If you are reading this article, you are connected to the internet. However, too many connections often prevent you from connecting well to God. So here are a few ideas on how to nurture your relationship with God. By turning off your phone and computer as soon as you finish this article and check other paths as described below.
1 – Read a whole book of the Bible
Do we ever read an entire book of the Bible? Even if we receive the Word of God in pieces through the liturgy, it is also essential to accept it as a whole. Having a thorough reading of a book of the Bible allows us to know God better and spend time with him in his Revelation story.
The easiest and shortest Gospel to read is that of St. Mark. The most meditative Gospel is undoubtedly that of St. John. Otherwise, one can read one of the epistles of St. Paul. In the Old Testament, we can read the book of Psalms (prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours), the books of Genesis, Exodus, the Kings… or the book of Job if we want to meditate on the question of suffering and evil.
2 – Set up a daily prayer time firmly established in the diary.
There is no better time to start, or begin again, to pray each day, than today when we are maybe more at home. The most important decision is to decide and put it on the calendar. The safest, most stable time is in the morning, just before or just after breakfast. In 99% of the cases, this is the only niche that lasts. No matter how long it lasts. In prayer, as in every act of love, it is fidelity that counts most. Even if we can give only 5 minutes, we must provide them every day.
3 – Start a small sanctification booklet
It is a small notebook to accompany our journey towards holiness. We can write down a lot of things that can help us move forward in faith: words that have touched us, prayer intentions, the little resolutions we make, the prayers we say to the Lord, our thanksgiving. It is a useful tool, very simple, accessible to all. It allows us to objectify a part of our spiritual life, and to which we can return when we want to take stock, to remind ourselves of our journey with God. It helps us to be faithful and often gives us back hope. Indeed, when we take up our little notebook again after a while, we see the beauty and coherence in the way God speaks to us through time.
4 – Reading a spiritual book
There is nothing like an excellent book to nourish our faith.
We can, for example, read an encyclical such as The Joy of the Gospel or Fratelli Tutti of Pope Francis or Benedict XVI’s Charity in Truth. It can also be a classic such as CS Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, Power in Praise by Merlin Carothers, The Cross and the Switchblade by Pastor David Wilkerson, The Wisdom of a Poor One of Assisi by Eloi Leclerc, or even more classic such as the True devotion to Mary: With preparation for total consecration by Saint Louis de MONTFORT, The City of God by Saint Augustine, Story of a Soul by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
5 – Praying the Rosary
This time can be an opportunity to deepen one’s relationship with Jesus through the Virgin Mary. “What actually is the Rosary? A compendium of the Gospel. It brings us back again and again to the most important scenes of Christ’s life, almost as if to let us “breathe” his mystery. The Rosary is the privileged path to contemplation. It is, so to speak, Mary’s way. Is there anyone who knows and loves Christ better than she?[…] the Rosary is a prayer that by its very nature is oriented to peace. This is not only because it disposes us to pray for peace, strengthened by the intercession of Mary, but also because it enables us to assimilate Jesus’ plan of peace, together with his mystery.”(Recitation of the Rosary in Pompeii, 7 October 2003)
6 – Writing a letter to God
Like a friend, I can share my hopes, my doubts, my desires with God. Writing a letter to him is a form of prayer. I can ask him my questions, explain my requests. Sometimes we are surprised at how quickly God manifests himself and answers us when we take the time to consider him as a friend, a Father who is a friend of mine.
7 – Practising gratitude and prayer from the heart
Saint Paul exhorts us to do so: “Always be joyful, pray without ceasing, give thanks in every circumstance: this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thes 5:16-18). Gratitude and prayer of the heart are 2 ways of gradually entering into a relationship with God at all times. They produce peace and joy.
The prayer of the heart it is a very simple prayer to be mentally repeated as often as possible during the day to remember the presence of God. This prayer can be: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, sinner. » or any other simple phrase to be recited during the day.
