We need to be taught to pray authentically, beyond the repetition of rote prayers (as good as they may be).

You could never sustain a marriage/deepening friendship by simple standardised conversation… imagine using the same short 4 standard answers to your wife all the time…

If you are attempting this for the first time, or need to restart, it helps to begin with a simple method like the one you will find in the excellent resource (on DVD or in book form) below.

Prayer is being present to God’s presence. It is words and yet it is more than words. It is a feeling but yet it is even more than a feeling. Prayer is a search for truth.

Prayer is saying to God here I am. Prayer is saying, I need you. Touch me, form me, direct me, guide me, love me. Prayer is listening, hearing, receiving…

Buy the book CD or DVD here:- http://shop.thecatholicguy.com/products-page/cds/personal-prayer-cd/

Prayer time should = Prime time = When you are fresh and alert.  If you use the method 20 mins will fly by! Particularly if you include the readings of the day and journal as we did on the initial weekend and as you could/should with a group of men on a regular basis . Again there is no better help than a small group with whom you share regularly and who remind you to pray.

Start small get bigger/longer, 10 to 20 mins is a suggested minimum start.

• Commit this time each day!
• Find a quiet, regular space free of interruptions, and build a habit, if you don’t have one, for 30 days in a row.
• Learn a method and practice it, like fishing, golf or footy it is a practical art, learnt on the paddock not theory.
• Prayer will always challenge and reward you! It’s THE art of living and you will learn from it all your life…