Fr. John Bartunek: 3 Keys for Your Prayer Life
What is the 1st thing we must do to build a prayer life?
- We have to make a firm decision, a commitment, to make prayer a priority in our life…every day.
- Start today, and never stop!
Why does God give us different modes/types of prayer?
- Because He doesn’t want us to miss out on the gifts He has in store for us in each type of prayer.
- In Liturgical prayer, we get to participate in the work of God, in Christ’s saving redemption of all humanity. – CCC 1069
- In Vocal prayer, we use someone else’s words to pray to God.
- In Mental prayer (Christian Meditation), we get to personally speak to God and learn to hear Him intimately speak to us!
What are some different ways you could structure your prayer time?
- Fr. Bartunek gave the example of: 1) Thank God for His blessings, 2) Read and reflect on the Bible, 3) Pray for others.
What is the key to understanding how to do Mental prayer?
- You need to think about it as if you were talking to God just like you would talk to somebody whom you love.
- Remember, God does know you personally. He loves and cares about you.
- God desires for you to ask Him how He feels and to share with Him how you feel.
- God wants you to use your own words and ‘be real’ with Him.
Note: You can get Fr. Bartunek’s book to learn meditative prayer on Amazon. That book revolutionized my prayer life!