Importance of daily prayers
Can Catholic daily prayers change your life? Absolutely!
You can develop a fuller relationship with God and live a better life through prayer. You have a better chance at finding fulfilment (to say nothing of salvation!), from daily prayers than from the many distractions bombarding us these days! Think of all the promises we hear on TV and elsewhere: you’ll find happiness if you buy this car, this book, this exercise bike, or this pill (after checking with your doctor first on that last one) ! Yet many times our souls feel as empty as our wallets afterwards.
Developing a good prayer life can really change you for the better. Praying can become a most satisfying routine in many ways. It might not be an easy habit to start at first, but it’s definitely one you won’t want to break! Catholic daily prayers can give you a sense of peace and purpose.
Prayer has often been called “the raising up of the mind and heart to God”. We engage in a literally divine conversation with Him. You get a wonderful opportunity from prayer to strengthen and deepen your relationship with our Creator and with your fellow human beings by praying for their needs as well as your own.
There are many great Catholic daily prayers. Here are some suggestions in case you’re wondering, or need a quick reminder, as to which are good to say regularly: The Lord’s Prayer (also known as the Our Father), the Hail Mary and the Glory Be are excellent. The Rosary is an essential prayer that combines these three, along with the Apostles’ Creed, in a wonderfully meditative way. You can attend Mass daily whenever possible, not just on Sundays or other holy-days of obligation.
HOW WE PRAY
The two main types of prayer are vocal and mental. In vocal prayer we use prayers, such as the ones mentioned above, from books. Or perhaps those we’ve written down ourselves. In mental prayer we reflect on God’s word. (Mental prayer can also include meditation on various prayers and readings.)
Note that, as the renowned Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once stressed “In prayer [we] do not do all the talking…we must also listen. God talks to us, more in meditation than in vocal prayer.” The two forms can also be combined and often are, such as in the Rosary. Vocal prayer can help with mental prayer
WHY WE PRAY
Archbishop Sheen also once answered the question of why we pray “because we are orchestras and we always need a tune-up.” He understood the importance of prayer in recharging our spiritual batteries, as it were. Catholic daily prayers give us vital spiritual strength.
As the Rev. Raoul Plus once put it, we pray to God “to adore Him, to thank Him, to implore His pardon, and to ask for His benefits.”
Here’s a good way to remember why we pray to God: The Christian who lives well ACTS well. We pray:
- In Adoration of Him
- With Contrition (sorrow) for our sins
- In Thanksgiving for His blessings (especially the little things we take for granted)
- In Supplication (in other words, in “petition,” in our requests for ourselves and others)
Source: ourcatholicprayers.com