Teach Us to Pray

Introduction to prayer styles from Christian and other faith traditions

September 2025 – August 2026

• First Thursday of Each Month
• 6:30-8 p.m. central time
• In person and by Zoom

We all want to learn how to pray more sincerely, more intentionally. Each month for a year, practitioners of a variety of prayer styles, mostly from the Catholic tradition but also from other traditions, will demonstrate prayers in their particular style.

What to Expect

Each evening on the first Thursday of the month, a presenter will give a short introduction to their prayer practice (15-20 minutes) and then lead participants through a prayer experience in that practice (25-30 minutes). The session ends with questions from participants (15 minutes).

What Will I Learn?

Each evening is meant to be an introduction and an experience of various prayer styles. If participants want to learn more about a particular practice or style, Renewal Center staff can work on developing more advanced workshops and session. Come with an open mind.

Details about Indvidual Programs

Centering Prayer
Sept. 4 | 6:30-8 p.m. central time
In person and by Zoom

Presented by Rev. Dr. Kevin Kelley

Centering Prayer is a receptive method of Christian silent prayer which deepens our relationship with God, the Indwelling Presence …  a prayer in which we can experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.

Discover Lectio Divina
Oct. 2 | 6:30-8 p.m. central time
In person and by Zoom

Presented by Kathy Keary

Discover Lectio Divina, a sacred, meditative way of praying with Scripture. Through gentle reading and reflection, we listen for God’s personal message meant just for us. This ancient practice opens our hearts to a deeper awareness of God’s presence and action in our lives.

Reading Scripture with Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dec. 4 | 6:30-8 p.m. central time
In person and by Zoom

Presented by Carlos Garcia Alayon

In this session we will tap spiritually into one of the central messages of Guadalupe’s apparitions: conversion of heart through beauty. Inspired by Catholic Guadalupan traditions, we will engage Scripture through a hermeneutics of beauty, attentively paying attention to how the beautiful leads us to God.

Outline of All Presentations

We will add details for on individual presentations right here, closer to the date of each session.

2025

• September 4 = Centering Prayer/Christian Meditation
• October 2 = Lectio Divina
• November 6 = Meditation and Buddhism
• December 4 = Reading Scripture with Our Lady of Guadalupe

2026

• January 8 = Introduction to Christian Mystics
• February 5 = Muslim prayer practices
• March 5 = Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality
• April 2 = Yoga and Meditation in Sikhism
• May 7 = Praying with the Rosary
• June 4 = Dance and Music in Sufism
• July 2 = The labyrinth as aid to prayer
• August 6 = Praying in the Taizé Style

*Check this webpage each month for details on individual presentations. Some sessions may change.

Why Other Faith Traditions?

Catholicism has deep and varied traditions. We want to introduce practices used in other faith traditions, because we believe we can learn a great deal from other traditions. Learning more about and from another faith tradition isn’t abandoning one’s own. In fact, learning from another tradition can deepen one’s own faith and practices. That is what we strive for at the Renewal Center.

This essay by Stephanie Hertzenberg explains more about these ideas: “What Can Christians Learn From Other Faiths? Others always have something to teach you.”