CFC Singles for Christ Covenant Orientation Weekend v.2011 TALK No. 2: Prayer, Scripture, and Sacraments Sacraments Objectives 1. Develop a greater understanding on the importance and power of prayer, scriptures, and sacraments in one’s faith journey.
2. Move SFCs to commit to strengthen their relationship with God through faithfulness in prayer, scripture reading, and receiving the sacraments.
Speaker’s Profile Someone who can share the joy of having a deep and intimate prayer life, his/her experiences in knowing and hearing the Lord speak through His word in Scripture, and how the sacraments sacraments have helped him/her in his faith journey. Speaker’s Outline
I. Introduction A. Prayer, scripture and sacraments are crucial tools to growth in the Christian life. B. We grow in our relationship with God by communicating directly with Him (through Prayer), by studying His word (through regular reading of the Scriptures) and by encountering Him (through the sacraments). C. Prayer, scripture, and sacraments draw us closer to God and help us to understand His will for us. D. In SFC, we commit to a daily personal prayer time, to a daily reading of the Bible and to regular participation in the sacraments. These are an integral and essential part of our being a single FOR Christ. II. Prayer Prayer is a form of communication, a means of talking to God. As SFCs, we need to have a daily personal prayer time. A. Why should we have a personal prayer time? 1. To develop an intimate relationship with God a. Just as our relationships with those we love are nurtured and deepened by regular communication and time spent together, so God desires that we spend time alone just to be with Him. b. Attending mass daily, praying the Rosary, reciting novenas are important in helping us grow in our prayer life but we also need to nurture a personal prayer time, a time set aside to dialogue with God and just be in His presence. c. Prayer is more than knowing and reciting prayers, more than asking God to answer our heart’ s desires. It is about communicating with Him and getting to know His heart and mind, and falling more deeply in love with God.
2. To grow in humility. a. Bowing before the Lord in prayer is acknowledging our littleness before Him and expressing to Him our gratitude for His mercy and love despite our unfaithfulness. This allows us to humble ourselves before Him and recognize His greatness. b. Every day, we need to go before the Lord with our sins and failures, and restore our relationship with Him. We are unworthy but we are forgiven through Jesus’ blood. c. God desires us to pray, most especially in our feelings of unworthiness, because He seeks a contrite and humble heart. d. When we increase in our humility, we are more able to resist the devil who seeks to feed on our pride. e. The more time we spend in prayer with God, we grow in humility, and we are able to hear God’s voice. For one who is proud and who is so full of himself will certainly find it difficult to hear the voice of Someone greater than himself. 3. To strengthen ourselves in fighting temptation. a. Our hearts weaken with temptation when we do not pray because we lose our focus on the Lord. b. Remember that seven days without prayer makes one weak Prayer is our main weapon in the fight against evil. c. When we pray, our whole being is protected from the devil. If we lose one day of prayer, we let our guard down and become less vigilant. 4. To help us become more attuned to God’s will for us. a. Regular prayer helps us become more attuned to God’s voice and His direction. It helps us understand who He is in our lives and what He wants for us. b. The more we go deeply in our prayer life, and the deeper our relationship with God, the more we are able to surrender ourselves completely to Him. We soon reach the point that we no longer seek to have Him do what we desire but rather we seek to desire what He wants for us.
B. What should we do to improve our prayer life? 1. Make a commitment to pray at a scheduled time. Choose a time when you are alert and not too tired from the day’s work. 2. Start with a short time of prayer, then gradually increase it. 3. Find a place where you will not be distracted. If you can have the chance to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament, try to do so. 4. Be open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. a. Techniques, like ACTS, are good, as long as we are not locked into them.
b. Be open to how the Holy Spirit will lead you. i. Quiet vs expressive prayer – Prayer allows us to bare ourselves to the Lord and express to Him what is deep in our hearts. At the same time, sometimes we are led to just be quiet and bask in the Lord’s presence and love. ii. Different physical postures – It is good to be in a relaxed position but not too comfortable as to be induced to sleep. iii. Speaking and listening – We allow time to both speak to the Lord and listen to Him in the silence of our hearts or through His word. After all, what He has to say is more important than what we have to say. iv. Praying in tongues - This is not limited to communal worship. Praying in tongues can also deepen our prayer as we allow the Holy Spirit to express our praises and prayers to God. c. The goal is not to “pray well,” but to enter into communion with God. It’s not what we can do for God; it’s what God can do for us when we put our trust in Him. 5. Dealing with obstacles to prayer. a. Anxieties and concerns that distract us. i. Have faith that God will provide for your needs. ii. Intercede for your concerns and surrender them into His hands. b. Too much concern about your prayer quality. i. God is only concerned about your desire to be with Him. ii. Prayer is as simple as a child running toward his Father. iii. The Holy Spirit will lead us. (Romans 8:26) c. Dryness. i. Spiritual dryness in prayer and Christian life happens. ii. It might come from God. He seeks to find out if our faithfulness comes from the consolation we experience in prayer or from being in His presence. iii. Therefore, we need to persevere in prayer during periods of dryness. Prayer is a commitment, not an emotional experience. d. Difficulty in listening to or hearing the Lord. i. Prayer is both talking and, most especially, listening to God. We listen in the silence of our hearts. ii. Prayer is not only petitioning to God; it is allowing Him to form our hearts and minds as wait on Him patiently and with humility. iii. We trust that if we seek Him, we will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13) iv. Oftentimes we see the fruits of our prayer after we have prayed, in the way we live our lives day to day.
III. Scripture Reading A. Aside from daily personal prayer, we also need to read and meditate on the Word of God.
1. The Bible is our guide to a life in the Holy Spirit, filled with wisdom and counsel. 2. The Bible has power to convict us and change our lives. (Hebrews 4:12-13) 3. It allows us to know God and His plans for us. 4. The Bible can inspire and strengthen us as we face difficulties of life. a. Reading the Bible could lead us to passages that speak directly and personally to our situation. b. The Bible is truth and its Word is consistent from age to age. B. We can incorporate our Bible reading into our daily personal prayer time. 1. It could assist us in hearing God’s voice and what messages He wants to share with us, where He wants to lead us. 2. A useful tool is to use a scripture- based daily prayer guide like “In His Steps”. C. We need to study the Bible so we may grow in knowledge of God. 1. We understand ourselves better when we read Scripture. We begin to see who we are in God’s eyes. 2. It helps us to understand God’s heart and mind; therefore we become more attuned to God’s purpose and His plans. 3. When we understand God and the Truths that He teaches us, we are able to fight the lies the devil spreads around us. D. We should read Christian books. 1. Through God’s inspiration, writers are able to write about the heart and mind of God, helping us to understand Him at this present time. 2. Reading about the saints inspires us to persevere in our faith through our trials and sufferings. 3. We need to be discerning though of the books that we read, especially those written by non-Catholic writers. When in doubt, we may consult a priest or trusted elder or research about the book.
IV. Sacraments A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony and Holy Orders. A. We encounter God through the sacraments. It gives us a physical sign of God’s presence in our lives. B. Christ instituted the Sacraments to give grace. 1. This grace, an unmerited favor, is “a supernatural help of God.” 2. The power of Christ also lives in the Sacraments, therefore when we participate in the Sacraments, we receive Christ’s power. C. Sacraments we can frequently participate in: 1. Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
a. CCC 1384: The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive Him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: “Truly, I say t o you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Jn:6:53 b. The Holy Eucharist is so great a sacrament because, in this and in no other sacrament, we receive the very body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Innumerable, precious graces come to us through the reception of Holy Communion. c. When we celebrate Holy Mass and receive Jesus through the Eucharist, we become more like Him and obtain God’s favor. d. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you ea t the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53 –58) 2. Sacrament of Reconciliation Reconciliation a. When we sin, we are unable to see God. It is our pride that inhibits us from asking forgiveness. forgiveness. b. God wants us to be reconciled with Him so we receive the fullness of His sanctifying grace. c. The sacrament of Reconciliation restores to us the merits of our past good works if these have been lost by mortal sin. d. The sacrament of reconciliation fortifies us against a relapse into sin.
V. Conclusion A. Having a regular prayer and Scripture reading time, as well as living a Sacramental life, helps us remain faithful to the Lord. B. When we nurture our prayer time, our Christian lives will be filled with power, peace and we will be able to follow more closely God’s direction for our lives. C. When we pray and read the Bible, we tap into God’s mind and heart, which gives us knowledge. This knowledge helps us overcome life’s struggles. D. Prayer, Scripture, and the Sacraments are our weapons against the devil who will try to sidetrack us from our desire to follow God. Our lives will be enriched and our faith in God grows stronger when we are consistent in developing an intimate relationship with Him. E. God gave us these three tools to draw us closer to Him that He may sustain us in our spiritual journey.
Reflection Questions 1. What makes it difficult for me to have a consistent prayer and Scripture reading time? 2. What inhibits me from participating in the sacraments (Holy Eucharist and Confession)
regularly? 3. What will I commit to do to develop a relationship with God?
