Prayer for Different Seasons & Prayer Charisms

Have you ever gone through different seasons of attraction to prayer? Maybe during one season, you’re drawn to Adoration and the Mass, while another season you’re drawn to Mary and the Rosary, and then in another season, you may be drawn to Novenas and/or Litanies or simply praying outside amidst God’s creation. You also may be drawn to more prayer of praise, supplication, thanksgiving, or intercession during different seasons. 

God drew me to different forms of prayer that fit my needs at that time. Starting out, I was drawn to spiritual reading and learning about the spiritual life. Then for several years, I was especially drawn to the Eucharist and spent much of my prayer time in Adoration and at daily mass. Years later, I was drawn to more personal prayer and Lectio Divina to hear Scripture and Gospel more deeply. Following that, I was drawn to a daily Examen, and then devotionals on a particular topic where I had a need to grow. Now I am being drawn to Novenas and Litanies to help me heal and pray for specific needs and intentions.

Many times I have been hesitant to change my prayer routine because I had the notion that what I was doing worked for me in the past and was the “right way” to pray. But I’ve since realized that all prayer is good and holy and different prayer types serve different purposes in our spiritual life which is ever-dynamic and changing. Over time, that prayer lost its fruitfulness and I needed to modify it to grow. Changing my prayer based on how the Holy Spirit is leading me keeps my prayer life more fresh and interesting!

I believe that this process naturally happens as we engage deeper in the spiritual life. If our prayer isn’t changing through the years, we may not be growing and evolving in the ways the Holy Spirit could be leading us. Our needs change and God wants us to encounter the full richness of the faith we have.

On another note, I think we all may have a go-to prayer “charism” so to speak. I find that some people are really drawn to the Gospels or the Rosary, while others are drawn to Novenas or the Saints, and still others are drawn to Liturgy of the Hours or Daily Mass. 

Are we all meant to do all of these prayers each and every day? I’m not so sure and have certainly struggled with that question over the years. In fact, I have tried and it utterly exhausted me spiritually on top of full time work, ministry, and home life. Yet, at times I’ve felt guilty for not being able to do it all, especially when my friends talk about all the different prayers they’re having time to say on a daily basis.

Nonetheless, God has led me to this conclusion: the reality is that we have limited time as lay people, and I think what we are naturally attracted to and called to is God’s design for us and the “charism” of prayer by which God wants us to pray for our needs and the needs of others. 

As a Secular Franciscan, I have to pray the Liturgy of the Hours Morning and Evening prayer each day - it’s about 15 minutes for each and then I do some personal prayer to feed the soul or in the evening, couple’s prayer with my husband. Because of that. I simply don’t have the time in the day to pray all the different types of prayer that a good Catholic should amidst my day to day responsibilities so I do more of rotation or “Spirit led” approach. God has made known through my vocation the one that I must be consistent with, and I think that’s my prayer charism.

Things to ponder as we ponder how we pray as Catholics…