Sean MeroDec 4, 2022

@juglugs I don't pray for God to change His mind, no, for precisely the reason you state. So, why do I pray? A few reasons come to mind.

One is relational. My wife does not need for me to tell her that I love her. She already knows. But still, I tell her anyway. The relationship would be different if I did not.

Show threadSean Mero
@juglugs Another is transformational. I don't pray for *Him* to change. I pray for *me* to change. In some forms of prayer one prays to be increased in certain virtues, and in so doing calls those virtues to mind and concentrates on them and on the experience of having them. It is rather like certain forms of #meditation.
Dec 4, 2022 at 9:41amWeb
Show threadSean MeroDec 4, 2022
@juglugs Another form of prayer doesn't involve words at all. One simply... becomes receptive, in case there is anything to be received. In so doing, one hones one's capacity for receptivity. The #CenteringPrayer that #ThomasKeating spoke so much about is like this.
Show threadSean MeroDec 4, 2022
@juglugs A good introductory book to diverse forms of prayer is Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone, by James Martin. Martin is #Catholic (a #Jesuit, specifically) and I am not, but I found it useful anyhow https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53327816-learning-to-pray
Learning to Pray

One of America’s most beloved spiritual leaders and the New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and ...