When we think of prayer we often visualize someone kneeling, hands together, eyes closed, silently reciting her/his prayers. This is only one of many forms of prayer.
Reciting traditional prayers, like The Our Father, Hail Mary or The Rosary, is one way to pray and deepen our relationship with our Lord. Since we learn many traditional prayers early on and know them by heart, sometimes it takes effort to truly reflect on what we are reciting and not just go through the motions of saying the words.
Conversational prayer is like praying freestyle. Simply talk to God as if he’s right here beside you. And really, he is. Ask him for what you need. Thank him for your blessings. Share your successes, your failures, your fears, your hopes, your dreams. Ask for guidance. Pray for those you love. For those you know need to be lifted up.
We can not only go straight to our Lord with our prayers, but we also can ask all the Saints in heaven to pray for us as well. Just like we ask those we know here on earth to pray for us.
Contemplative prayer is a form of prayer where we open our mind and our heart, our whole being, to God. Contemplative prayer goes beyond thoughts, words and emotions. It is a method of internal purification that can draw us to divine union.
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