15- Making it possible to pray together (practical ways)?
1) Have a "sacred space" in your home (in living room or your bedroom). You can use a stool or a shelf and display a cross, an icon, a Bible, candles, flowers and anything else to help you create a climate of prayer and remind you of God’s presence in your marriage.
2) Decide together on a regular daily time to pray together: either in the morning before going to work or at night before going to bed, or sometime in between when you are together.
3) You can start with the sign of the cross, a song, a recited prayer (Our Father). Then you can build your own prayer with your own words: (thanksgiving) find at least three things each that you are most grateful for in your day, (consolation/forgiveness) find what you are the least grateful for in your day, (desolation/petitions) where do you see the need for God in your life or the world. You can finish with a decade of the Rosary. The consolation/desolation process (from St. Ignatius of Loyola) will help you little by little to discern God’s will upon you as individuals as well as family.
4) Make sure you read the Bible regularly: prayer is not all about talking but also listening: it’s a dialogue. One way is to read the readings of the day proposed by the Church. You can get a subscription to a booklet like “Magnificat” that comes each month with the readings and prayers for every day www.magnificat.net. You can also open the Bible (New Testament) at random and read just a few verses as the message God wants to give you this day.
5) Practice the Sacraments. Go regularly to mass, more than just on Sundays if possible! Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a month.
6) Develop your own family liturgy by having special family celebrations for special feast days or liturgical times. Celebrate your patron saints, Mary's feast days, discover the saint of the day... Turn your celebrations into family traditions.
The Catholic faith is such a festive faith! We have feast days to celebrate all the time and kids especially love that! The Internet is full of crafts, recipes, and activities to celebrate the liturgy throughout the year.
Recipes: http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/
Crafts and coloring pages: Catholic Icing
Beautiful Ideas for the whole year: Shower of Roses
Fantastic Book on Marian Feast Days: Mondays with Mary All-inclusive: readings, crafts, hymns, recipes, etc...
Great all-inclusive liturgical year guide: Catholic Mosaic
Lives of the saints for every day of the year
And this website full of ideas to make these feast days special and enjoyable for all: http://4real.thenetsmith.com/forum_topics.asp?FID=26
How to develop a lifestyle of prayer as a couple
* Make a decision to pray. The enemy does not want you to discover the treasure of prayer as a couple. One of his strategies is to keep you and your spouse from praying together. Today, take courage and suggest that you and your spouse begin praying together.
* Make your spouse your prayer partner. Tremendous power is available when couples become partners in prayer. The Bible says two are better than one. There are times in your prayer life when you need others to pray with you and pray for you. Who better than your spouse who knows you best. Jesus said, Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven (Matt. 18:19).
* Start every day with your spouse in prayer. In just a few minutes you and your spouse can be spiritually united for the tasks and challenges ahead. You can share your hopes and find mutual comfort and support in seeking God together.
* Pray the day. While you are driving, doing laundry, making dinner, or between appointments - thank God for the day and seek His wisdom.
* Practice the presence of God. Talk to Him as if you were talking to someone in your car or home. Make God your Friend, Counselor, and Adviser for your marriage.
* Invest in books on prayer. If it is important to a Christian couple, they will do two things: spend time on it and spend money on it. Read it aloud to one another. Study the prayers of the Bible.
Clarence Shuler