Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Scripture Relaxation: (Psalm 139): Audio

Everyday Introduction: The 5 p’s of Prayer (optional)

Scripture Relaxation: Psalm 139

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Contemplative Prayer: Audio

Everyday Introduction: The 5 p’s of Prayer (optional)

Contemplative Prayer Introduction (optional)

Contemplative Prayer: Ephesians

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Mass: The Father’s Plan for Salvation

Link to USCCB Sunday Readings

Sunday Mass Introduction

First Sunday Mass

First Sunday Mass Journal

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Praying with your Senses: : The Prodigal Son (Luke 15 : 11-32): Audio

Everyday Introduction: The 5 p’s of Prayer (optional)

Praying with your Senses Introduction: (optional)

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Lectio Divina: Psalm 23: Audio

Everyday Introduction: The 5 p’s of Prayer (optional)

Lectio Divina Introduction: (optional)

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Pray Like a Pirate: The Annunciation (Luke 1: 26-38)

Everyday Introduction: The 5 p’s of Prayer (optional)

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Day 1 Meditation The Lord’s Prayer Guided Meditation

GUIDED MEDITATION:

Find a quiet room, settle into a spot that will be comfortable, close your eyes, and place your body in a relaxed position, usually without crossed arms or legs. Allow your imagination, fueled by your senses, to enter into the story. At the end of the meditation, do not rush to open your eyes. Let your body tell you when you are ready. Refer to “types of prayer” for further information about guided meditation.

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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TYPES OF PRAYER

There are six types of prayer that you will encounter in this book: Guided Meditation, Praying like a Pirate, Lectio Divina, Praying with the Senses, Contemplative Prayer, and Scriptural Relaxation. I will describe each of the types of prayer for you in this section of the book. However, if you find it too overwhelming to read about all of them at once, you can instead read about them before each day’s prayer experience. You may also want to come occasionally back to this page and refresh your memory about the type of prayer you will encounter.

GUIDED MEDITATION:

Guided Meditation is a form of prayer that uses quiet reflection on a scene from the Scriptures or from everyday life. It is led by a person (guide) who describes the scene and the actions of those in the story. The purpose of guided meditation is to relax the participants so that they are free to use their senses to imagine a personal encounter with Jesus. When St. Ignatius had his conversion it was through meditation.

He was injured in the war. A canon ball had greatly disfigured his leg and he spent many months laid up in a hospital bed. He was so bored that he found himself reading book after book. He loved reading books about chivalry and “knights in shining armor” and the tough guy getting the girls!

After he read every book on war and women that he could get his hands onto he was finally given two books that changed everything: The Lives of the Saints and the Life of Christ. A very interesting thing occurred… The same creative imagination that he used to imagine himself in the scenes of war and women also helped bring to life something he once found so boring.

His imagination took flight as he read the life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. He said to himself: “If St. Francis could do this, and many other saints like him, maybe I can too!” As he read more and imagined more, he discovered something very profound. In both cases “while” he was reading and imagining he was very excited, engaged, and inspired but after there was a drastic difference.

When he finished meditating on the “Worldly books” he realized he was left feeling desolate, downcast, and sad… The feeling didn’t last. But when he read The Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints, not only was he inspired during his meditation but it was a lasting inspiration. He was not only excited, engaged, and inspired during the meditation but he remained in consolation for a long time after.

This “real” experience began his conversion and what would ultimately lay the foundation for the Spiritual Exercises and the use of imagination and meditation in prayer.

Maybe you have a vivid imagination, or maybe you think you don’t. The truth is we all have the God-given ability to “imagine”. It is a gift, but it can also be developed. If you haven’t used yours in a while… Don’t worry it’s there! We never lose them but when we use them wow can God come to us in amazing ways.

Some people think that if you are using your imagination, it is not “real” however our imagination is a gift given to us by God and can lead us to very “real” experiences of him. Remember there is a whole other level beyond the physical and our imagination can help take us there!

PRAYING LIKE A PIRATE:

Praying like a pirate: ARRR!!!! This is a type of prayer that I learned from Msgr. John Esseff. In this prayer you Acknowledge, Relate, Receive, and Respond to God. In the first step of this type of prayer, you acknowledge whatever is in your heart. Whatever your desires or feelings are; acknowledge them. After you acknowledge, you will relate those feelings to God. Tell Him how you are feeling. After you acknowledge and relate, you need to receive God’s message. This requires you to be silent to hear what God has to say. Once you receive God’s message, you will want to respond to him in some way. Perhaps it is saying, yes Lord, I will do that, or yes God, I can.

St. Teresa of Avila said that praying is a close and intimate sharing between friends. When you relate your feelings to God, you don’t have to deal with the feelings on your own. You can hand them over to God, who will then help you to understand them, process them, and actually take you to himself in the process. It’s important to know off the bat that all feelings are acceptable. There are no good or bad feelings. Sure some are more pleasant, and others are horrifying, but something wonderful happens when we share them with God. And the best part is you don’t have to do it alone! He is there with you every step of the way!

LECTIO DIVINA:

Lectio Divina (which is a Latin phrase meaning Divine Reading) dates all the way back to the 3rd Century. Over the years it was developed by some of the early Church Fathers, Saints of the Church, and religious communities; such as Origen, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Benedict, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, the Desert Fathers who formed the first monasteries in the Eastern Church, The Carthusians, The Cistercians, The Benedictines, The Carmelites… it has even been introduced to the Protestants by John Calvin.

It wasn’t until Vatican II, in 1965, that one of the Church’s most important documents emphasized the use of Lectio Divina. That document was “Dei Verbum” and is a dogmatic constitution or teaching on the Word of God… Scripture. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, reaffirmed the importance of Lectio Divina on the 40th anniversary of “Dei Verbum.” “I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God, who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart [cf. Dei verbum, n. 25]. If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church – I am convinced of it – a new spiritual springtime.”

Pope Saint John Paul II, when he was the pope, described how to enter into this ancient form of prayer. One condition for Lectio Divina is that the mind and heart be illuminated by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, and that they are approached with an attitude of “reverential hearing”.

As is often said about Scripture, this type of prayer is itself “Ever Ancient, Ever New.” The practice of Lectio Divina is best when it is experienced. The best I can explain it is that it is an experience of prayer where you read Scripture in a prayerful and reflective way until God speaks to you through his word and as we “hear” it over and over and meditate upon it and contemplate it, the Word of God takes flesh in us. We become one with Christ. We experience this wonderful union with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

As with all prayer, the “way” that we do prayer is not important, but sometimes, especially for beginners, it is really helpful to have a structure and a routine to “get us into” prayer. Lectio Divina consists of four steps: Lectio (reading), Oratio (praying), Meditatio (meditation), and Contemplatio (contemplating).

Let’s use the analogy of eating for this. When I found your words, I devoured them; your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart (Jeremiah 15:16). I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51). Now let’s apply the four steps of Lectio Divina to eating.

Lectio (reading) is like looking at the meal that is placed before you, deciding which part you want to eat first, which looks the best, what you want to save for last and taking that first bite.

Meditatio (meditation) is chewing on the food, tasting it, deciding whether you like it or not or if you want more of it or want to try another part of the dish. This is often related to “chewing”. Sometimes we eat our food so fast we don’t even know what it tastes like, and we can do the same with Scripture. For us to really meditate we need to take it slow and notice all the textures and flavors of the Scripture.

Interesting enough, my last name “Denk” is a German word that means to think deeply or to ponder. This part comes naturally to me! The important thing though is that we are not doing any of these steps on our own, but rather reading with God and pondering with God. If we do it alone that’s when it can become a rather dark and frustrating experience. This is where it’s important to pray with God, with Scriptures, and always have Christ at the center. So “chew” until your heart’s content, but just remember your “chewing” Scripture and not your own thoughts!

Oratio (pray) means speech, discourse, or dialogue. It’s kind of like when we share a meal with anyone, especially with God, conversation tends to flow naturally. During this step you not only savor the food but you savor the company and your heart naturally wants to say something and hear something in response. This could be various spontaneous prayers or a more formal vocal prayer that you write out or say to God.

Finally, contemplatio (contemplation). There’s nothing better after having a good meal then “resting” in the company you are with. Think about an Italian dinner where nobody gets up from the table right away, or a Thanksgiving meal, you’ve tasted the food, you’ve drank the wine, you’ve talked and laughed and loved, and now you just spend that last moment in silence completely content, taking it all in, savoring it, enjoying it, just “being” there with the people that you love, with the God that you love.

The Catechism emphasizes that “Contemplative Prayer is silence… or silent love… (CCC, 2717) in which the Father allows us to dwell in His Son, to become one with his Son, to be infused with the Holy Spirit and experience the closest thing to heaven that we can on this earth. That’s a good meal huh?

PRAYING WITH THE SENSES:

St. Ignatius said “God takes on human flesh so that we can sense him.” And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). One of the gifts that we have been given is our senses. We take something into us by tasting, smelling, touching, seeing, and hearing. God came to us in the flesh so that we could “sense” or see him. All three forms of Ignatian contemplation end with an imagined conversation between you and one or more of the characters in the scene.

The idea with this type of meditation or contemplation is to get us out of our thinking mind and into way of concentrating with our senses. We use our senses both physically and imaginatively. There’s something very sacred about calling upon the Holy Spirit to come to us in a way that we can almost sense through our imagination. God gave us the gifts of our imagination and our senses and all things work for the Greater Glory of God. This type of imaginative prayer can lead us into a deep contemplation and a very real “felt” experience of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Like the other types of praying, this is just one exercise or structure to help us focus on and encounter the living Christ. In this spiritual tradition there are two types of senses: the “ordinary” and the “spiritual”.

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life—for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete (1 John 1:1-4).

SEE: “for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us” (1 John 1:2). Use your imagination to try to see everything in the Scripture passage. Let it come to life. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to see.

HEAR: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard,” (1 John 1:1). Try not only to hear the sounds of the people, places, and things but what they might be saying, what God may be saying to you.

SMELL: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). Smell and taste are so closely linked together. But it can be very beneficial to try them separately. St. Ignatius talks about the scent of God being very soft, gentle, sweet, and delicate. The phrase “Stop and smell the roses” works well here. We have to slow down and be gentle and delicate with ourselves and with the Word of God so that we can smell the fragrant aroma of the scene.

TASTE: Again the notion here is to savor and relish in the “Dolce” or sweetness of God’s word. “How sweet to my tongue is your promise, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).

TOUCH: “…and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life…” (1 John 1:1). Scripture is filled with our need to touch and be touched by God. This is what the Incarnation is. The Word became flesh so that we might experience God in the flesh.

When we use our senses and experience the Word of God, we can enter in a very real, profound, and tangible way into the scenes of the Gospel. Often time’s people say they don’t experience God in prayer, have never seen him, or heard his voice. This is one of the ways that he can come to you and be very real to you.

When we pray with our senses and our imagination through the Holy Spirit, we can enter into God and allow God to enter into us. As with all prayer, the focus is never on us but on God and what God is doing in us and our world right now. “Ignatian contemplation is focused, not on losing oneself in God, but on finding oneself in God. Contemplating is ordinarily understood as ‘gazing upon’ the divine. In this gazing, the emphasis is not on the relationship between oneself and God but rather is being absorbed in God, lost in God, taken up into God. An example of this kind of contemplation is centering prayer. For Ignatius, however, the focus is always on relationship… For Ignatius, “contemplating the Gospel mysteries is the privileged way to come to know Jesus more clearly so as to love him more dearly and follow him more nearly….” (Fleming, 2008).

Prayer is ultimately about relating to God. We have all had the physical experience of using our senses and this prayer will help you discover a whole other level with the “Spiritual Senses.” Again, there is a deeper reality but because we are physical beings God wants to meet us in physical ways but also help us to experience the transcendent.

Finally, St. Ignatius encourages us to finish with a Colloquy: which is simply sharing a conversation about your experience with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and Mary. This type of prayer can help us to really know God, fall in love with God, and want to give the rest of our lives in service to God when we experience his love in a very real way.

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER:

In the Christian Tradition, there have been three levels or expressions of prayer: vocal prayer, meditative prayer, and contemplative prayer. Hopefully, at different points in our lives, we experience all of these and pray in these different ways. There is a progression of prayer; as was mentioned earlier, if we are not growing in prayer we are dying.

VOCAL PRAYER: Vocal prayer is the most basic and beginner prayer. Vocal prayer can be spontaneous talking to God or it can be something that we have memorized or read from a devotional book. “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (CCC, 2590).

The Catechism relays the importance of these types of prayer: Blessing and Adoration, Prayer of Petition, Prayer of Intercession, Prayer of Thanksgiving, and Prayer of Praise. “These formulations are developed in the great liturgical and spiritual traditions. The forms of prayer revealed in the apostolic and canonical Scriptures remain normative for Christian prayer” (CCC, 2625).

Vocal prayer includes the traditional way that God speaks to us through his word, and we can speak to God by using our words. Throughout the entire Scriptures, we have experiences of people praying vocally. It is an essential part of the Christian life. The first prayer that Jesus teaches to his Disciples is “The Our Father.” When his Disciples ask him how to pray, he starts with vocal prayer. However, he gently reminds them it’s not about the words themselves, but what is behind the words. Vocal prayer is really about trying to express and articulate what is inside of us. Jesus teaches us that the purpose of vocal prayer is not just to recite something mindlessly but to pray it with our whole heart, mind, body, and soul.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. The Lord’s Prayer: “This is how you are to pray…” he then goes on to teach the Disciples the vocal prayer of the “Our Father” (Matthew 6:7-8). The next stage of prayer beyond vocal prayer is meditative prayer.

MEDITATIVE PRAYER: “The Catechism describes meditation as a great adventure! Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history – the page on which the “today” of God is written” (CCC, 2705).

When we meditate with Christ upon Sacred Scripture, we make discoveries about God and our life. The Word of God is alive and every time we open it, every time we hear it, every time we pray with it, God speaks something new to us. We can actually “hear,” in a spiritual sense, the voice of God.

The Catechism goes on to instruct that “there are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus” (CCC, 2707).

We owe it to ourselves to not only Pray40Days but to pray regularly every day. To develop a prayer life that is sustained by some ritual, discipline, and order for our days. And though 90% of prayer is just being there; when we engage all of our faculties, something wonderful happens. We encounter God and we let him enter into our lives.

“Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in Lectio Divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further; to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him” (CCC, 2708).

The reality is that all of our prayer is a mixture of vocal, meditative, and contemplative, but the highest form and the deepest desire we have is for contemplative prayer. This is ultimately the closest to heaven we will ever experience on earth.

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER: Contemplative prayer is ultimately a gift. It is not something that we can “make” happen; however, we can prepare ourselves to have this experience every time we pray with Scripture. We just need to be simply aware and mindful of God in our midst at every moment of our lives and focus on Christ.

The Scriptures encourage us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but in order to come to that type of reality, we need to at least pray “sometimes”. In our busy, loud, and chaotic worlds we need to foster times of silence. Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery (CCC, 2724). St. Teresa of Avila stated that “contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us” (pg 96).

The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. “One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer” (CCC, 2710). Though it is a challenge, we can always be present to God in the midst of our lives. Even when we suffer, we can be united with God in that suffering.

Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit “that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith” and we may be “grounded in love” (CCC, 2714). Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. “I look at him and he looks at me”: “this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy curé about his prayer before the tabernacle” (CCC, 2715).

Contemplative prayer is silence, the “symbol of the world to come” or “silent love.” Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. “In this silence, unbearable to the “outer” man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence, the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus” (CCC, 2717). Silence and solitude are a necessary prerequisite for contemplative prayer. I encourage you during this type of prayer to be in total silence. Turn off your phones, communicate to others that you do not want to be interrupted, don’t listen to any background music or noise, silence everything that you can, and be with Christ in the solitude.

“Contemplative prayer [oration mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” (St. Teresa, p. 67). Contemplative prayer is actually the simplest of prayers; it is essentially just being in the presence of God. I believe children do this all the time when they are playing? Adults do it to when they see a beautiful sunrise, or hold an infant, or pray before the Blessed Sacrament. What makes contemplative prayer difficult for us is learning how to spend time in silence and solitude. Contemplative prayer is not about accomplishing something or gaining some insight or solving a problem, but just receiving the gift of God’s presence. It is very difficult for us to receive and not to do or accomplish something.

Contemplative prayer is a gift. It’s allowing God to work in us, to be with us and to nurture us. In contemplative prayer, we take the time to be with the one we know loves us above anyone or anything.

SCRIPTURAL RELAXATION

I learned from Fr. Bob McCreary about the importance of the humanity of Christ and our humanity as well is something that cannot be neglected. This touching the reality of the senses in prayer has a profound tradition in St. Augustine. “When I love my God; and yet I love a kind of light, and melody, and fragrance, and meat, and embracement when I love my God, the light, melody, fragrance, meat, embracement of my inner man: where there shineth unto my soul what space cannot contain, and there soundeth what time beareth not away, and there smelleth what breathing disperseth not, and there tasteth what eating diminishes not, and there clingeth what satiety divorceth not. This is it which I love when I love my God.”

Faith and reason go together. What we have learned from the psychological discipline, is a person can be aware of their thoughts and then change those thoughts through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). When the thoughts change, the behavior will follow.

From a Christian perspective, one of the most common phrases in Scripture is “do not be afraid” and is used throughout the Gospels. Ultimately, fear is a lack of trust in Christ and God’s providence. We have a tendency to ruminate; to try and to figure things out ourselves and we get trapped in our own thinking. With the wonderful advances in psychology and spirituality, we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we change our thoughts from; us figuring it out, to God figuring it out for and with us.

What is wonderful about CBT is it includes meditation, contemplation, and mindfulness. One of the greatest advances of our modern era is actually in the area of addiction and mental health. We have come to discover that spirituality is essential to the healing process. We have also come to acknowledge that the best approach to spirituality is one that encompasses our bodies, minds, and souls. We truly do believe in a holistic approach to spirituality. Not only our spirits but, our embodied spirits. So good, holistic spirituality, will treat your whole person, your body, your mind, your emotions, and your soul.

After consulting with some clinical psychologists from the Cleveland Clinic, I developed an exercise in which I combined clinically proven, effective techniques with Scripture and what I’ve learned from the Spiritual and Mystical aspects of our Tradition. The focus is always on Christ doing the healing. The Word of God changes our self-thinking patterns. The goal of this exercise is to help your body, mind, and emotions settle down and relax, to put you in a better disposition. As with all of these exercises, prayer is ultimately a gift from God and the exercises are a way to prepare us to receive him. I hope that you find that these scriptural relaxation exercises beneficial. That you may not only experience physical peace and emotional peace but a deep abiding spiritual peace that only Christ can give.

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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Now that you have your “prayer room” or “sacred space” set up, it is important to get comfortable in it. You are going to be spending some great quality time there, and you should feel comfort and a sense of warmth whenever you enter. Consider some kind of ritual to make it sacred, some transition from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Mother Teresa insisted that all of her nuns remove their shoes or sandals before entering the chapel to pray. I’ve prayed in a number of their chapels throughout the world, and I have to say this is a very profound experience and “sets you up” to pray. God said: “Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

Another great sacramental is a Holy Water font. Consider placing this right by the entryway to your “sacred space” so that whenever you enter it you can make the Sign of the Cross. This is a very powerful sacramental that not only draws you close to God but also protects you from the devil.

Now that you are in your room try different prayer postures. Traditionally the Church has four postures of praying: standing, sitting, kneeling, and prostrating. You experience most of these at Sunday Mass. Think about how many times you change posture during Mass. Each posture is intentional and has some meaning with a desired effect.

POSTURE:

Standing: When we stand at Church, we are “at attention.” We stand during the Processional, the Gospel, the Recessional, the Petitions, and all of the prayers of the Mass (when we are not kneeling). At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, as they have done to this day (Deuteronomy 10:8). “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

Kneeling: The man then knelt and bowed down to the Lord (Genesis 24:26). St. Paul writes “that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth. . .” (Phil. 2:10).

Sitting: Moving on from there Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there (Matthew 15:29). The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot (Genesis 18:1).

Prostrating: But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, where they fell prostrate… Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them” (Numbers 20:6). Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the facade of the temple. I looked—and the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house! I fell on my face. The Lord said to me: Son of man, pay close attention, look carefully, and listen intently to everything I tell you (Ezekiel 44:4-5). And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him (Luke 17:15-16).

Practice these different prayer postures and see how they affect you. You may experiment all you want before prayer, but try to remain in one prayer posture for your entire prayer period unless God moves you otherwise. Spend three minutes (as best you can without hurting yourself) today in each of the postures for a total of 12 minutes. During that time meditate on any one Scripture passage that you choose.

Journal your experience now. What was it like? Which posture felt most comfortable? Did you feel closer to God with any of the postures? Which posture helped you to “feel” prayerful? Did you sense that you were in God’s presence? Did God speak to you?

THE DAILY HABIT OF PRAYER:

If we want to be “good” at doing something, we must spend time doing it. If we want to “fall in love with someone” (and in this case God Himself), we must spend time with that person. Like anything else this takes time. Time is the greatest gift God has given to us, and so often we waste it. Ahh, but there is nothing better than “wasting time” with God. If we want to get in shape, we have to get into some kind of routine, and it has to be consistent. We must also be dedicated, because if we aren’t dedicated, like anything else it will fall to the wayside.

The same is true for prayer. “The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time. One makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter” (CCC, 2710).

The reality is, that just like you need a place to pray, you also need a time to pray. Our Jewish ancestors and Jesus himself prayed traditionally three times every day. But I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. At dusk, dawn, and noon, I will grieve and complain, and my prayer will be heard (Psalm 55:17- 18). [Daniel] “continued his custom of going home to kneel in prayer and give thanks to his God in the upper chamber three times a day” (Daniel 6:10-11).

Jesus gives us a perfect prayer and teaches us to pray every day: The Lord’s Prayer. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:9-11).

The hope and desire is that every moment of every day we are in union with Jesus and God the Father. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19).

If we want to pray all the time, we, at least, have to start by praying at some particular time. It must be every day. It must be made out of a determined act of will. And we must not miss it for anything “come hell or high water.” The Church in her great wisdom gives us this time of 40 days and 40 nights every year to form a new habit or break an old one. Pray40Days will help you form the new habit of a daily, deep, and profound prayer life.

It is important that every time you pray you are always praying through, with, and in Christ. He is the way to the Father. It’s a good practice to keep your Bible with you so that during times of silent meditation you can go back to the actual Scripture if you get distracted or need to refresh yourself and remember what it is that you were meditating on if you get distracted.

And He said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him, and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything. I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence (Luke 11:5-8).

The Answer to Prayer: “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:9-13).

SOME HELPFUL TIPS:

These are merely suggestions (this entire program is actually just a suggested way to learn to pray meditatively and contemplatively.) The Holy Spirit will be your ultimate Spiritual Director. If there is anything in this text or in these meditations that is not helpful for you, don’t feel that you have to use it. The most important maxim is “Do no harm.” I encourage you to try to do it for the entire program of Pray40Days. If at any point you don’t want to continue or find yourself confused, please seek a wise spiritual person to guide you. At the end of Pray40Days keep what is helpful and dismiss what is not helpful to you.

• Communicate to others that you will be praying. I have a huge Italian family and every Sunday the family gets together for dinner. Thankfully my parents have kept my room there for me, so I still have a “prayer room” in my family home. I’ve communicated to my whole family that when I go up there and close the door, I am praying and do not want to be disturbed for any reason. They all know that when the door is closed, I am praying. Even my nieces and nephews know that “when Uncle Mike is upstairs, and his door is closed, he is praying.” Believe it or not, they understand, and I have NEVER been disturbed by them! One of my nieces, the youngest, said: “We can’t go up there Uncle Mike is praying now, but sometimes I think he’s really sleeping.” Sometimes I am!
• Begin with the 5 P’s of Prayer.
• Take some time to transition into this sacred space.
• Set a goal for yourself of how long you feel God is calling you to pray. It should be something that you are going to be able to do every day. With every goal, it has not only to be doable but also challenge you to really grow. I suggest 10-15 minutes for beginners who have never experienced this. Half an hour for those who have some experience. And a “Holy Hour” for those who have had many years of praying. When you decide what you would like to commit to, make a resolution with God and share it with a spiritual director or another wise spiritual person.
• Have someone you can be accountable to. Consider forming a prayer group that will meet once a week to pray together, to review and share your experiences of prayer, and to be accountable to.
• NO matter what, DO NOT leave even a moment early. The enemy will try to get you out of that room. He will offer you a thousand and one different excuses to leave prayer early. Remain steadfast and committed to whatever your resolution was.
• Always have your Bible and your journal with you.
• Follow along with the meditations in the text or listen online at: TheProdigalFather.org/Pray40Days
• If you find yourself distracted at any time by a noise outside, an interior disturbance, or thought; that is normal. Be kind and gentle to yourself every time and calmly return to the passage of Scripture that you are praying with.
• What if I fall asleep? It is ok; maybe God just wanted you to rest with him. I say, “I’d rather be asleep in God’s presence than awake anywhere else!” But if it does become a habit you may want to consider praying at a different time when you are more awake, changing your posture, or even taking a nap before you pray.
• At the end of the meditation or contemplation take your time transitioning out of prayer and just enjoy the experience.
• Journaling is a wonderful experience of prayer. Be sure to keep your journal safe and private so that you can freely and honestly express yourself to God. You will find yourself writing things that he is speaking to you without even realizing it. It is one way that you can really dialogue with God and “hear his voice.”
• Consider ending with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. This could be a vocal prayer, meditative prayer, or a reflection with journaling.

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org

Pray40Days is a 40-day prayer experience led by Fr. Michael J. Denk. If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to the first post and read the introduction.

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The following is a wonderful exercise that can be used every day. It was given to me by a very wonderful Jesuit priest, Fr. Bob Welsh. He led my first ever eight-day silent retreat and it changed my life and the way I pray. This is one of the very practical methods of praying that he gave me on that retreat over a decade ago!

Every Day Introduction to the 5 p’s of Prayer 

© 2016, Fr. Michael J. Denk. All rights reserved. No portion of this content shall be reproduced without written consent. Contact: FrMichael@TheProdigalFather.org