Prayer is the way to communicate with God. There are many styles of prayer. Singing, silent, spontaneous, just to name a few!
Prayer can sometimes seem difficult. However, people have been contemplating prayer for, well, since the beginning of time! So there's plenty of resources and ideas about prayer out there.
One easy and great way of prayer is (yep, you guessed it!) the Bible. It is full of stories and verses to meditate on and pray. When you read the Bible, remember this: The Bible is not just words about God, the Bible is the words of God, inspired divinely. Reading the Bible is not only a way to learn about God, but it is a way to pray and to deepen your relationship with Christ. As you read stories and verses, put yourself in the position of the characters. Would you have died for your faith? Would you have been like Josiah and stood up to your father and grandfather? Would you have been like Abraham be willing to sacrifice your one and only son?
When you pray, let God know what is on your mind. However, it is God who will decide how to handle your problems. Don't try to tell Him how to get it done. In time, your prayers will be answered. One thing I always like to do is keep a prayer journal. I have a plain spiral bound notebook. I spend a few minutes in the morning writing intentions for the day, then a few minutes at night reflecting on my day. It is amazing to see what happens. Many times I will write about something that don't really understand. Why did it happen this way? Then I look at my prayer intentions from the morning. Often they line up well with the events from my day. I may not realize it during the day, but God answers prayers in ways we don't always expect. I like to think about life as a mosaic. When we don't really know why things happen or why they have to be the ways they are, I think about how we are all little pieces of a mosaic. We all are part of the masterpiece, but all in different ways. We can't see why things happen because we are stuck in the middle of them. God, the artist, the creator of heaven and earth, can see the whole puzzle, the whole mosaic. We just need to trust that He knows what He is doing and leave our lives in His hands. Amazing things will happen if we do.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUSTGOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
All the links below link to the Amazon webpage where you can read reviews, see what it looks like, and check it out. However, I always suggest supporting your local Catholic book store if you choose to purchase any of these.
The Catholic Youth Prayer Book I highly reccommend this book. It is full of prayers, and also presents prayer in a reverent way but also in a way kids and teens can understand.
Prove It! Prayer by Amy Welborn I like this book, but it is mostly about why you need to pray rather than how to pray. It is good if you are struggling to find the time to pray or don't think it is important because it discusses all of these issues.
Take Ten Devotions for Teens This is a great night or morning devotion book. It takes about ten minutes and discusses a topic each day. Make sure you have a Catholic Youth Bible because it has a "go further" section that tells you to read an article from there each day.
Pure Faith: A Prayer Book for Teens I have not had the time to read this book yet, but Catholic Answers promotes it a lot and I have heard good things about it.
The Catholic Youth Bible (goes well with Take Ten because Take Ten usually refers to articles and special pages in The Catholic Youth Bible)
LifeTeen Catholic Teen Bible
On one of the shows, we talked a lot about prayer bracelets. Here are detailed instructions on how to make them:
1. Start with 3 equal strands of twine, yard, or cord. They should be about 15 inches long.
2. Choose 5 beads that you want to use in your prayer.
3. Decide what order you want the beads to go in.
4. Tie all three strands together in a knot about 1.5 inches from the top
5. Begin braiding the strands. Once you have braided 2 inches, add a bead on one of the strands. Now, every inch of braid, you add a bead.
The Prayer Bracelet
The prayer bracelet is another way to evangelize, pray, and remind yourself of God's constant presence. We thank you for your support of the program
Red- For peace in the world
Orange- For the poor, sick and dying
Yellow- For those who don't know Jesus
Green- For our planet, all animals, and efforts to preserve God's creation
Light Blue- Any personal intentions you may have
Navy Blue- For anyone and everyone in the world that they are safe and satisfied
Lavender- For children, teens, and babies, that they may be safe and discover their faith
Pink- for the right to life, and the respecting of all human life
White- for friends, family, and neighbors, whatever they may be going through
Cream- for those in leadership positions, that they may please God with their decisions
Black- For armed forces and people serving over seas
The prayer bracelet guides you through your prayers and reminds you whenever you look at it what is really important in our world!
Please make these for friends, family, and yourself! Feel free to copy and paste the above portion and include it with the bracelet.