Prayer Life

Category Archives: Prayer Life

LifeTeen.com Blog

Why Am I Alive?: And Other Thoughts on My Birthday

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I’ve been thinking about life a lot lately. Mostly my own, really. This past weekend I celebrated my birthday.

It was an awesome day. How could it not be great? There was a Boston Cream Pie cake, calls from all my favorite people, and Facebook notifications endlessly popping up on my phone from wall posts.

I can’t help but thank God over and over again for the gift of my life, especially at this time of year with so much talk about abortion. A lot of our generation never made it out of the womb, let alone into their 20’s. Why me?

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Fear Factor: Will You Eat Beetles in the New Year?

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What if during this new year we tried to accomplish just one or two things we’re afraid of? And not slightly meaningless things like sky-diving or beetle consumption. I mean things that have a ripple effect into eternity.

I’m afraid of wearing bright red lipstick. But I’m also afraid of seriously praying about a vocation to the religious life. I’m afraid of sushi. And I’m afraid to let go of resentment and love my enemies.

I think you can tell which ones are under the “slightly meaningless” category.

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Waiting for Joy: Christmas With a Heavy Heart

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The bus exploded. The rim of the left, rear tire flew off while we were speeding down the highway. First I heard the pop. And then I smelled smoke. The bus driver pulled over. He didn’t know it was on fire, but he had felt something. We evacuated quickly, and everyone got off safely. We tried to put out the flames, but they grew too rapidly. A loud explosion ripped through the air, and sent most of us running farther down the highway. We watched at a distance as the flames consumed the entire bus. We were crying and praying [...]

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“I Boldly Beg You to Pray for Our Service Men and Women”

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I boldly beg you to pray for our servicemen and women, veterans and all their families. Christmas is the occasion when we remember the Gift of the Father to us. Each of us tries to respond by giving something we have received to those in need. Those who serve our country in uniform need and deserve our prayers.

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Do I Want Jesus or an iPad This Christmas?

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The irony of the materialism during the time of Christmas is that materialism (as well as other sins) is exactly what Christ came into the world to free us from! He came to take us away from our idols, our “false gods” in this world and long only for Him. This Christmas, let’s re-examine our “Dear Santa” list and look to Jesus. Ask yourself what you really need this Christmas.

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Why Should I Care?: The New Roman Missal

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I hope by now you’ve heard that some of the words we say at Mass are going to be changing. The english-speaking world is getting a new translation of the Roman Missal – the book of prayers at Mass.

For the past couple weeks at my parish in place of the homily we’ve been listening to a teaching on the new words. Honestly, as I sit there on the hard pew with my eyelids getting heavier by the minute, I can’t help but ask myself, “Why should I care?

The answer is simple: words matter.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

"Dear Jesus": On Mass and Adoration

You hide all your glorious splendor in order to be close to me – who can’t handle seeing or holding all that glory. I can’t believe I mean that much to you. When I receive you in the Eucharist my whole body and soul feels more peaceful. I can tell as I consume you, that your love is consuming me. I’ve never felt so close to anyone as I do to you in the Eucharist. And the best part is that it never gets old. You constantly are able to love me like I need, strengthen me for my day and speak personally to my heart. All I have to do is get out of bed and show up.

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Guess What?! I'm Praying For You.

This past Sunday my day started with a run. I don’t know if you’ve ever gone for a run or not, but you kind of get in this “zone.” It was just me, the sun, the pavement … my gasping breath (but that’s embarrassing to talk about) and my thoughts. I didn’t want to miss this quiet opportunity to chat with God, so I let Him know I was listening to whatever He wanted to tell me.

I began praying about what I should write this week and the simplest thing came to me. I felt like God was telling me to let you know that I’m praying for you. I honestly thought the idea was kind of lame (sorry, God). It seemed too basic.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

"I Have a Question!": Waiting for God's Answers

Growing up, I was the typical nerd. I was always the student in class who would raise their hand saying, “I have a question … ” (I learned quickly not to stand up, wave my hands, and yell … thanks to first grade.) I just loved asking all types of questions. I still do.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 8

This week’s Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge is: Pray at a cemetery for the deceased. You could be the one to help others get to Heaven quicker!

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 7

Here we are at week 7 of the Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge! This week’s challenge is: Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day this week. Now don’t worry, this chaplet is short and only takes a couple minutes. But gosh it’s so powerful.

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"Do You Trust Me?"

“Do you trust me?” says Aladdin to the skeptical Jasmine. She’s nervous. Scared. Hesitant. He’s on a flying carpet that doesn’t look safe, even if you do “keep your hands and arms inside the carpet at all times.” But she gets on. Jasmine is ready for another adventure because she knows he’s trustworthy from their encounter in the street. “Do you trust me?” God says to me.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 6

This is the sixth week of the Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge! How’s it going? This week we’d like to challenge you to: Pray in front of an abortion clinic. Every day in the US, 4,000 unborn babies are killed. You and I can make a difference though because prayer works. God listens and works where and when He can.

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Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 3

#LTPrayerChallenge time! This week the Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge is: Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours – in the morning!

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Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 2

The Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge this week is: A holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

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Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 1

On your mark … get set … go! Here’s the first Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge: Pray a rosary with your friends – on your knees.

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Are you up for it?: Life Teen Summer Prayer Challenge

You are being challenged. Not to a light saber duel. Or a Nerf gun war. And as fun as it sounds to try and drink a gallon of milk … that’s not what I mean either. The challenge is prayer. You know you have free time between Full House re-runs and weeding the garden for your Mom, so why not use it to grow in your relationship with God?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Falling in love with the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Jesus wanted to show us that His heart is constantly, forever, always, eternally loving and forgiving us. He loves you. He loves me. He loves every person so intensely that His heart burns with that love. Look into His eyes and you can’t see anything else.

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Grading on God's Curve: Battling Spiritual Laziness

When I began my faith journey, I was constantly comparing myself to my peers. It’s like I was walking into God’s kitchen, shaking as I showed my Heavenly Father my report card. I tried to justify all of my sins. I measured my holiness by the sin of others instead of the holiness of God. I turned down the ability for greatness that His grace offered me. I settled for being “better than most” rather than all that He called me to be. I didn’t want to do the work. I eased into a spirit of contentment and lived a spiritual life that was “good enough.” Others praised me for my “B” effort in my faith, especially since so many kids my age were so much worse. But I knew I could be better, and I knew that God knew it, too.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

So, You Ruined Your Lent

So here it is: soon it will be Holy Week, and the only thing running through your head is, “Where’d Lent go?” Maybe you never nailed down exactly what you were giving up, or your best efforts still came up short. If you’re anything like me, you’re wishing you could get a Lenten do-over… and this time take it more seriously.   Until next year, there aren’t any chances to go back to Ash Wednesday – but that doesn’t mean we’re out of luck. (With our God, how can we ever be truly lost?) We are now in the middle [...]

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