How to Pray

As I continue in my reading of “The Story of the Soul”, I realize that I have been supplicating the wrong way. St. Therese talks about the crosses people must bear and how suffering can be good for the soul. In fact, she is quite unusual in that she embraces suffering for the blessings it will bring. I realized I've been praying for God to relieve people of their crosses when really I should be asking Him to shower them with graces so they can better bear their crosses. So that will be my new prayer for my friends and family. If it be His will to remove their crosses as part of their graces, so be it. Really this is a much easier and simpler way of praying, instead of intercepting my own thoughts into what should happen for other people, when I clearly do not know God’s plan for them. When someone pops into my head, I pray, “Lord, please shower so-and-so with some graces today.”