Connect With God Through Prayer

Praying has always been a built in lifestyle for me. I say that for a couple of reasons. The first included prayer being instilled in my mind by my Aunt who raised me. But most importantly is the fact that I believe God’s plans for my life included prayer!

Growing up, we sat around the table at times praying the rosary, which is a set of Hail Mary and The Lord’s Prayer repetitions. We all know how memory works and usually when you say something over and over you are memorizing something.

My Aunt, whom I refer to as mom because she raised me from 9 months on, would see to it that everyone in the household went to church on Sundays and made it to our CCD classes. These classes were taught on Sundays as well as on Wednesday nights. We traveled many miles walking back and forth to and from church.

In those classes, however, the memorization of those same prayers were emphasized. We were taught how the “mass” was laid out and what we should pattern. We were in training!

I had made a habit of just talking to God. With my past feelings and youth experiences in my first posts I wrote, I had a lot of childhood stress and inner difficulties. I used poetry to write prayers to God and spent a lot of time in the garden or by myself just talking to Him!

Mom had a piece of paper constantly over the sink on the windowsill with names on it. One day I asked her why she always had a list there. She said she was praying for people on that list. It kind of surprised me since most the prayers we said at home and at mass were the same ones over and over. I took that little conversation to heart and think of her lists often. I was more mesmerized by her prayer list than those regular prayers. My habits of just talking to God weren’t so far off.

As I aged and grew, this innate urge to connect with God was overpowering! It seemed I was always in trouble as a teen and just wanted to express my heart but the only true friend I had was God. I was finding myself thinking how trivial those prayers I memorized were because all I wanted to do was talk to God.

I would go walking a lot. I walked about a 4 mile circle or so around the area we grew up; starting either leaving from one direction and coming back from the opposite direction or vice verse, depending on how I felt that day about which side of a hill I wanted to climb first! Going one direction, you’d have to climb a steeper hill first than going the opposite direction.

I would walk and start out saying those Hail Mary and Lord’s Prayer prayers but end up in a one-way conversation with God. Even after reading the first Bible, I spent many times in this same pattern.

My prayer habits began to change after reading another Bible or two and really concentrating on verse meanings. The more I read and understood, the more convinced I was that that innate urge to just go directly to Him was His wish.

I had a conversation with my current preacher several years back before I joined. I knew by that time that Jesus was specific when He said, not I saying, that NO one can go to THE Father except through Him. I’d catch myself saying the Hail Mary prayer as a habit. Praying that prayer was going through Mary. What was I doing? I was contradicting what He wanted of me.

We discussed this issue among many more. He reminded me of the verse in the Bible where He says to beware of those who pray repetitiously – they will get their reward but that’s not what He really wants. When I asked about The Lord’s Prayer and how Jesus was telling them how to pray, the words “like this” struck a chord! Not being repetitive and meaning “pray this” prayer over and over, but LIKE this. He was giving an example not saying to pray only this prayer over and over.

I went home thinking about that conversation. At supper that evening, we said our regular mealtime prayer and one of the kids said, “what are we saying?” From that point on, we said prayers from our heart, even though those repetitive prayers were on the tips of our tongues! Habit.

God’s Word was opening pockets of “Ahh haha” treasures to my heart and mind. I began to understand that I needed to work on my prayer habits a little more seriously. When He said to go to our rooms and pray in quiet, I understood why. He expects our own words and heart.

I also learned that in prayer, it is easy to pray for the simple things like continuous health and protection, but that He expects us to pray harder for our enemies and for those who persecute as like those who persecuted Him. The more my heart opened to His Word and truth, the harder I had to pray!

When someone says or does something to hurt you, it is sometimes excruciating to get that urge to pray for them and forgive them. It’s like you are going along with your every breath of panic to be calm. It is unnatural. But, it is a command that He has for each of us. Prayer – just what does prayer mean to you? What does prayer mean to our Lord and what does He expect? Talk to Him from your heart and seek Him through your prayers!