How to Pray – What Does it Really Mean to Pray Always?

Is Saint Paul serious when he says to pray always?

People who don’t think they know how to pray find Saint Paul’s exhortation to “pray always” almost unbelievable. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, St. Paul tells us to pray continually and to always rejoice. OK, I get how we can rejoice always, even if I do find it hard to do when things get tough. It’s an attitude thing. But most of us don’t have any idea how to pray continually. What was Saint Paul thinking when he wrote this?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t spend the entire day kneeling in prayer. I have work to do. I have a family to take care of. Surely God doesn’t want me to neglect my daily life?

Praying Always is More Than Learning How to Pray

Here comes the good news. We don’t have to learn how to pray constantly. Catholic prayer is not just an action. It’s a lifestyle! In fact, if we look at these verses in the context of what St. Paul is saying, we discover that he is talking about an active attitude throughout the entire thing. And that is the secret to “praying always.” Have an active attitude of prayer. How? Here are a few strategies to help you do it.

1. Connect with God every day.
An important part of forming an active attitude is to develop the right habits. When prayer becomes a habit, it becomes part of who you are. If you’re spending focused prayer time with God every day for at least 30 minutes, it will be much easier to be indirectly connected to Him throughout the day.

2. Use short “aspirations” throughout the day to remind yourself that you are living in the covenant.
The use of short prayers called “aspirations” or “ejaculations” is an ancient practice. You may have heard of the “Jesus Prayer” where you say something like “Jesus, Son of God” as you breathe in and “Have mercy on me a sinner” as you breathe out. This is an adaptation of an aspiration. Other aspirations include, “Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us,” “I love you Jesus; help me to love you more,” “My Lord and my God!” and “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Using aspirations throughout the day are just little reminders that you are living for Jesus. They help you to extend the habit of prayer throughout your day.

3. Live your entire life in relationship with God.
The goal of creating a habit of prayer and peppering your day with aspirations is to center your entire life on your relationship with God. This is really what St. Paul meant by “pray always.” To pray always isn’t an activity. It’s a way of life.

Your Challenge

This is really the goal of our spiritual life. So don’t worry if you’re not here yet. Work on the first two steps first. But keep this third step firmly in our mind and heart as your ultimate goal! Too often I find myself treating my relationship with God as one priority among many, rather than as the very purpose of my existence. I know I’m not alone in that. Your challenge is to put God “top of mind” throughout your day. Come up with a strategy using the three steps. When you are moving through the day with God rather than keeping him in a corner of your heart, you’ll be well on your way to learning how to pray well.

Your Next Action Step

If you’re serious about building a solid, active Catholic spiritual life, I want to invite you to take the next step shown below. From the Abbey can help you to learn your faith with our online courses and to live the faith with our online spirituality program designed specifically for Catholic adults living in the world as laymen and women. Take your next step and grow in your faith with us!

Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.