There is no age to learn to pray. Neither reserved for monks, nor exclusive priests, prayer is the good of all baptized.
Following are some important advises about Christian prayer recommended by Pentecostal Churches in San Antonio Texas.
Prayer is like the breath of the Christian life, “the secret of a truly vital Christianity” (John Paul II)
Learning to pray is an approach that makes us close to the apostles. They, themselves, did not hesitate to ask Jesus: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Gospel of Luke 11, 1). And he taught them: When you pray, say, “Our Father …” (Luke 11,2). We thus discover the first characteristic of Christian prayer: it is about getting in touch with someone, talking to them, listening to them, answering them.
Which address? In the Christian faith, prayer is addressed to God. That is, sometimes to the Father, now to Jesus Christ, sometimes to the Holy Spirit. This Trinitarian dimension of Christian prayer is perhaps the most difficult thing to learn. This is why Pope John Paul II insists so much in his apostolic letter published on the occasion of the third millennium:
“Realized in us by the Holy Spirit, prayer opens us, through Christ and in Christ, to the contemplation of the Father’s face. To learn this Trinitarian logic of Christian prayer, living it fully above all in the liturgy, the summit and source of ecclesial life, but also in personal experience, such is the secret of a truly vital Christianity “(No. 52).
Discovering prayer as a dialogue that makes us close to God is the first step to learn to pray. To dare a personal word, having the audacity to listen to the Word of God, believer.com will offer you several tracks. First of all images, words or music, sometimes contemporary, sometimes drawn from the Christian tradition. Their goal ? Awaken all your senses so that you can develop in your way a dialogue with the Lord. Faces, then. With you we will go to meet prayers: they will tell us their way of addressing God, they will give us access to their spirituality.
Some practical considerations to finish this introduction, before you embark on the great spiritual adventure! Do not hesitate to prepare your personal prayer time as you usually prepare a meeting with one of your good friends. This will help you choose the best place and time. You will pay attention to how you will relate, the way you finish. And then, during the meeting, do not talk all the time. Take the time to listen, to hear what’s coming.
Proceed with the Lord as you do with your close friends, for that is what He invites you to do. Already the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, “as a man speaks to his friend” (Book of Exodus 33:11). To learn to pray is to learn this way of doing the Lord. Enter into dialogue with him.
