My personal favorite method of prayerful devotion is the Holy Rosary. I have gotten so much out of spending time with Our Blessed Mother , meditating on the life of Her Son. Our Lady has done so much to help me grow in faith and spirit.
Second runner up to the Holy Rosary, would probably be the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I always feel a since of awe and meekness when I pray this caplet. Like wow, I can ask God for mercy because of Jesus Christ; and at the same time like Lilo when she asks her sister for money to pay for Stitch.
There is no shortage of litanies and consecrations, prayers of intercession to saints, or rote prayers. The most important thing about devotion is our presence and intention while performing the acts of devotion.
Again, we get out what we put in. I know the difference when I am praying a rosary or chaplet and my heart may not be all the way in it, but I perform the act of devotion so that hopefully God knows my love is not transactional or conditional. But when I have a focused intention the closeness I feel to God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is tremendous.
God is so loving that even in moments of spiritual dryness, He has touched my heart and mind so profoundly with His love that it breaks me down into tears. On many occasions I have had to dry my eyes pulling into the parking lot for my job because He either directly, or through Our Lady has softened my heart so completely.
On a side note of how much God loves and helps us, even with our devotion. In His will, that we face oppression or diabolic influence; God even uses these corrupted entities to help us draw near and grow in faithful devotion. In and through our devotion are we rescued from these things. Even demons and our disordered affections can be used to sanctify us through devotion.
Regardless of what or how you devote time or energy to Our Lord, do it with a singular focused intention. Let’s pray for each other that we can devote ourselves to God so intently that all else fades out of mind, even if for a little while.
