Little Ways to Pray for Big Intentions

Whether it is the weight of current events or the crosses carried daily, we all have important intentions in our hearts.  The difficulty with these intentions is that their gravity often makes praying about them intimidating.  Either the intention itself weakens us, leaving us in a state that makes any effort heroic, or our request feels too grand to hope for the desired answer.

When big things are on our minds and hearts, often the best way to start is with small steps.  These little ways to approach prayer intentions can help us start leaving them in the hands of God.

Specific Novenas for our Intentions

Novenas are a simple and easy way to offer up structured prayers for a specific intention.  It only takes a minute or two a day for nine days, so it can be fit into any schedule.  Many novenas have special promises or little legends attached to them that can bring comfort to those praying them.

The best way to start is with a novena either for a specific intention or to the patron saint of the concern.  Read through a few and find one with words that speak to the heart of the intention.  Then, leave it where it is readily visible.  It could be taped to a mirror, left on a bedside table, or even emailed!  The beautiful ministry Pray More Novenas has novenas running throughout the year, delivered each morning to their readers’ email inboxes.

Physical Gestures of Prayer and Praise

It is said that St. Dominic had nine ways of prayer that he demonstrated for his followers to use to elevate their time in worship and reflection.  Although the great saint’s methods are too intense for most, the basic concept of turning throughout our day to God to extend a physical sign of our worship of Him or need for Him can be the simplest yet most beautiful way to pray when our minds are too cluttered.

Simple ways to start incorporating this in our intercessory and petitionary prayer include opening our hands with palms facing heavenward when we notice ourselves dwelling on a stressful situation, or lifting our hands in praise when a prayer is answered.  Those small gestures can be done anywhere, even in the car!  When in private, more intense gestures such as kneeling with our foreheads to the floor or mimicking Christ’s outstretched arms on the cross can reflect the intensity of our intention as we offer it up in prayer.

Pray on the Go

Ejaculatory prayers are every Catholic’s best friend.  These are short prayers, some even just a few words, that can be easily uttered and said throughout the day.  Examples include “Jesus, hear me,” “Mary, give me your heart,” or “Blessed be God!”  When we find ourselves fretting over or struggling with our intention, these prayers are a quick and easy way to re-center our minds on Christ while offering up the issue to His care.

Some can be found here and here.  They can be original as well!  If there is a specific intention in mind, that could be incorporated in the prayer (ex. “Jesus, I trust you with my livelihood” or “Mary, bless my mother.”

Offer Up Pain for Intentions

Pain is an amazing opportunity to pray for an intention without extra effort.  Pain, discomfort, even little things like complaining can be offered up to God for an intention.  If the removal of the pain is part of the intention, it can still be offered up for grace!

A specific prayer is not needed in order to offer up the pain.  All we have to do is unite our sufferings to Christ on the cross.  This can be done in the silence of our hearts or can take the form of a brief prayer.  An “Our Father” would be appropriate.  Then, we can strive to keep Christ suffering close to us as we unite with Him.

Just Pause for a Moment

In our increasingly busy world, sometimes the biggest thing holding us back from praying is that we never take the time to do it.  In order to pray for an intention, we must make time to ask and to listen for the answer.  St. Francis de Sales tips for entering meditative prayer are a beautiful way to do this, even if it is brief.

Before entering meditation, St. Francis de Sales tells his readers in The Introduction to the Devout Life to put themselves in the presence of God.  He offers four ways to do so:

One: “Realize more vividly the omnipresence of God, in other words, the fact that God is everywhere and in everything, that nowhere and in nothing in this world may he not be found.”

Two: “Realize that he is not only present in the place where you are, but also in a very special way, in the depths of your soul…”

Three: “Think of our Lord in his sacred humanity, seeing everyone from heaven, gazing particularly upon Christians and more especially upon Christians at prayer.”

Four: “Use our imagination to represent our Lord as very near to us in the same way as we often think of our friends when we say , ‘I imagine I can see such and such a person doing this or that.”

He concludes by advising that only one method be used and the meditation is brief.  Even outside of meditation, sitting in Christ’s presence can bring our intentions to Him.  It also helps heal and feed our souls, which need extra tending when carrying the weight of worry.

God wants to help us reach Heaven.  He wants the best for us and never wishes evil upon us.  When heavy burdens weigh down our hearts, He wants us to turn to Him and trust Him with our intentions.  May these simple steps help us do so, that He might give us peace.