

Written by Benoît Santos - Updated on Oct 27, 2024
What is prayer? When are the appropriate times to pray? Are you living a godly life?
It is very important to have a spiritual life filled with faith and piety. For this, we have done some research to give you an insight on how to live a holy life.
Discover in this article:
- Prayer times
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The different ways of praying
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The circumstances of prayers
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The importance of prayer
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The ideal position for praying
Without further ado, let’s start the article right now!
Prayer times
Prayer is always possible: the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ, who is with us "every day", whatever the storms.
"It is possible, even in the market or during a solitary walk, to make frequent and fervent prayer . It is also possible in your shop, either while you are buying or selling, or even while you are cooking. Prayer is a vital necessity . The evidence to the contrary is no less convincing. If we do not let ourselves be guided by the Spirit, we fall back into the slavery of sin. How can the Holy Spirit be "our life", if our heart is far from him?

"Nothing is better than prayer; it makes possible what is impossible, easy what is difficult. It is impossible for a man who prays to fall into sin.
"He who prays is certainly saved; he who does not pray is certainly damned. Prayer and the Christian life are inseparable, for it is the same love and self-denial that flow from love. The same filial and loving conformity to the Father's plan of love.
The same transforming union in the Holy Spirit, which configures us more and more to Christ Jesus. The same love for all peoples, that love with which Jesus loved us. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. This is what I command you: love one another."
"Pray without ceasing to him who unites prayer with works and works with prayer . Only in this way can we consider the principle of unceasing prayer as realizable."
Before going to sleep
What is the last thing you do in your day? Watch a movie? Read? A good goal might be to say a little prayer before you fall asleep. In Catholic families , it is traditional to pray with children before going to sleep as my guardian angel or the little Jesus of my life. Pray these prayers like a little child. It costs nothing: 2 minutes.

In the morning: upon waking up
As soon as you get up, what do you think about? Maybe you pick up your cell phone or wake up so tired that you don't even know what time it is. Before that, you spend 30 seconds praying . Offer your day to God. Maybe you can use it to ask the Virgin Mary for help, so that she can be with you all day long. You can use only one sentence: "Mary, help me during this day to become more like your Son, Jesus. If you forget it at the beginning of the day, nothing happens. You can offer it whenever you remember.
There are also other traditional prayers of the Church like this
Offering of works:
O my lady,
Oh my God,
I offer myself entirely to you.
As proof of my filial affection
I dedicate to you on this day,
my eyes,
my ears,
my language,
My heart,
in a word,
my whole being.
Since I am all yours,
mother of goodness,
keep and defend me as a thing
and possession by you.
Amen.

Angelus: at 12 o'clock in the morning
The Angelus is the prayer that commemorates the moment of the Annunciation, when the Angel Saint Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and tells her that she will be the Mother of God. This scene is also known as the Incarnation, since Jesus enters history by becoming a man like us. It is prayed at noon , except during the Easter period (which is replaced by another prayer called the Regina Coeli).

- The angel of the Lord announced to Mary.
- And she conceived the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen .
- Here is the servant of the Lord.
- Let it be done to me according to your word.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen .
-And the Word became Flesh.
- And he lived among us.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen .
- Pray for us, Holy Mother of God.
- That we may be made worthy of the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer : Infuse, Lord, your grace into our souls, so that those of us who have known, through the announcement of the Angel, the Incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, may attain, through the merits of his Passion and his Cross, the glory of the Resurrection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen .
Meal: blessing of the table
Before lunch and dinner, you can spend another 10 or 20 seconds giving thanks for the meal and taking the opportunity to ask for something that worries or concerns you. You can also sanctify yourself if that helps you put yourself in the presence of God. Even if you have the first course ahead of you, you can surely hold on for a few more seconds, it is not that difficult.

It could be a simple prayer like this: "May the Child Jesus who was born in Bethlehem bless this food and us." Or "Lord, bless this food that we are about to eat and us too. Amen ." Finally, a third option could be "Bless, Lord, this food that we are about to eat." Amen . May the King of eternal glory make us partakers of the heavenly table. Amen ."
The above formulas can be used, but of course there are many others and each family can do it in the way that seems most convenient to them. If you are alone or with your work colleagues, you can say the prayer inwardly . 🙏
Before traveling
In cities, we often make short and long trips to our workplace. We use these moments to listen to music, the radio or podcasts. Or we read the news or the latest novel.
We can take advantage of this opportunity to pray the rosary. A very useful resource is the Audio Rosary of the Arguments, which lasts less than 20 minutes, in which different moments of the life of the Virgin Mary are covered each day. The Audio Gospels of the Arguments can also be a good option if you prefer to pray with the life of Jesus .
5) When you see a church, an image of the Virgin or a priest
On your way to work or when you are with your friends in the street, you may pass by a church or an image of the Virgin. Or you may meet a priest on the way. These can be small opportunities to pray for the Church , to ask the Virgin for an intention that concerns you, or to pray for the holiness of priests . A short sentence is enough: Lord, I ask you for the Church; Mother, help my father in this concern; Lord, may all your priests be holy.
These three moments that we propose to you have in common the use of a concrete situation, of something that helps us and reminds us in some way of the presence of God in our lives. There are also other objects that we can carry with us and that can contribute to the same objective: the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a crucifix or an image of Our Lady or of a saint in our wallets can also remind us of the presence of God in our lives. It can also help to sanctify ourselves at certain important moments, as some footballers do when they enter the field.
Before you start working or studying
We spend most of the day working and studying. What if this study, this daily work, was at the same time as the work or study of prayer? If we study for 8 hours, it would be 8 hours of prayer . Sounds great, doesn't it? It is something very simple to do. We just have to propose these hours of work at the beginning of our study/work, having in front of us an image that reminds us that we have proposed these hours (it could be a crucifix, for example).
Facing the difficulties of prayer

The usual difficulty in our prayer is distraction. It can be linked to the words and their meaning in vocal prayer ; it can be more deeply linked to the one we pray, in vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer . To chase away distractions would be to fall into their trap, while it is enough to return to our heart: a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord must awaken our preferential love for him, resolutely offering him our heart so that he may purify it.
Facing Temptations in Prayer
The most frequent and hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It is not so much manifested by a declared disbelief as by a de facto preference. When we begin to pray , a thousand works or concerns, considered urgent, present themselves as priorities; once again, it is the moment of the truth of the heart and of preferential love.
Sometimes we turn to the Lord as our last refuge: but do we really believe in him? Sometimes we take the Lord as our ally, but the heart is always in presumption. In all cases, our lack of faith shows that we are not yet in the disposition of the humble heart: "Without me you can do nothing". Another temptation, to which presumption opens the door, is acedia.

By this term the Fathers of the spiritual life understand a form of depression due to a relaxation of asceticism, a loss of vigilance, a lack of guard of the heart. "The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak." The more one falls from above, the more one hurts oneself. Painful discouragement is the opposite of presumption. The humble man is not surprised by his own misery; it leads him to greater confidence , to an unwavering constancy. Trust in filial relations is put to the test - and manifests itself - by tribulations.
Why do we complain about not having an answer?
One observation should first surprise us. When we praise God or thank Him for His blessings in general, we are not at all concerned with whether our prayer is pleasing to Him. Instead, we pretend to see the result of our question. What, then, is the image of God that motivates our prayer: a means to be used or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Are we convinced that "we don't even know what to ask for"? Do we ask God for "practical things"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask Him, but He waits for our question because the dignity of His children lies in their freedom. It is therefore necessary to pray with His Spirit of freedom so that we can truly know His desire.

"You do not have, why do you not ask; you ask and do not receive, why do you ask amiss, that you may spend for your pleasures." If we ask with a divided, "adulterous" heart, God cannot grant us, because he wants our good, our life. "Or perhaps you think that the Scripture declares in vain: "Until jealousy loves the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? Our God is "jealous" for us, and this is the sign of the truth of his love. Let us enter into the desire of his Spirit and we will be fulfilled:
How is our prayer effective?
The revelation of prayer in the Economy of Salvation teaches us that faith is founded on God's action in history. Filial trust is aroused by God's action par excellence: the passion and resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer is a cooperation in God's providence, in his plan of love for humanity. In Saint Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit in us and on the faithful love of the Father who gave us his only Son.
The transformation of the praying heart is the first answer to our question.
Jesus' prayer makes Christian prayer an effective question. He is its model, praying in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the hearts of adopted children be attached to gifts rather than to the Giver?

"Pray without ceasing," "giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"; "pray without ceasing with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit , watching to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." "We have not been commanded to work, to watch, or to fast continually, but unceasing prayer is a law for us." 207 This untiring ardor can come only from love. Against our heaviness and our laziness, the combat of prayer is the combat of humble, trusting and persevering love . This love opens our heart to three proofs of faith, luminous and life-giving.
Pray to God daily with a lucky charm
If you want to live in holiness it is very important that you practice piety worthy of the name. The way to pray to God as a good Christian involves a lot of sacrifice as well. Prayer is a very important thing. Praying does not just mean kneeling down and whispering with your mouth closed like monks do following a specific ritual. There are many ways to worship God in daily life that God will appreciate and you will appreciate too!
If you like this type of article, you can go to our library, there you will find lots of articles. Here is an article on the meaning of the wolf in the bible , which you may like.
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