Are you praying too much?

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File:Millais Victory O Lord.jpg
Victory, O Lord by Millais (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).


Sunday’s Mass readings were all about prayer–winning battles through prayer, supporting each other in prayer, and never giving up. I love encouraging people to grow in their prayer life!  But today I want to ask a question that might seem odd to you: Can you pray too much? There are three ways in which I believe you can.

Don’t let prayer keep you from living out your vocation

 

Again, this might confuse you. Haven’t I said before that prayer helps us live our vocation better? That’s true. But you still need balance. If you are a stay-at-home mom with small children, you should not be spending hours a day alone in your room praying. If you are the father of a young family, you should not be spending most of every evening at Church. If you are a college student, you should not normally miss class to go to adoration. St. Francis de Sales, instructing lay people in Introduction to the Devout Life, wrote, “Do not spend more than an hour thus [in mental prayer], unless specially advised to do so by your spiritual father.”

God gave you your vocation. He works His will through it. There may be a time later, after the kids have grown older, or you are retired from your job, when you can spend hours a day in prayer. But unless you are  called to religious life, that is not God’s plan for you for most of your life. Live the vocation you have, not the one you don’t.


Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.

Comments

  1. Melanie Jean Juneau3:56 pm, October 22, 2013

    excellent; insightful and most of good old common sense

    ReplyDelete
  2. Manny9:32 pm, October 22, 2013

    That's good to hear. Not that I even come close to that hour a day, but I have wondered about people who pray non-stop. I'm really glad you quoted a saint to give it more weight.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lora Dolores11:06 am, October 23, 2013

    Pope Francis has spoken so beautifully to the issue of prayer in the Christian life. Your post is so insightful and practical Connie. Thank you. We need plenty of doses of reality our journey.

    ReplyDelete

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