A network of intercessors committed to sustained prayer for "Common Good", its mission and its members.

Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian has. Prayer makes us effective. Prayer makes us happy. Prayer gives us all the strength that we need to fulfill God's commands. Yes, indeed, your whole life can and should be prayer.

Getting Started in Prayer
We can often be distracted, even when we pray. All prayer is a conversation with God, and we need to give him our full attention, otherwise it is like getting an appointment with someone and then day dreaming during the interview. There are times when it is appropriate to remember the past so as to seek forgiveness, or to learn from it, or to remember good things with joy, but in fact the past is gone. There are times when we need to think about the future, to do planning for example, and there are times to use our imagination, especially in meditation, but we need to remember that the future and fantasy are not actually here. The only moment that is real is the present moment. It is in this present moment that we meet God.

One way to begin prayer is to return ourselves to the present moment, and then to focus our attention on God in that moment. Begin by focusing your attention on your breathing. Give it your full attention. Breath in slowly, then breath out slowly. Do this for a minimum of three breaths, or for as long as it takes for your inner self to become calm and to give up any thoughts or images. If it helps, you can even say in your mind what you are doing, such as "breath in one, breath out one, breath in two, breath out two..." A good example of using conscious breathing in prayer is given at Prayer and Blessing.

Next you can switch to a prayer word or phrase while continuing the in-out breathing. An example might be "Jesus", "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" [Luke 18:13], "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me", or "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me", [Luke 18:38]. On a more positive note one could say "Praise God", "Thank you Lord", "Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart." etc. The longer phrases are nice because one half can match the duration of the in breath and the last half used during the out breath. You could just continue this as a form of meditation for as long as you like, or go on to another form of prayer once you have removed your distractions and are able to give God you full attention.

Remember that breath is an important symbol in our religious tradition. When God created mankind, He blew the breath of life into Adam, [Gen. 2:7], and thus into us all. When we are aware of our breathing we can be aware of God still breathing into us the life we have. In addition, God the Holy Spirit is symbolized by wind, [John 3:8 and Acts 2:2]; and wind is just the rapid movement of air. Thus, when we breath we can see this as taking in the Holy Spirit.

Even though we receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, we too often allow His presence to dwindle. The flame that is our faith can burn down to the barest ember, but if the we blow on the fire, if we try to increase the presence of the Holy Spirit, then the fire of our faith can become a bonfire to illuminate our darkness and the darkness of our world. To visualize the inflow of the Holy Spirit, along with aware, controlled, breathing, is itself a prayer that God will indeed enter us more fully. (There is no reason to think that prayers only consist of words.)

Time and Place? It can be any time and any place.
Contemplative prayer and meditation method taught by St. Ignatius require finding a quiet place and spending time there from 10 to 30 minutes. For many, this may be difficult, at least psychologically. We all have our routine and we don't always want to change it. Never-the-less we can find more time for prayer, if we just look at our daily routine.

What is your mind doing during the "morning ritual" when you are getting ready to leave the house? Do you spend time reading? Why not spiritual reading or a psalm? Do you sing in the shower? Why not a hymn. Do you think about the day? Why not do that while asking for guidance on the day? Do you drive to work, or drive as part of your work? Why not listen to audio tapes on spirituality, or the bible? Take the train? Again, you could listen to tapes or do spiritual reading. Addicted to the mourning news on TV, or the paper? There are abundant opportunities to pray for the people you hear about who are victims of crime or misfortune. Add to that a prayer asking God to protect you and your family. While at work, what do you do, or what do you think about while on break, or at lunch? You could read a psalm, a short bit of spiritual reading, or just talk to God. Any friend is interested in hearing about your day, even your worries and troubles. God is that friend. If you don't experience friendship like that think of Him as family (the good kind). Didn't somebody say that family are the people your stuck with, that you can't get rid of? He wont leave.

As to finding psalms and other material to use morning and evening or even other parts of the day, the Liturgy of the Hours is published in shorter versions than the ones used by priests. Look for the one volume edition or the even smaller one, Shorter Christian Prayer, at your book store. We would also strongly recommend the The Imitation of Christ. You may perhaps feel that some parts are "out of date", but when you feel this way you have also discovered a point to think about carefully. In this modern world, is there still any place for obedience or humility? What do you think God thinks?

If I were at home doing nothing, no demanding work, and no one else was around. So to over come boredom and the absence of people, I would say the Hail Mary repeatedly all night long. A charismatic Christian might quietly use the gift of tongues. If the work you do doesn't demand much thought, you could use the imagination to go to a "special place" a secrete room, a garden, the natural setting to be with the Lord. This was an approach St. Catherine of Sienna used as a girl when her parents demanded she do most of the household work to keep her from prayer.

"As regards the place of meditation [i.e. mental prayer], St. Alphonsus says:
'We can meditate in every place, at home or elsewhere, even in walking and at our work. How many are there who, not having any better opportunity, raise their hearts to God and apply their minds to mental prayer, without leaving their occupations, their work, or who meditate even while traveling. He who seeks God will find Him, everywhere and at all times.'

"He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen." The Imitation of Christ, Meditation.

The Habit of Prayer.
"The habit of prayer is no burden to any one, for we can pray worthily at any time, in any place, and any posture. Even the motion of the lips is not necessary; the mind and heart can be engaged in it when we read or converse or go about our daily work. Moreover prayer produces a delicious feeling of hope and rest in God; and this feeling is worth more than the happiness that wealth can purchase or the world give.

God respects not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how elegant they are; nor the music of our prayers, how melodious they are; nor the logic of our prayers, how methodical they are; but the sincerity of our prayers, how heart-sprung they are. -- Anon."

The Power of Prayer
"[Prayer] has no delegated grace to avert any sense of suffering; but it supplies the suffering... with endurance: it amplifies grace by virtue, that faith may know what she obtains from the Lord, understanding what--for God's name's sake--she suffers. But in days gone by, withal prayer used to call down plagues, scatter the armies of foes... Now, however, the prayer of righteousness avers all God's anger, keeps bivouac on behalf of personal enemies, makes supplication on behalf of persecutors... Prayer is alone that which vanquishes God. But Christ has willed that it be operative for no evil: He had conferred on it all its virtue in the cause of good. And so it knows nothing save how to recall the souls of the departed from the very path of death, to transform the weak, to restore the sick, to purge the possessed, to open prison-bars, to loose the bonds of the innocent. Likewise it washes away faults, repels temptations, extinguishes persecutions, consoles the faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travellers, appeases waves, makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich, upraises the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the standing. Prayer is the wall of faith: her arms and missiles against the foe who keeps watch over us on all sides. And, so never walk we unarmed."

To pray, lift your mind and heart to God
Give Him your every hope and fear.
Let Him lift these great weights from you
And let your clouded vision clear.