Living Your Best – Prayer Part 1: How Do We Pray?

Living Your Best – Prayer: How Do We Pray?

Life can be noisy.

Our days are often filled with messages, appointments, responsibilities, deadlines, people needing our attention and a never-ending list of things to do. We rush from one thing to the next, often without giving ourselves a moment to stop.

And yet, somewhere in all that busyness, there is a quiet place within us, that longs for stillness.

For me, prayer has become an integral part of my life. It is not simply about asking God for things. It is about connection. It is about gratitude, guidance, hope, surrender, reflection and sometimes simply being still in God's presence.

Prayer can be a place where we put down our worries for a moment and remind ourselves that we do not have to carry everything alone.

But how do we pray?

Perhaps you have wondered this yourself.

Do we need special words? Do we have to kneel? Do we need to be in church? Do we need to know exactly what to say?

I don't think prayer needs to be complicated.

A simple approach I was introduced to by Father Michael Schmidt is the PAL method: Praise, Ask and Listen.

It is wonderfully simple — and perhaps that is exactly what we need in our complicated lives.

Prayer in the middle of an ordinary day

Prayer doesn't have to take an hour.

It doesn't have to happen in a particular place.

It can happen while we are walking, driving, sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, watching the sunrise or lying awake at night.

It can be a few simple words whispered in the middle of a difficult day:

“Help me.”

“Thank you.”

“Give me strength.”

“Guide me.”

Or perhaps simply:

“I am here.”

Prayer can become a pause button in a world that rarely seems to stop.

And perhaps that is one of its greatest gifts.

A little challenge for this week

Find five quiet minutes each day.

Put your phone aside. Stop what you are doing. Take a few slow breaths and try to pray.

Over the next few weeks, I would like to explore prayer in a more meaningful way.

We will look at PAL method in greater depth, then gratitude, guidance, hope, surrender, connection, stillness and compassion — and discover how each can become a form of prayer in our everyday lives.

Prayer doesn't necessarily change our circumstances, but it can change the way we meet them.

And sometimes, that can make all the difference.