Author's note: These are guidelines on the power of prayer, and how and why we should pray, extracted from my archives (set with numbers). Readers can request the prayer poster versions, i.e. with dramatic photos at eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com. Share with friends.
615C Orphan's Prayer. In my utter pain, I never spoke to the Lord. I was angry with Him for abandoning me. Then, I realized, it was I who abandoned Him. He was there all the while beside me. I just refused to see Him in my pain. Then, in the garden this morning, for the first time, I prayed to Him. He was just waiting for me to pray to Him before He would help me. I felt His warm embrace instantly. We have to ask Him before He will extend His hand.
293 Oblation Prayer. I offer to You, Oh Lord, everything that I am, my life, my aspirations, my joys and my pains. Purify and strengthen me in my offering. Make me worthy to serve You. Inspire me to touch others and bring them under Your wing. I surrender myself to Your Divine Will.
494 Water Prayer. Lord, You are Living Water, the source of our strength, the source of life itself. Quench our thirst amid our deepening drought.
547 Predeparture Prayer. We are all in the pre-departure area. There is so little time. Make haste to give and forgive, to relate and reciprocate, to love and share.
524 Prayers are timeless. "For the Lord, the past does not exist. The future does not exist. Everything is an eternal present," said St. Padre Pio. Our prayers are timeless. The Lord forgives us even before we commit a sin and even before we ask for forgiveness. St. Padre Pio, pray for us.
531 St. Ignatius Oblation Prayer. Take, Lord, and receive all that I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours. Do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me. Amen.
487 A Winter Prayer. In the winter of my despair, what keeps me going is the hope of spring and the thought that You, Lord, are my Light at every moment of my darkness, my warmth from the cold. Stay beside me always.
278B A Whispered Prayer. With just a whispered prayer, we can turn the Lord's wrath into mercy. With even just hesitant remorse, He forgives even the most heinous crimes. With just a wordless wishful thought, which is for Him a prayer, He aborts cataclysms and pandemics. For He is the Lord of both punishment and forgiveness. His mercy overflows as rivers in a deluge. Sister Raquel Reodica, RVM.
419 Pain as Prayer. Every Friday, St. Padre Pio had excruciating pain due to his stigmata — hand wounds of Jesus crucified. He offered his pain as atonement for the sins of Mankind. We can also do the same, offering our daily pains during this pandemic as atonement for all our sins. What better way to convince the Lord to stop the pandemic? Pain is a form of powerful prayer. If a million of us pray, we can stop the pandemic.
430 Another way to pray. If you pray for others, you pray for yourself five-fold. As you walk along the streets or if you are on a bus, pray for anyone you see — beggars, passersby, rich or poor, young or old. Just say, "Lord, please bless and take care of him/her/them." You will notice that when you do, you will feel a sense of inner peace and well-being, for sharing your moments quietly with others. Especially important during the pandemic. Try it. Make it a habit.
395 The thunder of whispered prayer. To the Lord, our softly whispered prayers are louder than thunder.
240B Prayer of St. Ignatius. Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve You as You deserve. To teach and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward. Save that of knowing, I am doing Your most holy will. Amen.
347 Mahatma Gandhi's Prayer. In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart. Talk to Jesus instead of saying Our Father. Talk to Mama Mary instead of saying a Hail Mary.
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