Appointment with God: Lord, Teach Me to Pray! Part 2
- Leah Brix
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Welcome to the second blog in our three-part series, 'Appointment with God: Lord, Teach Me to Pray!'
Last week, we set the stage for creating the right environment for our prayer time by establishing-
Who we are meeting (God)
When we are meeting (Pre-determined time, preferably first thing in the morning)
Where we are meeting (Well-thought-out Sacred Space without distractions)
And we have our set of “minutes” in hand (Bible and prayer journal)
We are now ready to begin our prayer.
(If you missed part one, you can find it here- Appointment with God: Lord, Teach Me to Pray! Part 1)
We begin in the way that Jesus taught us; by praising God. Praise puts you in the right relationship with God. By giving praise, you are submitting to Him; He is the master, and you are His servant. He is glorious, almighty, eternal, the Everlasting One, and you are a struggling, sinful creature, dependent upon Him for redemption and grace, faith and hope, salvation and truth.
Our attitude should be one of reverence for Who we are daring to speak to, not, “Hey God, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal! Come snuggle up here by the fire and let’s have a little chat!”
While there is room for affection in our relationship with God, we do get to call Him Our Father after all, we must still know our place before Him.
Revelation portrays the situation as it truly is, “After this I saw before me a huge crowd which no one could count from every nation and race, people and tongue. They stood before the throne and the Lamb, dressed in long white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation is from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb!” All the angels who were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures fell down before the throne to worship God. They said, “Amen! Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving and honor, power and might to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
This kind of worship and praise is what we get to look forward to for all eternity! It reveals the right relationship toward God.
There are several ways to begin our prayer time with praise. We can center on the glory of Jesus Christ under His various titles. When we do so, the Holy Spirit stirs our spirits to prayer.
Here is a list of a few you can pray with.
Alpha and Omega
Emmanuel
Light of the World
Author of Eternal Salvation
Good Shepherd
Bread of Life
Prince of Peace
Beloved
Lamb of God
I Am
Redeemer
You can take a specific title and pray with it. For example, “Come Jesus, Light of the World. Be the Light in my life. I praise You for being the Light that I can look upon when I feel lost or abandoned. Teach me to be a light in the world around me.”
Or
“Come, Jesus, Beloved. You, Who are more Beloved than any creature, have chosen me to be Your beloved child. Thank You for loving me! I praise You for all that You have done for me! You are my Beloved, and I am Yours.”
Let your heart speak to Jesus using one of His many titles.
Another great way to give praise to God is through the Psalms. If you are uncomfortable giving Him praise in your own words, borrow the words of the Psalmists to sing His praise!
Once we spend a few minutes just praising God for His goodness, our hearts are softened and ready to hear the Word of God.
You can read scripture in whatever way is most comfortable for you. Many people read the daily mass readings, which allows them to conveniently find a homily or reflection to further meditate upon. But you are welcome to simply open your bible and start reading. If you are new to reading the Bible, I recommend starting with the four Gospels, then moving on to the other books in the New Testament, to truly get to know who Jesus is.
As you are reading scripture, you are listening for a revelation. When something strikes you, even if you are unsure of exactly what it is about that sentence or phrase, or even word, that gives you pause, stop and ask God to reveal the meaning of those words in your life.
It takes time to figure out how to listen to God. But the more you practice, the easier it becomes. Even so, how do you know if what you believe God spoke to you is really from God and not just your mind influencing it?
There are two ways. First, has God ever spoken to you in this way, dealt with you in this way, or made His will known to you in this way in the past? If yes, then it is probably God.
And the second way- is it the God of scripture? God isn’t going to invent a new way of dealing with you, so He will sound exactly like the God of scripture. He will act like the God of scripture, and He will call you to holiness like the God of scripture. He will NEVER ask you to do something sinful or contrary to Church teaching.
The more you get to know how God speaks in scripture, the more you will recognize Him in your own prayer life.
After we receive some form of revelation in prayer, we are called to repentance. There are five easy steps-
See an action in your life that is wrong or unjust.
Declare that it is sinful.
Take full responsibility, saying, “I did it, it’s my action, and I'm responsible.”
Say to the Lord, “I'm sorry, please forgive me.”
Resolve not to sin again and repair any injury you may have caused. (If it is mortal, run to confession.)
Now that you are in the proper position before God, and clearly know who you are and who He is, you are ready to turn to Him with your petitions and needs.
It is also at this point in prayer that you can open up your other prayer books and say whatever daily spoken prayers you have a special devotion to like the morning offering, the Magnificat, daily consecration to Mary, etc. If you are a member of a lay apostolate, this is where you would say those daily required prayers as well.
To conclude our appointment with God, we make commitments and resolutions about what we will do or not do in the future.
If the Lord told you to forgive someone for hurting you, then forgive them.
If you heard the Lord tell you that you have been irresponsible in your family duties, resolve to make a sincere effort to be responsible.
If the Lord told you to change your eating or drinking habits, take the steps to ensure a change.
If he asked you to fast and pray for world peace, do it, but ask Him specifically how to do it.
If he asked you to fast from Facebook for that day alone, stay strong for those 24 hours.
You have now concluded your prayer time and can walk away a new creation!
Stay tuned next week for practical tips and tricks on how to incorporate your prayer journal into this process of prayer, encouragement on praying boldly, and a printable guide that you can keep in your Sacred Space, allowing you to easily navigate the steps of keeping an effective “Appointment with God.”
Until next time, your sister in Christ,
Leah
*To hear from the actual author of the book, "Appointment with God," I encourage you to listen to the interviews below! He does an excellent job of further summarizing his amazing book!
