On Prayer

As stated in an earlier blog, I've taken to praying for others every night.  So far, no one has given me any specific requests, though.  What a shame!

While I was at Wal-Mart yesterday with my parents, I found some "scented" prayer candles.  I use the term "scented" lightly.  They have a smell, it's very hard to detect without lighting it and impossible to detect after lighting it.  I was a little disappointed, but for about a dollar a piece it wasn't a terrible deal.  They even come with a neat prayer you can say while lighting them.  I never really know with these kinds of things, though...are we meant to light them and keep them lit?  Because that seems dangerous, to leave a lit candle going like that in a house.

So, I've taken to using these candles to help with my focus while I pray the rosary.  So far, I have been pretty consistent in the amount of time it takes for me to pray it.  I'm sure 15 minutes is really short in comparison to others, but I'm not sure how to pray the rosary and make it take longer.  I'm not just rapid firing through payers here, it just seems like it doesn't take very long to get through it.  I think I need some literature or something about how to pray the rosary, but so far the internet hasn't been very helpful in those regards.  Maybe I'll end up picking up that cd from church after all.

One thing I can say, though:  praying has helped me calm down for bed.  I've had a few nights where I've been so exhausted, I've hardly been able to keep my eyes open while praying the rosary, but those are really exceptions to the rule.  Typically, I find meditating on the mysteries and scripture passages relatively easy.  Further, I typically hae problems calming my brain down enough to fall asleep when I'm ready for bed.  Praying before bed has helped me to relax my brain, giving it something to focus on, and allowed me to fall asleep afterwards.  I've been told before that meditation would help, but I've never really been able to make it work the way prayer does.

That's it, that's all I have.  I'm out.