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Constant Prayer 28 Oct 2019

God want us to pray. The Pope wants us to pray. Family, friends and various people ask us for prayer. Often I respond to prayer requests with the promise to pray for a week, and I ask the Holy Spirit to remind me to pray. Actually I would like to pray longer and more. I am however limited.
Yesterday a priest advised me to have a box where I collect all those prayer requests on a small papers. Whenever I e.g. pray the last decade of my rosary, I can dedicate this to all the prayers in my prayer box. Or once in a while I can draw a request out of the box and pray for that. Nice idea!

Rejoice and be Glad (Gaudete et Exsultate)

154. Prayer of supplication is an expression of a heart that trusts in God and realizes that of itself it can do nothing. The life of God’s faithful people is marked by constant supplication born of faith-filled love and great confidence. Let us not downplay prayer of petition, which so often calms our hearts and helps us persevere in hope. Prayer of intercession has particular value, for it is an act of trust in God and, at the same time, an expression of love for our neighbour. There are those who think, based on a one-sided spirituality, that prayer should be unalloyed contemplation of God, free of all distraction, as if the names and faces of others were somehow an intrusion to be avoided. Yet in reality, our prayer will be all the more pleasing to God and more effective for our growth in holiness if, through intercession, we attempt to practise the twofold commandment that Jesus left us. Intercessory prayer is an expression of our fraternal concern for others, since we are able to embrace their lives, their deepest troubles and their loftiest dreams. Of those who commit themselves generously to intercessory prayer we can apply the words of Scripture: "This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people" (2 Mac 15:14).

A box for prayer needs.