Prayer Lesson 5

                         Prayer

                                Lesson 5
                          Helps and Cautions

Let us pray.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Helps and Cautions

If you have made it this far you have probably made a few changes in your prayer life, but you still are not sure how to proceed. This lesson is to help you grow in your prayer life. First we will cover some things to help you grow in prayer and holiness. Then we will cover some helps and cautions. Things that will hinder are growth.

How much time

How much time should you be spending in prayer? There is no one answer to this question, each of us has to work it out for ourselves. But there are some things you can consider when trying to figure out the amount of time that is right for you.

First allow some time for vocal prayer. Time to intercede for others, to thank God for what He has done for you, to praise Him. Time to pray the rosary daily. Time for any other specific prayers you pray on a regular basis.

Second set aside some time for meditation. Probably fifteen to twenty minutes is a good starting point. This includes reading scripture and praying.

Third, set aside a few minutes just to be quiet with the Lord.

As you think about how much time you want to spend in prayer do not worry about how you will find thee time.

Finding time

Now that you have identified the amount of time you want to spend initially in prayer you need to find the time. For most of us our day is already full. Just do not have time to spend an hour or more in prayer each day. If this is how you feel then he first thing you need to do is look at your priorities. Ask the question. Is God truly first in my life? If He is than there is certainly room in your daily schedule for Him. Look at how you spend your day. How much time do you spend watching TV, or reading material that is not edifying? Each of us spend time on activities we like , but don't need to be doing.
Don't forget your prayer time does not need to be at one time.

The most important thing to do is to set time aside each day for prayer, and then to do everything you can each day to spend the time allocated in prayer. Soon you will find yourself looking forward to your prayer time.

Cautions

I don't feel like praying

All of us at times don't feel like praying. Prayer is just like everything else in our life. Some days we just don't want to do certain things. Normally we do them any way. We need to do the same thing with prayer. Just do it. Emotions and feelings are not what the Lord looks at. He looks at what we do according to our free will.

I am distracted during prayer

Don't let distractions bother you. As long as these distractions are not deliberate or intentional they cause very little harm. When distraction come along as soon as you recognize you are being distracted turn back to your prayer. Remember if you sincerely desire to be praying you are.

Detachment

One last area we should spend some time on is detachment. As has been pointed out throughout this course if one is to grow in prayer they must not have attachments. To put this into practice it is necessary to fully understand what is meant by attachments.

What attachment is not

Many get the idea from scripture that attachment is a strong attraction to persons or things, or a strong feeling of pleasure in seeing, hearing, tasting or possessing and using things. This comes about because we miss understand what the Saints mean when they use certain terms. Let's look at some of these terms and clarify what the Saints mean when talking about attachments.

Desires. When speaking of eliminating desires from our life they do not mean that we get rid of natural desires, such as desiring food or water. No they are talking about inordinate and self-centered desires.

Appetites. The meaning of this word is not much different than the meaning of desire. Here again the saints are talking about inordinate desires. The seeking of finite things in and for themselves rather than seeking them in God, there true Source and purpose.As Father Dubey points out:

We are to find delight in everything but to cling to it in nothing. John himself loved others dearly, as did Teresa, and he enjoyed music and stars and nature immensely. For him they were pure mirrors of the divine -- which of course is exactly what everything is meant to be.

What attachment is

As stated previously attachment is an inordinate desire. To determine if an attachment is inordinate we should keep the following three signs in mind.

1. The activity or thing is diverted from the purpose God intends it for. If I go fishing instead of spending time with my family or doing needed task around the house then I am using fishing for a purpose other than what God intended.

2. Excessive use of something or some activity. Here we go to far in eating, drinking, recreating, speaking or working. Purchasing clothes we don't need, watching excessive TV, over eating, all of these fall under this category.

3. Making means into ends. We have one purpose in life. That is the enthralling vision of the Trinity in glory in our risen body. Anything that hinders us in achieving this goal is an inordinate attachment. To clarify this I once again will quote Fr. Dubey:

As soon as honesty requires us to admit that this eating or travel, this television viewing or that purchase is not directly or indirectly aimed at Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we have made ourselves into an idol. We are clearly clinging to something created for our own self-centered sake. We can not be entirely in love with God.

Conclusion

I hope this short course in prayer has been helpful. As you move forward in your prayer life remember your prayer life is not separate from your daily life. Your prayer life will grow as your walk with the Lord grows.