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What
a Young Adult Prayer Life Might Look Like:
Wisdom from the “Lord,
Teach Us to Pray" Retreat
Sept. 22-24, 2006
- Suggestions:
- Turn the radio off on your drive
to work
- Go to church! Try daily Mass over your lunch hour.
- Be honest/genuine with God and with yourself
- Find a community – it helps to gather with friends and
others who believe as you do.
- Talk and listen
- Do nothing
- Listen to others – God may be speaking thru them
- At the end of night – be thankful for one thing
- Embrace Mark 5:21-25 - Be a light!
- Pray as you do your household chores
- Establish a routine - Find consistent time and place each day
to be with God (ie. in car, shower, etc.).
- Create a prayer corner somewhere in your home.
- Pray with relatives and friends.
- Participate in communal prayer (events, small faith groups,
retreats, bible study, etc.).
- Practice 10 minutes of silence a day. Commit the time.
- Go to Mass early to get quiet, reflect, and prepare for Mass.
- Keep prayer journal (lifeway.com offers a variety of journals).
You can also pick up an empty journal at any bookstore. Consider
writing out prayers for each of the four main areas: Praise/adoration,
Thanksgiving, Petition, and Contrition. keeping a journal where
you date every entry allows you to look back and see how prayers
were answered.
Words of Wisdom:
- Prayer starts with breathing
- Find a ritual – light a candle, play meditative music,
bless yourself with Holy Water, breathe deeply, sit or take a
walk outside, etc.
- Develop a ritual – pray at the same time each day, pray
before meals, attend daily Mass once a week, attend a retreat
once a year, begin with a prayer of gratitude, etc.
- Journaling four days a week, 20 min a day can change life. You
cannot read Scripture every day and not be changed.
- Many things will come if we put ourselves in God’s love.
- Pray during daily activities so it becomes ritual/routine (prayer
in shower).
- The catechism can be helpful
- “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
- Stay focused on the present
- Be open – trust – stay in the flow
- Why do we worry?
- Remember: We are not our past/we are not our mistakes.
- Open daily dialogue with God, and continue the conversation
throughout your day knowing that you never really close the dialogue
with God.
- Move beyond your mistakes and failures. Learn from and more
beyond them.
- Receive the sacraments when you want or need to: Eucharist,
reconciliation, and anointing of the sick.
- Reflect on events of your day and what we learned from them.
- Be gentile on yourself
- Prayer is unique to each person. Find what works for you.
- Schedule time for reflection with prayer.
- Try different things:
Taizé Ecumenical Prayer is held the first Fridays of
every month in Oak Park.
- Maintain a mind of awareness of God’s presence in your
life.
Helpful strategies:
- Begin by saying some prayers you know (Our Father, Hail Mary,
Glory be….)
- Use tools to quiet your mind (e.g. music, meditation, favorite
photos, literature and poetry)
- Pray with Scripture: Lectio
Divina will show you how to read and put yourself in any Bible
story.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, to speak for you, and to help
you maintain your commitment to prayer.
- Seek meditation, yoga, thi chi.
- Find a “Prayer Buddy” or a “Prayer Partner”
with whom and for whom to pray.
- Find or create with some friends or co-workers, a faith sharing
group. The Young Adult Ministry Office can recommend some materials.
- Flexibility and accountability are important.
- Find a spiritual director – someone who can help you find
the presence of God in your life.
- Attend activities through the
Young Adult Ministry Office, Charis
Ministries and local Young Adult groups.
- Have reminders of the sacred around you – crucifix, rosary,
rock, statue, nature scene, peaceful screen saver, etc.
- Learn more about prayer through a website like BustedHalo.com,
- Pray Online. - To connect through go to:
BustedHalo.com,
- Keep a Bible or daily devotional book by your bed to read from
it when you wake up or before going to bed.
- Volunteer with others: parish or neighborhood youth groups,
teach CCD, coach kids, be a role model. Sharing faith with others
makes you reflect more on how you are living your own life, and
why you are doing what you do.
- Take a role at Mass: become a lector, Eucharistic Minister,
choir member, greeters, etc.
- Reflect with your spouse or significant other (or with others
online) at the end of your week.
- Periodically, do an examination of conscience: How was this
week? Ask these questions:
a) What surprised you?
b) What delighted you?
c) For what are you grateful?
d) What do you need to let go of?
e) What do you look forward to?
Helpful Hints:
- Recognize that prayer can be one sentence; it doesn’t
have to be a long speech.
- Keep favorite prayers, pictures, stories, and statues, visible
to remind you how to live your life.
- Be realistic about having a set amount of time for solitude
and reflection. 5 minutes a day is a wonderful beginning.
- Allow your prayers of petition to become prayers of gratitude.
- Get out and walk in the morning, at lunchtime, or right after
work. Commune with nature/reflect/pray.
- Make it a habit to pray for others - pray as every ambulance
or other emergency vehicle goes by.
- Invest in a daily Scriptural meditation book like The Word Among
Us or Beth Moore Praying God’s Word.
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