Questions on Prayer – Part 2

Questions on Prayer Part 2

Dan and Melissa answer more listener questions on prayer (click here for part 1). They discuss the benefits of a spiritual community to one’s prayer life, some specific meditation practices, advice we can take from the Saints and Mystics, and much more in “Questions on Prayer Part 2”.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

• Is there something wrong with me if I can’t pray more than 10-15 minutes each day?
• How can being involved in a community help your spiritual life?
• To whom is the advice from mystics of the Church directed – beginners or the spiritually advanced?
• How can I progress in meditating on the scriptures daily? Is there a plan I should follow?
• How can a meditation practice, such as Lectio Divina, help me to encounter Christ?
• Some aspects of Ignatian Meditation. How does it differ from Lectio Divina?
• What should I do when I feel that God doesn’t hear my prayers?

Resources:

• EWTN Religious Catalogue – online
• Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 3, Article 2: The Battle of Prayer
• James 4:7, 8 – “Resist the devil…Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.” USCCB Bible link
• Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
• Lectio Divina, A Guide: What It Is & How It Helps Prayer Life? – Post on SpiritualDirection.com
• The Way of the Cross – Alphonsus de Liguori. Prayer of St Alphonsus:
  • I love you Jesus, my love. I repent of ever having offended you. Never permit me to offend you again. Grant that I may love you always; and then do with me what you will.
• Mark 9:14-29 – The Healing of a Boy with a Demon. Contains the quote “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
• Navigating the Interior Life – Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God – Daniel Burke with Fr John Bartunek
• The three ways: purgative, illuminative, unitive — Four-part series on SpiritualDirection.com (all parts linked to each other)
• Finding God Through Meditation – St Peter of Alcántara, edited by Dan Burke
• The Interior Castle – Saint Teresa of Avila
• The Collected Works of St Teresa of Avila, Volume One – Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez. Contains Book of Her Life.
• An Introduction to the Devout Life – St Francis de Sales
• Lectio Divina, A Guide: What It Is & How It Helps Prayer Life? – Post on SpiritualDirection.com [read, reflect, respond, and rest, to which Dan adds resolve!]
• Ascesis/Asceticism – New Advent link
• The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer – Fr John Bartunek (who uses the concepts of “concentrate, consider, converse and commit” based on the Ignatian method where one puts oneself in the Scriptural scene and then makes a commitment based on what one has experienced with Christ)
• A Simple Guide to Christian Meditation – Post on SpiritualDirection.com
• A Guide to Christian Meditation: How to Engage More Deeply in Personal Prayer – Short book by Fr John Bartunek
• The Better Part and the Four “Cs” of Christian Meditation – Video by Dan Burke and Fr John Bartunek on SpiritualDirection.com
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – USCCB Bible link
• Questions? Send an e-mail to Questions@myavila.com or call 818-646-7729. Please leave your name, location, and question(s).

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