Nurturing Faith

I'm afraid that prayer time with my young people has become very routine and just something we do at the beginning of our time together. What are some ways I can make prayer time a meaningful experience for my class as well as for me?

Your question is one shared by many catechists and teachers. Prayer is the loaf of bread we need to nourish us for the challenging ministry of catechesis. Without it, we falter. In recent years Catholics have rediscovered the joy of praying with God's word and listening as God speaks to us in the Scriptures. Study groups and prayer groups have formed and people are reaping the benefits of modern biblical scholarship in new and ever more satisfying ways. How exciting that Scripture has become an integral part of most varieties or methods of prayers.

Here are some thoughts you might find helpful.

Praying with Creation
Encourage the young people to see that nature's pantry is overflowing with enticements to prayer. We merely need alert senses and an appetite for praise.

Whether we live in a city or in a rural community, nature is around us. Encourage the young people to pay prayerful attention to the wonders of the sunrise, shining stars, falling rain, and the songs of birds. Even indoors we can experience nature: a plant on the desk, a shaft of sunlight streaming through the window. Praying in this way with regard to the world around us reminds us of our responsibility to care for GodÕs creations, too.

Praying with the Saints
Remind the young people that just as athletes have trainers, we have the saints to advise us in seeking the bread of prayer. Choose one or two saints (preferably one of each gender) who seem best suited to serve as your personal prayer trainers. First and foremost we have Mary, the Mother of God, who remembered all the things that God had done for her and who "thought deeply about them" (Luke 2:19).

Look for books, articles, or videos in which your chosen saintsÕ ways of prayer are described. Adapt their ways to your own situation.

Praying Your Journal
When the Lord wanted the Israelites to know how they would be freed from slavery, God instructed Jeremiah to "write down in a book everything that I have told you" (Jer 30:2). Keeping a spiritual journal is a way of following this divine advice. We desire to be freed from the slavery of false images of God and ourselves. By recording our dreams and doubts, causes of joy and sorrow, the ups and downs and blessings of daily living, we can see God's handwriting in our daily lives.

Jesus insists that the kingdom of God is within us. A journal helps us discern how GodÕs kingdom is either breaking through or being blocked within us. It clarifies our personal story of salvation, revealing how we are co-authors with God of this unique narration.

Lord, Teach Us to Pray
We all need to be taught how to pray. One of Jesus' disciples asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray." So might we all ask.

As a catechist, you are in a privileged situation to lead young people in prayer and to provide them with good experiences of prayer. Your own personal efforts to learn how to pray and to develop a prayerful attitude will help you communicate the importance of prayer in life. Like the great saints and mystics, we learn to pray by praying.

Is there a special way that you like to pray? Do you have your own favorite prayers?

View previous questions and answers in the Nurturing Faith Archive.

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