Am I Praying for the "Right Thing?"
The options seem endless
The biggest shortcoming in my spiritual life as a child and into adulthood was that I never had a strong prayer life. I prayed in church, of course. I said the blessing with my family before dinners. We would occasionally do the family rosary, and prayers, both rote and spontaneous, were said in youth group, at Bible studies, and other religious gatherings. But rarely would I frequently engage in a personal relationship with God through prayer on my own. I did not develop a prayer routine until a little over a year ago.
As someone new to the prayer game and as someone who overthinks everything, I found myself wondering if I was prayer correctly. For example, Christ is very specific that we should love our enemies. Well that has to include praying for them, and we did some of that throughout Lent with our Prayers for enemies of the faithful posts. Catholics in the 21st century have a lot of enemies though, so I clearly can’t pray for all of them. Plus, shouldn’t I be praying for my family, friends, and co-workers who play a bigger role in my life? Well I have a couple hundred friends on Facebook, so just those individuals would take an awfully long time to pray for by name. Lastly, we haven’t even gotten to prayers for my needs. Like the rest of humanity, I’m a pretty flawed Christian in need of plenty of graces to grow in virtues and resist vices.
I’m a head case, as indicated by the ramblings above. I needed to find something that would answer the question of, “how was I to know I was prayer for the right people?” What finally whipped me into shape? Well after the 236th ad read for Hallow on Pints with Aquinas (only slight exaggeration); I finally download the Hallow prayer app. The prayer that I had been looking for was on the app and is called Morning Offering.
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your sacred Heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparations for my sins, the reunion of all Christians and in particular, for the intentions of the Holy Father, Amen.
O Lord God, I hope by your grace for the pardon of all my sins, an afterlife here to gain eternal happiness because you have promised it, who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, and merciful. In this hope, I intend to live and die, Amen.
O My God, I firmly believe that you are One God in three Divine person; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that your Divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because you have revealed them, who are eternal truth and wisdom, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. In this faith, I intend to live and die, Amen.
O Lord God, I love you above all things, and I love my neighbor for your sake because you are the highest, infinite, and perfect good, worthy of all my love. In this love, I intend to live and die, Amen.
In the name of The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I have started almost all of the days of the last year with this prayer. In offering every aspect of my day, over to God, I submit to his Divine Will and allow him to take my prayers and apply his graces to me, the people close to me, or the stranger halfway around the world. A prayer like this really takes the pressure off because I no longer have to be concerned if I’m using the right words or remember all the individuals. Instead, I let The All-knowing Creator of Our Universe do the heavy lifting while I bow my head, fold my hands, and submit.