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How do you pray?

phattonez

phattonez

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St. Teresa of Avila said:
If a person neither considers to Whom he is addressing himself, what he asks, nor what he is who ventures to speak to God, although his lips may utter many words, I do not call it prayer. Sometimes, indeed, one may pray devoutly without making all these considerations through having practised them at other times. The custom of speaking to God Almighty as freely as with a slave--caring nothing whether the words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first thing that comes to mind from being learnt by rote by frequent repetition--cannot be called prayer: God grant that no Christian may address Him in this manner. I trust His Majesty will prevent any of you, sisters, from doing so. Our habit in this Order of conversing about spiritual matters is a good preservative against such evil ways.
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So how do you pray? Do you keep in mind to whom it is that you are praying? Is it casual and relaxed, or do you prostrate yourself physically and spiritually before your Lord and God?
 
I don't see myself as separate from God, so it's a pretty relaxed affair.
 
I give thanks to God by learning and using my intellect.

I do not meditate or sit down and say prayers or things of that sort.

I feel that talk is cheap and God knows.
 
lizzie said:
I don't see myself as separate from God, so it's a pretty relaxed affair.
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You're not separated from God? Then please, command a lightning bolt to come down and destroy my home. Let's see it.
 
phattonez said:
So how do you pray? Do you keep in mind to whom it is that you are praying? Is it casual and relaxed, or do you prostrate yourself physically and spiritually before your Lord and God?[/FONT][/COLOR]
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Depends.

If I am about to be run over by a truck, a quick mental "Lord, help!" is about as formal as I can manage.

If I am in the middle of something that requires my attention, my prayers may be very brief and silent.


Given a bit more time, and or privacy, I certainly seek to focus my mind on the fact that I am importuning the Omnipotent Creator and Final Arbiter of all the universe, with all the seriousness that entails.


However, in counterpoint, Jesus' said that those under his Grace could view God as their heavenly father, and used a term ("Abba") that could be considered equivalent to "Daddy" in modern parlance... which many interpret to mean that God does not want us to approach him as a fearful supplicant approaches a short-tempered King, but rather as a child that knows he is loved would approach his own familiar Father.
 
phattonez said:
You're not separated from God? Then please, command a lightning bolt to come down and destroy my home. Let's see it.
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Who said that I am God itself? That is a huge assumption on your part. I said I don't see myself as separate from it. If you have a child, is that child you?
I think of myself as an expression of it.

And suppose I did see myself as God. Why would I have any compulsion to prove anything to you?
 
phattonez said:
so how do you pray? Do you keep in mind to whom it is that you are praying? Is it casual and relaxed, or do you prostrate yourself physically and spiritually before your lord and god?[/font][/color]
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not at all.
 
phattonez said:
You're not separated from God? Then please, command a lightning bolt to come down and destroy my home. Let's see it.
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Assuming she believes in an all loving God if she were God why would she show it by striking your property with a lightning bolt?

She could show it simply by hugging you or something (which any human can do).

You would never find out if that was the kind of proof you would be looking for.
 
Goshin said:
Depends.

If I am about to be run over by a truck, a quick mental "Lord, help!" is about as formal as I can manage.

If I am in the middle of something that requires my attention, my prayers may be very brief and silent.


Given a bit more time, and or privacy, I certainly seek to focus my mind on the fact that I am importuning the Omnipotent Creator and Final Arbiter of all the universe, with all the seriousness that entails.


However, in counterpoint, Jesus' said that those under his Grace could view God as their heavenly father, and used a term ("Abba") that could be considered equivalent to "Daddy" in modern parlance... which many interpret to mean that God does not want us to approach him as a fearful supplicant approaches a short-tempered King, but rather as a child that knows he is loved would approach his own familiar Father.
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I'd agree with most of that overall. It's hard to be solemn and totally collected in prayer while at work, but certainly we should be praying constantly. However, about the "daddy" translation:

a) It is fair to say that ‘abba in Jesus’ time belonged to a familiar or colloquial register of language, as distinct from more formal andceremonious usage, though it would be unwise, in view of the usage of the Targum, to press this too far. But in any case it was not a childish expression comparable with ‘Daddy’: it was more a solemn, responsible, adult address to a Father.
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A Trinity Sunday question | Fr. Z's BlogFr. Z's Blog
 
lizzie said:
Who said that I am God itself? That is a huge assumption on your part. I said I don't see myself as separate from it. If you have a child, is that child you?
I think of myself as an expression of it.
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Your child is not an expression of you. Your child is totally separate from you, though made by you, while you are definitely the authority over that child.

And suppose I did see myself as God. Why would I have any compulsion to prove anything to you?
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Because I see no reason for one who is created to believe that she is equal to or anywhere close to the Creator. That God even searches for us is one of the highest blessings our Lord gives us.
 
Luftwaffe said:
Assuming she believes in an all loving God if she were God why would she show it by striking your property with a lightning bolt?

She could show it simply by hugging you or something (which any human can do).

You would never find out if that was the kind of proof you would be looking for.
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How would a hug show that she is in any way close to the omnipotent Creator?
 
phattonez said:
Your child is not an expression of you. Your child is totally separate from you, though made by you, while you are definitely the authority over that child.



Because I see no reason for one who is created to believe that she is equal to or anywhere close to the Creator. That God even searches for us is one of the highest blessings our Lord gives us.
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You have your belief system- I have mine.
 
lizzie said:
You have your belief system- I have mine.
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But what is your "belief system" even based on? Just what you want to be true?
 
phattonez said:
But what is your "belief system" even based on? Just what you want to be true?
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Not at all. It's based on a 35-year search, and encompasses more than you are probably even aware of at this stage of your life. It makes no difference to me what you believe. Neither of us have any proof whatsoever, and both of us believe what we do, for reasons that we ourselves understand.
 
lizzie said:
Not at all. It's based on a 35-year search, and encompasses more than you are probably even aware of at this stage of your life. It makes no difference to me what you believe. Neither of us have any proof whatsoever, and both of us believe what we do, for reasons that we ourselves understand.
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I have plenty of proof, and reasons for my faith. My faith stems for the resurrection and the entirely plausible historical account that it actually happened, and from there follows the authority of the Church.

CCC 156: So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind".

And why we should believe that the resurrection truly happened, is historically documented, why we believe that Jesus is the Son of God:
http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html

Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said: "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead." Brooke Foss Westcott, an English scholar, said: "raking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it."
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phattonez said:
I have plenty of proof, and reasons for my faith. My faith stems for the resurrection and the entirely plausible historical account that it actually happened, and from there follows the authority of the Church.
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Well, good for you. I don't believe that the church has any authority, and I have doubts about the accuracy of the Bible itself, after having been adulterated by people in power, over the ages. If you are satisfied with what you see, and feel secure in your faith, then that is the right faith for you. For me, it is not. We must all find our own path, and what is true to you, may be false to me. All paths lead to the same place ultimately, so enjoy your journey.
 
lizzie said:
Well, good for you. I don't believe that the church has any authority, and I have doubts about the accuracy of the Bible itself, after having been adulterated by people in power, over the ages. If you are satisfied with what you see, and feel secure in your faith, then that is the right faith for you. For me, it is not. We must all find our own path, and what is true to you, may be false to me. All paths lead to the same place ultimately, so enjoy your journey.
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So you believe that the Bible was adulterated without any evidence, and yet you reject that Jesus rose from the dead despite the plentiful evidence. How is that reasonable?
 
phattonez said:
So you believe that the Bible was adulterated without any evidence, and yet you reject that Jesus rose from the dead despite the plentiful evidence. How is that reasonable?
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There you go assuming once again. Where did I say that I reject anything at all about Jesus?
I said the Bible has been adulterated, and it has. This is not the same thing as rejecting anything about the life of Jesus or anyone else.

edited to add:
Regardless, the op was the question of how we pray. I pray the way I stated. I have no desire to convince you of anything at all, as I believe it is the responsibility of each of us to find and walk our own path. If I wanted followers, I'd hang a shingle, but my way is my own. Someone may choose to walk beside me on my way, but nobody can follow me.
 
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lizzie said:
There you go assuming once again. Where did I say that I reject anything at all about Jesus?
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Because have you looked to how Jesus tells us to pray and worship God? Look at the people upon whom He finds favor:

Luke 7:1 After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Caper′na-um. 2 Now a centurion had a slave who was dear[a] to him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

What Jesus is impressed with is when we humble ourselves before Him. We are not His buddy, His pal. We are His servants, and poor ones at that.

Luke 17:7 “Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

The vertical order of our existence below the eternal existence of God is clear from the words of Jesus. How we are to pray to our Lord and God is obvious according to this.
 
phattonez said:
I have plenty of proof, and reasons for my faith. ..................................
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You are young with many years of learning ahead.





Feel comfort in your knowledge but not so sure it affects your learning.

Celebrate life

Thom Paine
 
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