Years ago I had a conversation with a retired army veteran who shared with me that during a war he was injured and as he lay huddled in a trench terrified at the prospect of dying alone on the battlefield, the only words that flowed from his mind was "The Lord's Prayer". He confessed that he had stopped praying for many years and the recitation of this prayer had apparently embedded itself in his psyche and its free flowing recitation during that time of need provided him with spiritual comfort; thus he began a dialogue with his divine father, one he had not called on in a very long time.
Isn't that the way it happens? It is during our struggles that we naturally turn to divine intervention through prayer. The "Lord's Prayer" is one, as well as "The Glory Be" and "Hail Mary". There are some who feel that memorized prayer result in formalism and spontaneous prayer is the better alternative. I would argue that both have a place in our spiritual journey. Spontaneous prayer relates to the mood one may be in at the moment. But moods change. What happens when I don't feel like it? Or I have had situations in my life where I can't even begin to form words on my own. In those moments I have turned to reciting the prayers that have sustained me during my times when I have prayed with my family or my faith community. Some times, those prayers were actually songs that I learned in our liturgies. My own children learned prayers through morning prayers, bed time routines and weekly church liturgies. I take comfort in knowing that the prayers that they have memorized may one day manifest themselves at moments in their lives when I may not be around to spiritually support them. It is kind of like teaching our children in the early years to dial 9-1-1, just in case! (I am not saying that prayer should be used on an emergency basis only.)
Teaching our children to pray both ways is of great value; spontaneous praying allows us to be vulnerable and open to our interior movements while memorized praying allows us to rely on words that for centuries have provided an opportunity to a conversation with our creator.
And the best way to teach our children how to pray is to allow them to experience prayer as a natural and meaningful part of our day; allow them to know that at times we may struggle with our own prayer life. And be sure to point out to the joy and peace that follows when prayer is given the highest priority in our lives.
