"Perhaps you hesitate in prayer because you do not know how to pray.
Perhaps you question yourself because although you know numerous
vocal prayers, you are not sure what lies beyond vocal prayer and are
searching for a particular method of prayer.
Perhaps you think that prayer is something allotted to Saints, and you
are not a Saint.
If you learn nothing else in these pages, know this: prayer is not a formula."
// from our new prayer companion, Nunc Coepi
Craving a Consistent Rhythm of Prayer?
My own prayer life has been stop-start, stop-start for as long as I can remember. I'd go all out some Advent, only to find myself fallen off the Rosary band wagon by Christmas Day. I would resolve firmly that this would be the Lent to beat all Lents. And by the fourth week I would have concluded that I had failed again.
But when my husband started talking to me about living a life of prayer, a life where prayer was already woven into my conscious and unconscious parts of the day, I realized maybe I had been approaching prayer all wrong.
Prayer is not a graded class in school. It's not an event at a track meet. Prayer is not a formula. It is a line of communication—our relationship—with God.
This changed everything for me. I decided I wanted to become a person of prayer. Maybe some of this sounds familiar for you too. My husband and I set out to put together a prayer companion book for you, for us, so that we could all strive to be people of prayer.
A Prayer Companion for All Sorts
Now if you've ever collaborated with a loved one on a project you can appreciate the fact that we faced some real challenges.
I tend to be . . . ahem . . . an active managing editor sort, if you know what I mean.
He was in the seminary for many years (years before we met, calm down!) so spiritual reading has been a way of life for him for twenty years now.
He brought the wisdom, I brought the Google Docs!
If you'd like to sit with the writings of a spiritual thinker (short snippets because it is dense and I needed lots of time to digest), pray with one-two verses of Scripture during the week, chew on a spiritual maxim, and ponder a few questions on Saturdays about your spiritual journey, I think you'll like Nunc Coepi (noooonc chay-pee). It means "Now I Begin" and is from the Psalms.
Let's begin together!
We also made a video companion to the book with monthly videos from us, a monthly email with the themes from the book that month, and a Facebook group if you'd like to hang with us more.
How is your prayer life right now? In need of a re-start? Let us know if you'll be praying with us!
Looking to Start (or Re-Start) Your Prayer Life? #BISblog //Click to tweet
Nell O’Leary is the Managing Editor for Blessed is She, an attorney turned writer, speaker, and editor while tending to her husband and five kiddos. She also facilitates our community groups as she loves helping women find sisterhood. Her undergrad is in English from University of Minnesota and her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law. Notably, she can down a hot cocoa in two seconds. Find out more about her here.
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