Daily Prayer (original publish date 2/15/2017)

Statistics show that Christian women pray daily more often then men at a difference of 61% to 51%. That is taking 53 countries into consideration. On average, Jewish men of Israel pray more than women at 34% vs 20%. In the U.S. and other countries, Jewish men and women daily prayer schedules are about the same at 71% and 72%. In the vast majority of countries surveyed, 34 out of 40, Muslim men and women prayed about the same amount of time, however, the men are more likely to attend weekly or daily service.

On average, the Jewish people pray 3 times a day. Shacharit (Morning service) varies by day:
Monday and Thursday mornings around 45 minutes
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday around 30 minutes
Minchah (Afternoon service) about 15 minutes
Ma'ariv (Evening service) about 20 minutes 

Muslims pray 5 times a day for about 7 minutes each time, but prepare for each appointed time as well.

Catholics are called to pray several times throughout a day.  Some of the prayers they may say are morning Lauds, prayer before and after meals, The Rosary and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy at 3:00 P.M. daily, Act of Contrition and evening prayer. If one was to say all of these prayers the average amount of time spent in prayer, daily, would be a little over an hour. The average amount of time spent in prayer, for the majority of people that associate themselves as Catholics, is 5 minutes a day. That's just heartbreaking.

55% of Americans say they pray every day. 21% said they pray weekly or monthly. 23% said they do not pray at all or rarely do. People over 65 are more likely to pray than those under 30 with a whopping difference of 65% to 41%.

Fascinating isn't it? Statistics also show that people are more likely to pray in a crisis, then when things are going smoothly. 

As Lent is fast approaching for the Christians around the world, I think it is time for all of us to take an inventory of our daily prayer life. The world is in a sad state of affairs and, quite frankly, I am really sick from the hatred. I am sure that you are too. Prayer brings an inner peace and a centering to people, or at least I find it does with me. If you think that you do not have time in your daily life to pray, think again. I used to pray to and from work. You can do it while exercising (take your earbuds out or get an app with the rosary.) You can do it while doing your dishes or cleaning up after the kids. You can pray standing in line at the supermarket, riding in a cab, bus, subway, during your lunch break. Be creative in finding ways you can incorporate it into your own life. 

At 3:00 P.M. Every day, stop and take 3 seconds to close your eyes and say, "Jesus, I trust in you." (I mean that 3 seconds in the literal sense). I might add that if radical groups are spending more time in prayer than you are, you really may want to reconnect with God and increase your time spent with Him every day. You cannot fight evil intent without the presence of God in your life.

We have some beautiful Catholic and Christian prayers on our Prayer Page if you need some assistance in getting started and learning the prayers. The link is:  https://gloryglorygifts.com/the-prayer-page

Have a beautiful week.

Peace,
Mare

**Statistics are from various Pew Research Center articles.

Pray Internally........ Live Externally

That is my favorite new motto, which came to me yesterday during Mass. It seems odd that this would come to me during a community prayer meet, but such is life. You just never know where or when you will be inspired.

God loves when we come together in a communal celebration of worship and thank Him for all the good things in life. Many times our community is what sustains us. You can see that phenomenon often after tragedy strikes or even daily by the donated food that lines the pantries across our nation. Yesterday we had one of our visiting priests, who used to be a part of our community, get up and thank us for our past support of his parish in Nigeria. It was our community that provided the funds for his parish to build their own place of worship. This is the second church that we have built in Nigeria and both were done so through our financial support. We have also built a school, in the last few years, and provided the books and computers and other items necessary for a good education in today's world. That is certainly the beautiful side of humanity and is the definition of living externally. It is giving to others what you have of your excess, or better yet, doing without so that you can enhance someone else's life. A sacrifice is the most beautiful act that you can do for another and so much more rewarding. You do not have to build schools and churches in a far off country to live externally; there are things much closer to home that you can do. It is as simple as acknowledging your neighbor. 

After all, it is the simple things that mean so much, a smile, a gesture, a friendly touch...

Get out of your own head and small little world and treat others the way that you want to be treated. Hold the door for the next person coming out behind you; take your neighbor's garbage can in; be kind to cashiers and the others in line; lay off the horn ~ that will not make traffic move quicker. For God's sake SMILE. It's true, a smile does not cost you anything. It can, however, be priceless for the one receiving it as well. You cannot change the world, but, you can change the way that you interact with all of the people in it, particularly those that come in contact with you. You don't live in a bubble, therefore, what you do does have an affect on people. Make it a positive one.

BTW, keep your good actions to yourself for your good acts are between you and God and nobody else.

As for praying internally, well I'll leave that part of my motto to the big guns. Nobody said it better than Our Lord in Matthew 6:5-15:

 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Have a blessed week. Peace,

Mare