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Ways to Pray:
1. Talk to God as you would an intimately close friend.
2. Give thanks for things in your life and in the world that
are going well.
3. Ask for God's involvement in the lives of other people who
need God's healing touch.
4. Ask God how you might be able to make a difference; i.e. to
let God work through you.
5. Boldly ask for forgiveness for doing what you shouldn't do
& for failing to do what you should. Accept God's
assurance of pardon and ask God to help you repent and
reorient your life toward healthier ways of living.
6. Ask for God's assistance in your own life and
circumstances.
7. Thank God for spending this time with you.
Say Amen! (meaning "may it be so!")
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Centering Prayer:
* Sit still and just BE with God.
* Don't think of things to say or ask, just sit in God's
presence and enjoy each other's company.
* If your mind starts to wander or become distracted,
acknowledge the distraction, then say a "prayer
word" in your mind until it passes and you come back
to center (e.g. "Jesus", "Peace", "Grace", "God," etc.).
* Just - "be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
(learn more at www.centeringprayer.com)
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The Peace Prayer of St. Francis |
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Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. |
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St. Francis was born at Assisi in 1182. After a care-free, materialistic and hedonistic youth, he turned his back on inherited wealth and committed himself to God. He moved from being a "playa" to being a pray-er! Like many early saints, he lived a very simple life of poverty, and in so doing, gained a reputation of being the friend of animals. He established the rule of St. Francis, which exists today as
the Order of St. Francis, or the Franciscans. He died in 1226, aged 44.
This prayer has many of the Biblical truths of what it means to be a Christian. |
| Pointers for Prayer : Sometimes Christians are called to turn the world upside down. To bring the exact opposite of what we find in our world - especially in situations of violence and injustice. The prayer attributed to St. Francis is a bold one, asking for strength to give of ourselves to meet the needs of others. It recognizes that it "is in giving that we receive", that as we give of ourselves, we receive the peace and blessing of our risen Lord Jesus. We cannot earn eternal life, but we are pardoned from the sins that block our claim on it. Think about the situations that you are involved in that require peace, consolation, transformation, hope, light and joy. Then, if you're bold enough, pray the prayer! | |
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The Serenity Prayer
GOD, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
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The Lord's Prayer
(a prayer Jesus taught His disciples)
Our Father (God), Who art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our treaspasses (debts/sins)
as we forgive those who treaspass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil;
for Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
and the Glory Forever! Amen! | 
