PRAYER METHOD FOR CHILDREN: SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

Every time you go to pray you should recognize that your Best Friend, Jesus the Lord, is calling you to talk to Him, listen to Him and to grow deeper in Friendship with Him. How privileged you are! Every day and at any time, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is waiting patiently for you to come to Him and spend time with Him.

Jesus said: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11: 28-30) 
SPECIAL TIME: DAILY MEETING WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND.  Consider your prayer time with Jesus as the best time for you every day. Jesus is really waiting with great joy for you to come meet with Him, listen to Him, talk to Him, befriend Him and love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.” (Lk. 10:27)

METHODS IN GENERAL.  We have many methods in life—ways to do things in an orderly, systematic and successful way. For example, there are methods to learn the art of singing, speaking a language, cooking, painting, and even hitting a baseball. This can also be applied to learning the art of prayer. Therefore, we will present to you a practical guide on how to learn the art of prayer.

USE THIS METHOD TO START OFF YOUR PRAYER.  For those who are starting in prayer, it is very helpful to have this prayer guide/method. Eventually, once you have formed the habit of prayer, you will no longer need this because prayer will become a habit, something we do almost without thinking. However, for starters, this method will be very useful!

 
BLESSINGS FROM THE EXERCISES.  If you want to be an excellent athlete, then you really have to work at it. This means discipline. By discipline we mean hard work. The athletes have a saying: “No pain, no gain.” The same can be said about our SPIRITUAL EXERCISES! If we truly want to grow in our relationship with God, then we really have to work at it. We must have generosity, good will, discipline, constancy, and perseverance—meaning, not to give up. If you do the exercises well, eventually you will become a SUPER-ATHLETE for Jesus. How pleasing this is in the eyes of God!

STEPS IN OUR DAILY PRAYER METHOD

1. PLACE. Find a good place to pray. This means that there must be silence. God spoke to the Prophet Elijah, not in the earthquake, the storm, or the fire, but in the gentle breeze. God’s voice can be heard only where there is silence.

2. HOLY PICTURES/ STATUES. It is very helpful to pray where you have some holy pictures or statues of Jesus, Mary, Saint Joseph, or the angels. To arrive at God who is invisible we go through the visible—these holy images.

3. PRESENCE OF GOD. Now as you approach prayer, which is holy ground, recognize that you are in the presence of God. You might even say: “I recognize Jesus is looking at me with great love and tenderness.” We must be aware that prayer is a loving conversation with a real PERSON—that Person is Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary! That Person is God the Father. That Person is God the Holy Spirit.

4. MARY: INVITE MARY! It can be of great help to invite the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray with us and to pray for us. Slowly, pray the HAIL MARY. This will bring Mary into your prayer and she will unite you with Jesus. The last words of Mary in the Bible were at the Wedding Feast of Cana when she said: “Do whatever He tells you.”

5. HOLY SPIRIT. Then say a short prayer to the Holy Spirit. This prayer could serve the purpose: “Come Holy Spirit, come through the Heart of Mary.” The Holy Spirit is the Interior Master of prayer.

6. READ THE TEXT. With Mom or Dad, or both, read the Bible text of the day. Read it two or three times so as to get to know the text.

7. Then ask God to teach you what the meaning is of the passage/text. In other words, what is God trying to say to you; what is the message for the day? Every day God wants to give you a very important message in your prayer time.

8. Your heart is the center of prayer. Once you feel moved in your heart, then open up and speak to God in your own words. What might be some feelings or movements from your heart? There are many but we will give a few: love, joy, thanks, fears, offerings, dreams or desires, sorrow for sin, praise, wonder, begging for graces and asking for help. Turn these feelings into a prayerful conversation with God.

9. Talk to God the Father, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit or Mary, or you can talk to all of them at the same time, or to each of them individually. Saint Ignatius calls this a COLLOQUY.

10. After you have finished your prayer period take a couple of minutes to review what happened and how God spoke to you. Then spend a couple of minutes writing down God’s message to you. What were some of your inspirations, insights, consolations, movements in your heart, ideas about God and His Presence? These revisions that you and your Mom or Dad will write are very important. Why? For this simple reason: in the group sharing you, and your Mom or Dad, will be able to share for a short time with the rest of the group, one of the seven meditations that each of you did. You will be enriching the others in the group by your sharing and they will enrich you by their sharing. As such, all of us, as a team and as a family, will grow to know Jesus better, love Jesus more fervently, follow Jesus more closely in our lives, and even bring others closer to Jesus.