This prayer guide is for beginners. We will explain some important points about learning to pray and suggest some basic methods for you to choose from. We will also suggest when you are ready for deeper prayer. Each of the suggestions are straight forward prayers that a beginner can take on. The idea is to pray daily. 

PRAY DAILY

The most important thing to do when starting is to pray daily. Therefore choose an amount of prayer that you will be able to do daily. The first suggestion is to start with 5 minutes of prayer based on Mark's gospel using the basic method. You should not start with more than 15 minutes of prayer a day. All the suggested basic methods of prayer range from 5 minutes to 15 minutes of prayer.

WHERE AND WHEN TO PRAY

The normal place to start to pray is in your bedroom. You should be alert when you pray, so some time in the evening is good. Pray when you will not be interrupted and at a regular time. Ideally it should be part of your daily routine, eg when you get home from school or after you have had a snack. Many find it a good time to pray just before you go to bed, but this might not be when you are most alert. Of course a church is always good.

GROWTH

The secret to spiritual growth is to take regular small steps, not impossible big steps. Our suggestion is to review your spiritual life four times a year, that is, once a term. It takes about 6 weeks to establish a new habit. Four times a year is about 12 weeks. A good amount of time to establish and consolidate a new prayer habit. So make a choice of a prayer method for the next term.

WHAT TO CHOOSE

Feel free to choose any of the suggested methods or if you know of an alternative give that a try. If you want to make a change during the term, go for it, as long as it is an equivalent amount of time or more. Everyone should be able to set aside at least 15 minutes of time without disruption their current routines.