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Lessons -
Spiritual Growth
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Personal Prayer
To make progress of any noticeable merit on this journey towards becoming more like Christ, we need to have a healthy relationship with God, and this can be achieved only by spending time in prayer. Traditional community prayers that many of us are accustomed to are excellent ways of praying, but in order to build a truly meaningful relationship with God a prime requisite is personal prayer. When the apostles asked Jesus for advice on the subject of prayer, He said to them: “But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)
What do we do when we are alone, though? While the following verse (6:7) suggests we simply shut up and listen to God, it takes time to develop the level of spirituality that allows us to remain in silence before God. Until then, it might help to use the time–optimally, an hour–to improve our relationship with him using certain important elements of prayer. These are:
- Praise
- Spiritual Warfare
- Repentance
- Forgiveness
- Surrender
- Thanksgiving
- Infilling
- Intercession
- Worship
- The Word of God
- Silence
Praise
Begin your prayer session by singing joyful songs to the Lord. There is, of course, the obvious reason for this as stated in Psalm 100:1 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.” But there is another reason. Many of us enter prayer burdened with the worries of the world. Our focus is very much on ourselves. When we open our mouths and sing (even though we might not feel like it!) we take our attention off ourselves (and our problems) and focus it on God. This gets us into the “mood” of prayer, like nothing else can.
Spiritual Warfare
Scripture tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). Many of us might find the idea of battles fought in heavenly realms hard to comprehend, but it is a good idea to begin serious prayer by asking God for His protection upon us and our families because all prayer is warfare to varying extents and some defensive measures are wise.
Repentance
Repentance is an integral part of prayer. Not only does it give us the opportunity to reconcile ourselves properly to God, it helps us identify aspects of our lives that we need to address because our goal is to reach the perfection, purity and holiness that God calls us to. “Repent, therefore, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)
Forgiveness
We can never really be fully right with God, even if we have repented, if we haven’t forgiven those who have wronged us. “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15) Forgiveness is not a one-off thing that we do from time to time, but a continuous process that needs to be done often, as often as we are hurt.
Surrender
Everything in our life will be a constant struggle if we try to cope with our battles ourselves. We cannot truly be instruments of God either if we are trying to exercise our own will in our lives. Neither can we be filled with His Holy Spirit and bear fruit if we are not in perfect union with Christ. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Along with repentance and forgiveness, surrender helps us be one with Jesus.
Thanksgiving
Somebody once said that if the only prayer we say is a prayer of thanksgiving, it would be prayer enough. We should never fail to thank God for the many blessings that we receive. Thanking God also helps to take away our focus on the things in the life that aren’t too pleasing to us and focus on all the good things that we are blessed with.
Infilling
If the Old Testament is about God, the Father, and the gospels about God, the Son; these days are about God, the Holy Spirit, without whom we would not be able to lead the lives that God asks us to. Once we have united with Christ in repentance, forgiveness and surrender, we ask the Holy Spirit to do His work in our lives, filling us, melting us, molding us, using us.
Worship
Through our worship we give honor and praise to God. Additionally, we are drawn into the mystery of God and into a deeper relationship with Him. This is the time that can bring us the most intense joy, because it helps us enter into the heart of God like little else can.
The Word of God
God speaks to us through His Word and it is absolutely essential that we read the Bible and meditate upon it regularly. Bible study and reading is one the disciplines of Spiritual Growth that we will be looking at in depth.
Silence
God speaks to us in our silences, and it is wise to make silence part of our prayer time with God, especially after reading His Word. As we grow in our relationship with God, the silence in our prayer time should increase.
A Few Tips
- Fix a convenient time and place for prayer and do not let anything come in the way of it.
- Prayer is a great way to start the day so pray in the mornings. At the end of the day we are often tired and might be tempted to skip it.
- Always invite the Holy Spirit at the beginning of a prayer session to help you pray.
- Have your prayer partner remind/urge you to pray if you have difficulty making it to the prayer room on your own
- Avoid the temptation to cut short the time you have decided to spend with God.
2. Prayer: Family Prayer
The family that prays together stays together is a maxim that many of us grew up with and it is true. One of the reasons that families are breaking up with such rapidity today is because God is missing from the equation. No relationship can be truly meaningful without God playing a pivotal role in it and to ensure this, families need to approach him together as one unit.
A Few Tips
- Pray together before your final meal of the day.
- Avoid long, monotonous prayers if they are said by rote. The Rosary is a lovely prayer but it is often rendered meaningless if it is raced through. As somebody holy once said, a single “Our Father” said slowly with meaning is more effective than a hundred said without meaning.
- Have each member of the family thank God for all the blessings received during the day. They are numerous!
- Have each member of the family thank God for each other. We very often take one another for granted and this helps ensure we understand the importance of each other in our lives.
3. Prayer: Group Prayer
In the early church, people used to gather together for a period of informal and spontaneous prayer, and from all accounts these gatherings proved to be powerful instruments of growth, not only for the individual, but also for the great body of Christ, known as the Church. Although such meetings eventually gave way to larger, more formal gatherings (the Mass), prayer meetings once again became popular in the 1960s and have, since, regained much of its popularity.
We are all part of the body of Christ, each one linked to the other and interdependant, and prayer meetings provide a way of learning to live with, work with, and love one another in order to strengthen this body. Consequenty, it a vital element of growth, and praying in a good prayer group at least once a week can help us tremendously on our spiritual journey. A “good” prayer group is one in which the emphasis is not merely on lively “praise and worship” but in fellowship and growth.
A Few Tips
- Visit at least a couple of groups before you decide on which one you want to join.
- Once you are happy with a group, commit yourself to it.
- Don’t let minor misunderstandings or conflicts disturb you; learning to deal with such things in a loving way is essential for growth.
- Don’t be content just receiving; give too. God has blessed all of us with gifts to build up the body of Christ.
4. Prayer: Community Prayer
When we gather to celebrate Sunday liturgy, we are part of a tradition that is nearly 2000 years old. Liturgy is the participation of the people of God in the work of God. Through the liturgy Christ, our Redeemer and High Priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through the Church. (CCC 1069)
There is something else that is wonderful about participating in the liturgy. It gives us the opportunity to worship together in Spirit with Catholics the world over, and this is an opportunity we have no matter which part of the world we go to. We share in the same unity of worship which strengthens the body of Christ.
Many Catholics who have gone to Mass all their lives still do not understand it. Part of the problem is that by the time people are old enough to appreciate and understand the sacred words and actions, it has become mere repetition. Hence, because of this repetition, we have all heard, and probably used the infamous phrase “Mass is boring!” and people stop going because “they do not get anything out of it.” People complain about seeing the same priest at the same altar saying the same old prayers. It is a lack of understanding that induces boredom. So what do we do? How are we to find meaning in the Mass?
Please read the article “Reflections on the Celebration of the Mass” by Fr. Barry O’Sullivan on the Holy Spirit Interactive site to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Mass.
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Mumbai Community, First Quarter Report
September 13: The HSI School of Discipleship in Don Bosco Church, Borivili completed its first quarter on September 13, 2009, and from all indications has proven to be a far greater success than anybody expected. A total of 101 confirmed members in the Community that include men, women and children of ages ranging from 7 to 70, testifed to the wonderful impact this program has made on their lives. Click here for their testimonies.
This is the sixth HSI School of Discipeship to open internationally, and the second in India.
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