Passionists Pray
Pray Often
God gives the gift of prayer to you.
Praying Every Day
Jesus prayed like Abraham, whom God told to leave his own land and go to the place God would show him. So he journeyed on, day by day, and day by day set up an altar to discern what God wanted for him.
He prayed daily and welcomed what the day brought.
One day, three mysterious guests came in the heat of the day to Abraham’s tent. (Genesis 18, 1-16)
Welcoming them, he welcomed God and received a blessing of new life.
Daily prayer is the way we welcome God each day in the life before us.
Listen to the psalms:
“I will bless you day by day
and praise your name for ever.” (Ps 145)
“On the day I called you answered me
you increased the strength of my soul.” (Ps 138)
Jesus prayed each day and, like Abraham, journeyed on.
He prayed to his Father, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and was strengthened in soul by God’s daily bread.
Prayer begins and ends the day
Why pray at the beginning and end of the day?
They are key times for prayer. Listen to the psalmist:
It is you whom I invoke, O Lord.
In the morning you hear me;
in the morning I offer you my prayer,
watching and waiting (Psalm 5. Monday Morning 1).
We pray in the morning, says St. Basil, to give the first stirrings of our mind and heart to God and before anything to be gladdened by the thought of God.” Morning prayer recognizes a simple truth: How we begin a day is important. God wishes to be there with us.
The end of the day is also a time for prayer. Evening prayers, like Psalm 27 (Wednesday Evening, week 1), encourage trust in God as light, a stronghold, a home that shelters us, a rock where we are safe. Evening prayers heal the scars of the day and take away the fears of the night. God will be there with us.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?