How To Pray (step-by-step guide)

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(Disclaimer: I am not perfect. I do not claim to be holy. I am not a Christian because I am perfect and holy. People probably look at my social media and think I'm crazy. But my relationship with Christ is as strong as it is today due to the fact that I am the opposite of the perfect person and make plenty of mistakes in life and I'm sure people who know me know that, lol. Every day I am trying to be better. I am not trying to "preach" at anyone and everything that I post on here related to my faith are personal experiences that have affected me and I just want to share!)

I have been STRUGGLING with prayer for years now. I've talked a little bit about prayer on here, but LOL I am not good at it at all!!! Every retreat that I have gone to and talked to someone about my life issues it has always come down to my lack of prayer and Bible reading. Like even my dad sends me constant reminders to do so because he knows (parents have that 6th sense, y'all). For some reason, it is so hard for me to just sit down and pray and when I think about it, I get angry at myself because there is no excuse to struggle with it. Like I can sit for hours and watch YouTube, scroll through social media, or binge watch a TV show, but can't take 5 to 10 minutes out of my day to talk to God? Like really, Sarah? REALLY? I hate myself for it. And the fact that I am 100% aware of it makes it all the worse because I really don't have an excuse.

You're probably wondering, "Sarah, why is prayer that important?" I have asked myself the same question numerous times. Especially in my case, when it feels like God isn't listening. It's like keeping in touch with a friend. The more you hang out and text your friend, the better the relationship. And God is a GREAT friend to have a relationship with. And for some reason when I pray, my day is just ten times better. Whether if I spent a night out with friends or spent an entire day studying for an awful class, the day is not sh*tty and I know it's not a coincidence. It's God's doing and not mine.

I mentioned this in my last post, but for Lent this year, I followed along the Best Lent Ever program by Dynamic Catholic. One of the days during the program, Matthew Kelly talked about a prayer process. Basically it's like a step-by-step guide for praying. I have been trying to follow this little guide and it has helped me out a lot because usually when I pray, I'll end up forgetting to pray for something, but this covers the most important topics. And it allows you to think a little bit. I just read each step and pray along and it doesn't take long at all. I thought I would share it here with you guys and maybe it will help you! Whether you've never prayed before or you're like me and just don't do it often enough. Although it's by Dynamic Catholic, it's not just for Catholics. Anyone can use this! I'm not Catholic and I use this guide. I'm literally copying and pasting it here for you guys and hopefully it helps you out (actual link is here)!

  • Gratitude: Begin by thanking God in a personal dialogue for whatever you are most grateful for today.
  • Awareness: Revisit the times in the past twenty-four hours when you were and were not the-best-version-of-your-self. Talk to God about these situations and what you learned from them.
  • Significant Moments: Identify something you experienced in the last twenty-four hours and explore what God might be trying to say to you through that event (or person).
  • Peace: Ask God to forgive you for any wrong you have committed (against yourself, another person, or Him) and to fill you with a deep and abiding peace.
  • Freedom: Speak with God about how He is inviting you to change your life, so that you can experience the freedom to be the-best-version-of-yourself.
  • Others: Lift up to God anyone you feel called to pray for today, asking God to bless and guide them.
  • Pray the Our Father. (link to the prayer here)
I still have a longgggggg way to go, but this has really helped me! It's a great way to start and I hope this can help at least one person. And check out dynamiccatholic.com. There's a lot of helpful resources available and they're not all just applicable to Catholics :)

 Check out my last post: Summer Favorites 2017















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