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…just like many meditate for hours per day, many pray for hours per day… it is not an uncommon endeavour in the worlds of Catholicism (praying) and Eastern practices (meditating)… I’ve done both.
The Practitioner can/does, pray for any reason… it doesn’t always have to be from a place of want and need, but also to give thanks or simply connect with whomever they are praying to.
Catholicism… as opposed to general Christianity, is a more relaxed affair… it’s about creating a cohesive Community, not fanaticism. You choose who you want to pray to… at any given time on any given day, not told who to pray to… it’s not a dictatorial religion.
I do consider it possibly a little sacrilegious to just pray as you are doing anything else, but I am not one to judge. Catholic prayer is usually considered to be something you dedicate your whole attention to, as it would be sort of rude to give half your attention to God.
A rosary, for example, consists of at least 5 sets of 10 Our Fathers each, separated by one Hail Mary each, plus some special ones at the end, 3 or 4. You are intended to be doing nothing else, except maybe kneel and close your eyes, maybe put your hands together, while you do this.
If I were God, I would certainly mind. Poor God - giving people all of this creativity, all of this originality, all of this brilliant light, and what do we do? Recite over and over and over again the same old words that others came up with.
Adoration and worship from our hearts to God’s heart, ought to just spring up like a geyser creating psalms which have never before been uttered and will never again be uttered. Each “shout out” to God would be an original.
Perhaps God might prefer perfect eloquent Silence to wordy repetition. Poor God.
“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”
Catholic monk, Brother Lawrence, “The Practice of the Presence of God”.