WOF 031: 5 Ways to Pray Better Today

Bishop Robert Barron and Brandon Vogt

July 12, 2016

Whenever there’s a survey asking Christians, “What’s one area in your spiritual life you’d like to improve?”, the answers almost inevitably center around prayer. In today’s episode, Bishop Barron explains what precisely prayer is and then offers some simple steps as well as some more advanced techniques to help us all grow in intimacy with God. With this goal in mind, Bishop Barron leads listeners down five different avenues of prayer that range from informal dialogue to the Mass itself. A seminarian in Phoenix wonders where Catholics should draw the line when it comes to the teachings of a notable 21st-century Christian writer.

Topics Discussed

0:18 – Bishop Barron discusses his upcoming trip to World Youth Day
4:00 – What is prayer and how does conversational prayer begin?
8:42 – How does God speak to us in prayer?
10:58 – What is lectio divina and how do we pray it?
14:45 – What are some different forms of rote prayers and what is their benefit?
20:40 – What is the Liturgy of the Hours and how do we access it?
24:00 – How is the Liturgy of the Hours a universal prayer?
26:00 – How can enter into the Holy Mass specifically as a prayer?
28:00 – How might we advance through these five forms of prayer?
29:25 – What does Bishop Barron’s holy hour entail?
35:20 – Listener Question: Where should Catholics draw the line with N.T. Wright?