But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16
WHY WE PRAY
Jesus prayed often as we are told in the Gospels, for example after a long day of ministering, before making big decisions, before a mission or simply to be in communion with the Father.
As His followers we should do the same. Amidst our busy lives in this noisy and divisive world, we ought to pray often in order to stay connected with God. As branches of the vine, we cannot do anything without Him.
WHY PRAY WITH SCRIPTURES?
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To encounter God in the Scriptures.
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To connect the mind to heart in prayer.
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To feel the love and inner peace that only He can give.
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To go deeper in prayer.
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To feel God speaking to us each day.
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To be more aware of what God wants us to do in different situations.
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To have a better understanding of ourselves and those around us.
REFLECTION OF CARDINAL WILLIAM GOH
To encounter the Fatherly love of God, we must learn to pray in a childlike way using the Lectio Divina and Ignatian Contemplation. We must pray in a simple way by immersing and absorbing the Word of God until a certain phrase or word receives our attention. As we meditate on the Word of God, chew on it and engage in a dialogue with the Lord. The end result is that we begin to hear God speaking personally to our hearts. The other way of entering into the heart of God is through the method taught by St Ignatius, which is to pray the scriptures using fantasy, that is, putting ourselves in the characters of the Bible as we enter into their feelings, thoughts and mind of each character. In this way, we make the gospel scenes come alive.