Many of us were taught to say certain prayers as children. For others, it may have come a little later in life when you came to faith in God. In either case, it’s hard to forget the very first prayer you learned to pray. Maybe it was the prayer Jesus told His apostles to pray when they asked him to teach them – the Lord’s Prayer. For you, it may have been the traditional, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” prayer. On Friday, let’s head into the weekend with reminiscing about the first prayer(s) we can recall praying.
11/16/2018 at 1:42 am
I’m too old to remember what I prayed, but now that you bring it up, I recall that my mom taught us to pray and reminded us to pray before bedtime. When I went to Catholic school, I’m sure I learned the standard prayers there. When I was 9-1/2, my dad passed away and I taught myself spontaneous prayer — what was on my mind.
As time went on, deaths in the family and deaths of popes, presidents, and other national figures turned my thoughts to praying for their repose. I was an altar boy (in those days) and I had to learn prayers in Latin. The pastor took me aside to coach me but it was scary because my Latin was so poor.
My favorite prayer is the Hebrew Shema: Shema Israel Adonai eloheinu Adonai Echad
Hear O Israel the LORD is God, the LORD alone.
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11/16/2018 at 11:59 am
Thanks for sharing this, Richard. Very beautiful!
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11/16/2018 at 12:39 pm
I learned the Angel of God prayer first, but also humorously recall my attempts to recite the Apostles Creed.
I asked my Mom what was meant by the words “Jesus was crucified,” and she softened it for my 4 year old ears to say “Jesus was killed.”
Shortly after, I got stuck on the phrase “Crucified under Pontius Pilate,” so I said “Crucified under Pontius Airplane Crash” My Mom and I still chuckle about that over 50 years later.
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11/16/2018 at 1:37 pm
What a sweet and beautiful story, Amy. Thanks for sharing it with us!
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