Ways To Increase Your Prayer Life?

[carmelite15]

I just wanted to know sice I wanna be a Carmelite what are alot of ways I can increase my prayer life?

IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW.

[TeresaBenedicta]

Well, a lot kind of depends on where you're at right now. What does your prayer life look like currently?

Wisdom from the Saints tells us daily Mass and frequent confession are the cornerstone of a strong spiritual life. Spiritual reading a few times a week. Mental prayer each day. Liturgy of the Hours.

Spiritual direction will help you to get the most out of your prayer. Teach you how to pray [i]better[/i].

[LadyOfSorrows]

Spending some time in adoration of the blessed sacrament can help you leaps and bounds...

Also, allowing yourself to listen to God in mental prayer is very important. Sometimes we get caught up in what to say to God, but often we don't quiet ourselves to listen to Him.

Prayer Primer by Fr. Thomas Dubay would be a really great book to look at on this.

PS- it's great you want to build on your prayer life, since prayer brings us closer in intimacy with God. Increase your prayer because of this reason, not just to become a Carmelite. Fall more in love with God, the vocation will follow.

Edited November 10, 2010 by LadyOfSorrows

[truthfinder]

Some times just the little prayers throughout the day are so helpful. I find that being constantly being aware of God helps so much, instead of just lumping all my prayer time into the morning or evening.
So suggestions if you don't do them already: make sure you say grace
do a morning offering - even if it just really short
try praying a hail mary on the hour or half hour
if you ever think you should pray at a moment, do; sometimes just a quick turn of our soul to God can refocus our center back to God
Get in at least 5 minutes of lectio divina - and if you want to be a Carmelite, make sure you spend some time in mental prayer slowly increasing how much time you pray so that you can adjust later if you do join

God bless,
hope these give you some ideas

[truthfinder]

one other thing that I find really helpful is whenever someone says the Lord's name in vain, I just continue that into a blessing
so "Oh God," they say. I continue, "may your most Holy Name be ever blessed." or whatever comes to mind at the time to both make a little reparation or well as to sanctify God.
Also it really cuts down on my own bad language habits.

[carmelite15]

[quote name='truthfinder' timestamp='1289373475' post='2186148']
one other thing that I find really helpful is whenever someone says the Lord's name in vain, I just continue that into a blessing
so "Oh God," they say. I continue, "may your most Holy Name be ever blessed." or whatever comes to mind at the time to both make a little reparation or well as to sanctify God.
Also it really cuts down on my own bad language habits.
[/quote]

Thank you so so so much! can I ask how can I do mental prayer?

[truthfinder]

[quote name='carmelite15' timestamp='1289374188' post='2186151']
Thank you so so so much! can I ask how can I do mental prayer?
[/quote]


That's an easy, and not so easy question. Hopefully someone will help elaborate for me.
Anyways, it is prayer that is meditative, not just saying a rosary silently in your head, although rosaries can sometimes turn into mental prayer. It entering into a conversation with God, where He does the talking, we just stay in His silence. John of the Cross said that God's first language is silence. We must learn it, and we do so through mental prayer. Sometimes we can focus on one particular though or word to bring us back when we get distracted, and the goal is not complete ridding of thought (that's more Buddhist). A good model to follow is lectio divina - meditatio - oratio - contemplatio. (Divine reading either from the Bible or another spiritual book, followed by meditating on what God is trying to tell us through those words, then praying about them, and by God's grace alone will we reach contemplation - a union with Him.) A spiritual director or Carmelite would be the best to ask. Hope this helps.

[tnavarro61]

try doing Lectio Divina! it works for me, and I love lectio!

Remember these:

Remember that interior life doesn't just develop overnight. Be patient, it's worth it!

You have your own journey. Don't compare, as much as possible, your interior life with other's.

God is what's important in our prayers. Focus only on God. I was thinking of a quote from a book about this, but couldn't remember it [blame it on my bad memory].

[Chapel Rat]

Asking Our Lady to teach you how to pray is *tremendously* helpful.

I found that giving thanks to the Lord throughout the day helps keeps me focused on God and His goodness and has gotten me through trials and on those days or times when prayer and/or finding time to pray can be difficult.

Praying the Angelus is another good way to learn how to pray throughout the day. Even if you can't spare the minute to stop and pray, pray it while doing whatever your doing (sometimes I pray it, while I'm waiting for my lunch to heat up in the microwave at work). Pausing at 3:00 PM to pray, however brief, is another good way to pray throughout the day.

[Klaudi87]

I would add the Rosary(mental/vocal) to the list of all this great advice from others.

[LadyOfSorrows]

Increasing the quality of your prayer life is just as important as increasing how much you pray. Here is a good little video from the spiritual master. I hope you can watch it! It's a facebook link on EWTN so i'm not sure...

[media]http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=639732513907[/media]

[krissylou]

I feel compelled to point something out.

All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of great suggestions.

Lectio is great.

Mental prayer is great.

Liturgy of the Hours is great.

The rosary is great.

Determining to adopt all of them all at once starting tomorrow --> decidedly not great. Much better to try a few things, one or maybe two at a time, and see what resonates.

Ideally it would be great to start working with a spiritual director of some sort. This doesn't necessarily need to be a priest. Sometimes a priest, sometimes a woman religious, sometimes a trained layperson. As you're in contact with Brooklyn Carmel, it might be a good idea to ask if they have recommendations for where to find a good spiritual director.

Finding a flesh-and-blood spiritual director would probably be best, but it may not be in the cards for you right now. Another possibility could be to work through a book that introduces various prayer practices. Try a few, see what sticks with you. What particularly resonates with you will be different than what particularly resonates with someone else. God made a lot of us.

A friend of mine wrote a good book on the subject, but she hasn't found a publisher. Alas. Another one that I have not yet read, but heard an interview with the author, is "Beginning Contemplative Prayer by Sister Kathryn J. Hermes.

[Klaudi87]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1289441485' post='2186348']
I feel compelled to point something out.

All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of great suggestions.

Lectio is great.

Mental prayer is great.

Liturgy of the Hours is great.

The rosary is great.

Determining to adopt all of them all at once starting tomorrow --> decidedly not great. Much better to try a few things, one or maybe two at a time, and see what resonates.

Ideally it would be great to start working with a spiritual director of some sort. This doesn't necessarily need to be a priest. Sometimes a priest, sometimes a woman religious, sometimes a trained layperson. As you're in contact with Brooklyn Carmel, it might be a good idea to ask if they have recommendations for where to find a good spiritual director.

Finding a flesh-and-blood spiritual director would probably be best, but it may not be in the cards for you right now. Another possibility could be to work through a book that introduces various prayer practices. Try a few, see what sticks with you. What particularly resonates with you will be different than what particularly resonates with someone else. God made a lot of us.

A friend of mine wrote a good book on the subject, but she hasn't found a publisher. Alas. Another one that I have not yet read, but heard an interview with the author, is "Beginning Contemplative Prayer by Sister Kathryn J. Hermes.
[/quote]


Yes very good points!...it all depends on where you are at...

[LaPetiteSoeur]

Liturgy of the Hours is a complete must. Because I memorize things quickly, I have to have changes in my prayers (or else I feel like I'm just rattling them off because I have to). There is also a wonderful feeling about knowing that you have something to pray when you get up and something to pray when you're going to bed. Beginning and Ending with God. So wonderful.

I second the spiritual director. My family is moving next year, so I'm waiting to get an 'official' one, but even the unofficial one (aka my pastor) has helped tremendously.

Dieu vous benisse et bonne chance!

[HopefulBride]

Time in front of the Blessed Sacrament was instrumental for me; From there everything else flowed in (SD, devotion, even my discernment to the religious life and my search for a community!)

I would suggest starting by spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament (daily if possible) even if it is in silence and ask the Lord to guide you and He will. Not only will he guide you to your SD but also to a closer relationship to Him.

God Bless you
HB

Edited November 11, 2010 by HopefulBride

[Hinter dem Horizont]

Set a time to do your prayers. Every day I pray around the same time. Once you keep this schedule, your prayer life increases automatically due to vigilance. As well, find a good spiritual director that can be a good example for you. With my spiritual director, I meet him every week and we talk and pray together. Both of these help tremendously, in my opinion.

[In The Arms of The Lord]

Reverend Mother told me this concerning prayer, and she said so beautifully, "A sign of a true vocation to Carmel is to have an attraction to prayer in all its forms: silent prayer, liturgical, vocal... Our Lord wants us to feel at home when at prayer. It is as vital to our spiritual life as the air we breathe is to our physical life."

What everyone already said, and it might have been mentioned before but maybe I missed it, daily Mass if your able. I used to go only on Sunday, but it's been a great blessing to be walking distance to the Parish where i'm living right now. I can't begin to describe what a growing amount of grace is received when you receive Our Lord so often. We have to pray for perseverance in our prayer life; especially at times when we don't "feel" like it and so we go off to so many distractions. Prayer is so needed to stay close to Him and become closer to Him; and I could really go on talking about how much prayer is needed in every aspect of our lifes, at every moment! The Rosary is a must. You will notice such a difference in your spiritual life when you pray the Rosary; it gives much strength against spiritual attacks. I find that words and thoughts are not needed so much, at anytime and wherever you are, even just a simple lifting of your heart to Our Lord and offering everything to Him each moment is a great prayer. I find at times there seems to be so much I would like to say, but I can't find no words or thoughts that my heart is searching for, but even at the thought of His name and being aware of His presence in your life seems most of the time, for me anyway, more than any other words or thoughts I could say or think of.

It's a good preparation before entering a monastery to spend time in silence; perhaps before you go listen to some music, or turn on the television and internet; decide rather to just spend time in His presence, if not with Him in The Blessed Sacrament, just some quiet place in the house. This will help your relationship with Him become closer also. Sometimes a lot of distractions may arise in your thoughts, but as others have mentioned, it will be good to have a spiritual book with you also.

Edited November 11, 2010 by In The Arms of The Lord

[holly.o]

[quote name='carmelite15' timestamp='1289374188' post='2186151']
Thank you so so so much! can I ask how can I do mental prayer?
[/quote]

Everyone has written great advice so far, & I really can't think of anything to add. In regards to mental prayer, one book that has helped me quite a lot with understanding and practicing mental prayer is [i]Divine Intimacy[/i] by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene. He was a Carmelite and offers a short, but very good description of mental prayer in the beginning of the book. The rest is meditations and quotes/prayers by Saints to help you pray. It's arranged for the Traditional liturgical calendar, so if you don't normally go to a Latin Mass, it might seem a bit confusing. But praying along with any of the days will help you, I think!

Remember what St. Paul said... pray without ceasing! This is done by having a prayerful, recollected attitude throughout the day in addition to more formal times set aside for silence and other types of prayer. As others have said, frequently lift your heart up to God throughout the day. You can also make spiritual communions - this is a well-known prayer for that: [url="http://www.sacredheart.com/CatholicPrayerSpiritualCommunion.htm"]Spiritual Communion[/url].

God bless!

[Klaudi87]

[quote name='holly.o' timestamp='1289514935' post='2186555']
Everyone has written great advice so far, & I really can't think of anything to add. In regards to mental prayer, one book that has helped me quite a lot with understanding and practicing mental prayer is [i]Divine Intimacy[/i] by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene. He was a Carmelite and offers a short, but very good description of mental prayer in the beginning of the book. The rest is meditations and quotes/prayers by Saints to help you pray. It's arranged for the Traditional liturgical calendar, so if you don't normally go to a Latin Mass, it might seem a bit confusing. But praying along with any of the days will help you, I think!

Remember what St. Paul said... pray without ceasing! This is done by having a prayerful, recollected attitude throughout the day in addition to more formal times set aside for silence and other types of prayer. As others have said, frequently lift your heart up to God throughout the day. You can also make spiritual communions - this is a well-known prayer for that: [url="http://www.sacredheart.com/CatholicPrayerSpiritualCommunion.htm"]Spiritual Communion[/url].

God bless!
[/quote]

That is an excellent book!

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='In The Arms of The Lord' timestamp='1289494856' post='2186472']
The Rosary is a must. You will notice such a difference in your spiritual life when you pray the Rosary; it gives much strength against spiritual attacks.[/quote]

Yes! [url="http://www.rosary-center.org/secret.htm"][i]The Secret of the Rosary[/i][/url], by St. Louis de Montfort .. also making the Consecration to Jesus through Mary, according to his method, will greatly increase your prayer life .. Ven. Maria Teresa Quevedo did this and had a great devotion to this form of consecration to Our Lady .. everything about it is outlined in the book [url="http://www.amazon.com/True-Devotion-Mary-Louis-Monfort/dp/0895552795"][i]True Devotion to Mary[/i][/url]

[quote]
It's a good preparation before entering a monastery to spend time in silence; perhaps before you go listen to some music, or turn on the television and internet; decide rather to just spend time in His presence, if not with Him in The Blessed Sacrament, just some quiet place in the house. This will help your relationship with Him become closer also. Sometimes a lot of distractions may arise in your thoughts, but as others have mentioned, it will be good to have a spiritual book with you also.[/quote]

Yes! And taking "PM breaks" sometimes to concentrate on prayer, as great VS can be and meeting/talking with all of you beautiful people