There are many ways to pray, many forms, styles, each an expression of the person praying, unique. If you get a room full of people, let’s say, saying the Rosary, or doing centering prayer, or perhaps praying the psalms unison, none are doing it alike, for prayer is an interior act, the outer form of devotion, a vehicle that helps to achieve a state of communication with God. Some people can just sit in God’s presence, without thought, others need beads, or perhaps a book, or scripture. Or again many need to be walking, outdoors or perhaps within a large church, some dance. Whatever works, feels normal, is usually something that should be listened to. Of course for many a combination is used, for prayer is something living, growing, changing, as the trust of God grows, so does our prayer deepen. Many make the mistake of thinking that one form of prayer is superior to another, which I feel is false, for whatever works, is the best way to pray.
There is an old saying: “pray the way you can, not the way you can’t. For ‘prayers’ lead to the ability to be in God’s presence in all circumstance throughout the day; a state arrived at so gently, that many don’t even know that they or in a constant state of awareness of God. This can be something not averted to, but just a natural (grace filled) state. The most mundane things can lead to a rising of ones heart to God, which only deepens as the years move forward.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
