Andrea Pirringer
How to pray
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Inhaltsverzeichnis
The pilgrimage on the mountain
Foreword
Dear readers,
problems while praying are generally very common. Often, these difficulties lead to the fact that one doesn't even begin with or - unfortunately - stops early.
In modern times it's hard to get good instruction. Neither the family nor in school or church, there is a real help. Most people have to develop how to pray themselves - so to speak - as autodidacts.
To personal prayer will bear fruits, it is a rocky and hard road. - In my view, that doesn't have to be this way!
The activity of prayer itself isn't difficult and requires no special training to learn and to practice it. Rather, it's a matter of the heart, the inner attitude and the personal love to God.
Prayer is more than just reading a pre-text. It's our dialogue with God and the saints - thus a form of communication. Therefore, we should first of all ask ourselves: how do I deal with other people? How do I talk to them? What do these people mean to me?
The conversation with God is something special. He isn't any fellow man but our Creator. Therefore, this interlocutory form needs a special setting. This includes the seriousness, sincerity, the corresponding inner attitude, attention, humility, gratitude, and not least the firm faith.
That's the theory. - How to get there, you'll learn in this booklet!
Cordially,
the author
Rosenheim, July 7, 2011
In the Orthodox Church: Feast of John the Baptist, precursor of Christ
Please note: this text has been carefully translated from German. Nevertheless, minor errors cannot be ruled out. Please excuse this. Thank you!
Introduction
There is no requirement, which is the appropriate or "correct" posture.
You can pray while standing, sitting, kneeling or lying down. - Similarly, the place isn't prescribed. We can pray on a mountain top or in the cell of a prison.
It is important that you find a poise that is beneficial for your prayer. If you feel uncomfortable or cannot concentrate well, it is either because you are tired or haven't taken a good pose.
Even the time of day, we select for prayer, can be individually different.
In Christian practice, three main prayers have established: Morning and Evening Prayer and the benediction at lunch. - These are mostly short prayer formulas, which represent a kind of ritual in the daily routine and give the day a certain order, which is aligned to God.
In this book, however, it's especially about personal prayer, which goes beyond these short forms of prayer.
Choose a time for it, at which you have strength to collect yourself mentally. For some it is the early morning, while others feel mentally fit in the evening. Some appreciate the nightly prayer.
You can also do it like the monks on Mount Sinai, who get up every day at four o’clock and start with the morning services.
Prayer as a conversation
To pray, you shouldn't sit in front of a white wall, where you have the feeling that you speak into the void and nobody is listening to you anyway. - Prayer is a loving communion between man and God, but also between Him and man.
Therefore prepare the place where you want to pray, in a way, so that it's conducive to your concentration and doesn't distract you. You can pray in front of a holy picture, a statue, a home altar, a wayside cross, etc. Arrange a vase with fresh flowers and light a sacred candle.
Your prayer should be a little celebration every time for which you prepare to solemnly.
God is not impersonal and distant, but real and closer to us than we can imagine.
Especially helpful for getting into prayer is the image of Christ of Manoppello, which I'd like to highly recommend to you.
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