I say them daily without fail.

In reviewing all the blogs I’ve posted over the last 3 ½ years, I’ve done others on prayer, whether it be different types, processes, methods, etc. I hesitated to do so again here, but my wife reminded me that redundancy is good…and that we can all be reminded more about prayer.

Believe me, I’m far from perfect at prayer. I struggle with it. But the reality is that the more I pray, the more peace I have. The more “right” direction I have to my life. The sin of pride, which I’m a pro at, is less of an issue. So is envy and the many others. I’m a better person when I pray more.

The mistake people make with prayer is the same mistake many make in other aspects of their lives…”they bite off more than they can chew”. They start too fast, expecting too much. Like with anything else, the more we know about our faith (about prayer), the more we find there is to learn. It is not a race, but a journey. Take it slowly. Five minutes a day to start. Reading a little bit of Scripture and then reflecting on it. Saying a couple rote prayers. Sitting in silence with our Lord, listening for His voice in your life.

I hope this blog prompted you to think (and pray). Maybe you’re a prayer warrior and the above doesn’t apply. If so, maybe you can share some of these ideas with others. Or maybe it does, and you can add to whatever you’re doing. If you’d like a special copy on my prayer (noted above), please let us know. In addition, should you desire, we can provide you with a tool we created called, “Simple Process for Prayer”.

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for GREATNESS!!!

Mark Joseph