Lord, Teach Me To Pray

Lord, Teach Me To Pray series was submitted to the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) Publishing Office for approval and to receive the copyright permissions needed to publish excerpts from the New American Bible (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The approval process included a complete review of the LTMTP text by the Subcommittee on the Catechism to assure its consistency with the Catechism. At the successful conclusion of that review, LTMTP was granted copyright and publishing permissions. 

LORD TEACH ME TO PRAY (Structure of the series and History)“Lord, Teach Me To Pray” (LTMTP) is a FREE three-part Ignatian prayer series. The three parts are taken in succession. Each part is a prerequisite for the next part.

Part 1: Praying Christian Virtues (12 weeks) introduces the pray-ers (i.e., participants) to Ignatian prayer and spirituality in the way that St. Ignatius himself introduced people, i.e., by structuring their initial prayer experience around the Christian Virtues. 

Part 2: My 19th Annotation (27 weeks), consists of the entirety of the well-known “Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius”. The title of this part of the series refers to the 19th note that St. Ignatius wrote in his notebook. In this note, he instructs that the Spiritual Exercises should be adapted to accommodate those in the world desiring to make the Spiritual Exercises yet who cannot leave their family and livelihood for an extended period of time.

Part 3: Discernment and Gifts of the Spirit (14 weeks), provides the pray-ers with a general theological catechesis of the Holy Spirit with emphasis on the sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit, followed by an introduction to St. Ignatius’ Rules for Discernment of Spirits. The “Lord, Teach Me To Pray” series began on September 11, 2001. For the first eight years, the LTMTP series was available for women only. In January 2010, the series was adapted and began to be offered for men. Women facilitators facilitate groups for women; men facilitators facilitate groups for men. 

The mechanics of the series are quite simple. Participants meet once per week for up to two hours in a small group led by trained facilitators. Each of the sessions is well structured in terms of both time and materials. Throughout the week, participants are asked to spend time each day praying with the Scriptures provided in the session. During each session, there is a time specified for faith sharing. The facilitators of the series are not teachers or spiritual directors; rather, they themselves are “pray-ers” who, no matter how many times they facilitate the series, pray the assigned material throughout the week just as the other participants do. 

The facilitators are trained from the Lord Teach Me To Pray website on how to use the LTMTP manual for the different parts. The primary responsibility of the facilitator is to allow for the space within the group that the Holy Spirit needs to direct each person’s journey. As the facilitators safeguard this space, the prayer itself opens the heart of each participant to a deep and wonderful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, who will, as the title of the series clearly suggests, lovingly and gently do the “teaching”.

HISTORY OF LORD TEACH ME TO PRAY:

Lord Teach Me To Pray began in our home in New Orleans on the morning of September 11, 2001. Years prior, we had moved to New Orleans. My husband had just become a partner in a law firm when he was diagnosed with 4th stage Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I was living LIFE FOR ME ME ME. That day was my moment of LIGHT AND DECISION. On my knees, I cried out to God. I was seeing that my life was all about what I wanted. On my knees, I threw up my hands in surrender and worship of God. I was sick of my selfish self and promised God that never again would I try to run my life. I promised to follow God day by day. I needed God more than I needed food or water. I had to keep going. My husband started treatments, our oldest started school. I was at Mass every day with our youngest. 

One day I received an invitation to a Cenacle Home Retreat to be given in our neighborhood. I was desperate for God. I ran to the first meeting. The Sister turned me away because I would have to miss a meeting. It was an Ignatian retreat and no one was allowed to miss a meeting. I was pregnant and would soon deliver our child. I was in shock and asked Sister to reconsider. Sister did this for me and I enterered into the Cenacle Home Retreat. My Life was forever changed. I encountered the LVING GOD!!! JESUS IS ALIVE AND HE LOVES US. HE LOVES US MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. God graces Ignatian prayer as we pray with the Scriptures they come alive and we are made NEW in JESUS. 

Please contact us! Spiritual Advisor: Fr. William Farge, S.J. wfarge@jesuits.org (832)837-9091
Director: Mrs. Carol Weiler carolweiler@cox.net (504)439-5933