Grow in Prayer
Prayer is a foundation of life as we grow in faith and in love for God. It’s at the same time completely easy, whilst at other times can feel difficult.
Our recommendation is to grow a personal discipline of prayer with some simple steps:
- Find a “prayer chair”. Where is that one holy place you set aside to meet with God?
- Choose the right time. Are you an early bird or a late-night owl? Choose the right time in your day where you can be un-disturbed.
- Find the right materials. There are loads of options for patterns of prayer. Of course, you could just site and talk with God – that’s fine – but quite often it’s helpful to have resources that help you focus your mind and time. And you’ll find, over time, that you’ll need to change it up to keep from going stale.
Here are some options to help you in prayer:
Praying the Lord’s Prayer
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …”
There’s nothing wrong with praying the Lord’s Prayer, but instead of just rattling through the words, why not hold a line, pause, think about its meaning, and pray from each line?
Everyday Faith App
On your computer or using an app on your phone, you can find excellent materials to help you focus and pray, and this one doesn’t take up too much of your day!
Lectio 365
Lectio 365 is a similar approach. Simple to use, get it on an app and takes you through a nice process of prayer, reflection and scripture.
Common Prayer
The Church of England’s Common Prayer is a bit meatier than the above options, especially if you do their Morning or Evening Prayer. Lots of good liturgy, scripture and psalms, and opportunities to join in intercession. You can also get an App for your phone or tablet.
There is also a nice option to listen and pray with others.
Ignatian Prayer
Revd Pamela has also uploaded an introduction to Ignatian spirituality – a rather deeper way of prayer, which you can find on the Leightonstone Churches YouTube channel.