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Why do people complicate prayer?

ForeverYoursForeverYours
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
"I do not stand before God to count words.."
-St. Isaac

prayer is supposed to be like a one-on-one conversation with God?
but sometimes i get sort of scared of prayer because i feel like im going to run out of words to say to God

Comments

  • andrew8345andrew8345
    I am the last person to give advice on prayer, but I am compelled to give it anyway.

    Two things come to mind:
    1) That the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray as John taught his disciples (Luke 11).
    2) The Agpeya is a beautiful resource to help you pray.

  • George_Mina_Awad
    To add to what Unworthy said:

    -When you pray the Lord's prayer, keep in mind that these are words given to us straight from God; say them carefully.
    -When you pray from the Agbeya, treat the prayers and psalms that you are reading as if they are your own words. You'll find that they're actually very relatable.
    -The church has always advised that as far as prayer goes, quality is always better than quantity. Basically, don't complicate it on yourself. Make sure the time that you do spend praying, even if it is little, is quality time.
    -I have heard the saying, "Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when He talks back to you." Along with prayer, try to give yourself quiet time every day to hear His voice.

    I hope this helped, even if just a little bit.
  • CopticSoldierCopticSoldier
    Hi ForeverYours,

    I think that Christ wanted to make a point about people who worshipped Him to make themselves feel big and not because they loved Him.

    They weren't saying long prayers because of their devotion to God, rather they did so because they felt very proud that they were able to stand for such long periods of time in prayer.  Christ says that these people have their own reward.

    Sometimes the simple short prayers are better than long and wordy prayers because they're from the heart not from the ego.  There are very holy saint who achieve a special kind of prayer where they don't say any words at all - this is because in heaven the experience of God's presence is more important that the things we have to say.

    St Athanasius says that when we pray the psalms its like using the prayers of holy people who know God as a kind of looking-glass so that we learn from their experience of God how we can pray ourselves when we take on their words, feelings, thoughts and expressions as our own.  Its kind of like learning to be spiritual by copying someone who is spiritual.

    We should think of prayer as a kind of new relationship we're entering into, we learn how to be a good friend to someone when we get to know them over time and the kinds of things they want to hear from us and the kinds of things that they don't want to hear from us. Prayer is an important expression of our relationship with God and we learn to pray in the same way as grow a relationship with another person.  As it deepens we will be more comfortable with what we need to say - the important thing is that we need to start somewhere and we have the beautiful examples in the psalms to copy if we get stuck.

    So don't worry if you don't know what to say, God will teach you over time. :)

    Please pray for my weak self,

    LiD
  • HolmesHolmes
    + Irini nem ehmot,

    One prayer that you may find useful is the Jesus prayer: 'Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner'. It's simple and easy to repeat constantly. The name of Jesus is powerful and can help us focus our prayers.

    Here's another story from the desert fathers:
    Some brothers asked Macarius, 'How should we pray?' He said, 'There is no need to talk much in prayer. Reach out your hands often and say, "Lord have mercy on me, as you will and as you know." But if the conflict troubles you say, "Lord, help me." He knows what is best for us, and has mercy.'
  • George_Mina_Awad
    [quote author=Κηφᾶς link=topic=10960.msg133042#msg133042 date=1300177412]

    Here's another story from the desert fathers:
    Some brothers asked Macarius, 'How should we pray?' He said, 'There is no need to talk much in prayer. Reach out your hands often and say, "Lord have mercy on me, as you will and as you know." But if the conflict troubles you say, "Lord, help me." He knows what is best for us, and has mercy.'


    Love it.
  • egyboyegyboy
    but its hard not to complicate prayer! just think about it.. when we pray we are speaking to THE Almighty God, the Creator, the Saviour, the Comforter! imagine speaking to any king here on earth.. it would be quite nerve racking because you wouldnt know what to say or how to say it. but with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, its even harder to express our feelings and to say it the right way.

    I personally think the agpia is a good source for the words and feelings of prayer, as well as the contemplations of the desert fathers on prayer as some have previously mentioned
  • George_Mina_Awad
    [quote author=Marenhos Epchois link=topic=10960.msg133109#msg133109 date=1300250116]
    but its hard not to complicate prayer! just think about it.. when we pray we are speaking to THE Almighty God, the Creator, the Saviour, the Comforter! imagine speaking to any king here on earth.. it would be quite nerve racking because you wouldnt know what to say or how to say it. but with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, its even harder to express our feelings and to say it the right way.



    Does He not know what you're going to say before you say it? Does He not already know what's in your heart that you're struggling to get out? If what's in your heart is good, He'll love it no matter what.
  • MarchMadness
    "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."  -Romans 8:26
  • TimothymTimothym
    I'm really  beginner in prayer as Im still learning very slowly but I found in my own experience that my deepest times of prayer have been a combination of three elements:

    1.) liturgical prayers/from the Agpeya etc.
    2.) worship ie. tasbeha, tamgeed etc.
    3.) my own personal prayers, requests and petitions

    often all in the short space of 10-15 minutes! I was once told by a priest NOT to pray for more than a few minutes every morning and evening...just to actually pray at those times.

    Also, as our own Coptic Orthodox church teaches, our prayers should involve giving thanks to God, praising Him for being Who He is (our Merciful God!), and finally we petition and request from God our deepest desires and day to day struggles, for others, for the world etc.
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