Reflection
It is clear that prayer changes as we change. There is really no sacrosanct way to pray above others. What works for one tradition or culture, for one personality or Enneagram type, may not for another. What works for us when we are young may prove no longer useful as we mature. During moments of crisis we may pray differently from the way we prayed in periods of calm. Centering may be difficult during certain times of life even for one for whom it is the surest way to stillness at other times. None of this needs to be an indication of failure. The importance of prayer is in the praying not in the method and in praying regularly. We pray daily that our day may become prayer.
Barbara Fiand
Prayer
Seek God and God’s strength; seek Gods presence continually!
Chronicles 16:11
Action
Make time in your day for a period of prayer.
Suggested Reading
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Colossians 4:2
Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.
Saint Teresa of Avila
Prayer is the most concrete way to make our home in God.
Henri Nouwen
Prayer is an opening of the self so that the Word of God can break in and make us new. Prayer unmasks. Prayer converts. Prayer impels. Prayer sustains us on the way. Pray for the grace it will take to continue what you would like to quit.
Joan Chittister
If you have lost the taste for prayer you will regain it by returning humbly to its practice.
Paul VI
Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. … If a man wants to be always in God’s company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.
St. Isidore of Seville
When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than proceedings from the mouth.
St. Bonaventure
He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.
St. Benedict of Nursia
Prayer doesn’t just change things – it changes us. If we are diligent in seeking God, slowly and surely we become better people.
Joyce Meyer
The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.
Soren Kierkegaard
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
Kahill Gibran
If your day is hemmed in with prayer, it is less likely to come unraveled.
Cynthia Lewis