Spiritual Habits (Prayers)

I believe living each day is a balancing act between spiritual and worldly priorities.  As we nourish and love our physical bodies, we also need to nourish and love our spirituality.  One spiritual habit that I would like to keep on practicing is the habit of prayer.  There is power in prayers and countless times I have proven that through my own experiences.  I may not be a prayerful person but I have come to acknowledge that sometimes even if we have nothing or if we can not do anything, we have God and prayers to hold on to.

Prayer is a form of communication to God so if I feel like reading a prayer, I do that and if I needed to tell God something, I also do that.  It depends on the condition of my heart and spirit.  

Prayer to me is also a form of meditation, in meditation that's when I try to hear what God wants me to hear. 

The following are prayer habits that I want to nourish and renew.

1.  Morning Prayer - starting one's day with a prayer makes one humble and connected to the living God.  
I start my prayer by just giving thanks to God for the blessing and grace of another day.  I declare that "I am happy, I am healthy and that I am prosperous" to send out a message of the things that I am asking and simultaneously thanking God that I already have it.  Then I would just meditate.  In utter silence I just hear myself breathe and just be present in the moment.  Then, I pray the "Lord's Prayer - Our Father".

Our Father

Our Father who is in heaven, holy be your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

2.  Prayer Before and After Meals - just a simple prayer to ask God to bless the food and then thanking God for the food.

Prayer Before Meals - Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts, which we are about to receive from your goodness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer After Meals - We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all Your benefits, who live and reign, world without end. Amen. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

3.  Prayer before going out (to work, to travel, etc) - a prayer for protection as we go out to the world.

My holy Angel Guardian, ask the Lord to bless the journey which I undertake, that it may profit the health of my soul and body; that I may reach its end, and that, returning safe and sound, I may find my family in good health. Do thou guard, guide and preserve us. Amen.

4.  Three o'clock prayer to the Divine Mercy - 

You died, Jesus, but the source of life flowed out for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fountain of Life, immeasurable Divine Mercy, cover the whole world and empty yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water which flowed out from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world. (3 times) Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You!

5.  Novena to God's Love (from Bo Sanchez) - one can say this prayer anytime during the day.  

Today, I Receive All Of God’s Love For Me
Today, I Open Myself To Thee Unbounded Limitless, Overflowing Abundance Of God’s Universe
Today, I Open Myself To Your Blessings, Healings, and Miracles
Today, I Open Myself To God’s Word So I Would Become More Like Jesus Everyday
Today, I Proclaim That I Am God’s Beloved, I Am God’s Servant, I Am God’s Powerful Champion
And Because I Am Blessed, I Will Bless The World In Jesus Name
AMEN.

6.  Evening Prayer - before I sleep, no matter how sleepy I am, I try my best to say a small prayer and then the Lord's Prayer - Our Father.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day [or night] be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

7.  Holy Rosary - To honor The Holy Mother of God.

There are 15 promises for praying the rosary:  

1.  Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
2.  I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3.  The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
4.  It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5.  The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
6.  Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.
7.  Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8.  Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9.  I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10.  The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.
11.  You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.
12.  All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13.  I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.
14.  All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.
15.  Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

8.  Holy Mass - the highest form of prayer.