Five Novena Prayer Tips
Five Novena Prayer Tips
Our five novena prayer tips will make the nine days of prayer more meaningful as you pray for a special intention or prepare for a feast day.
5 Novena Prayer Tips
1
Choose One Prayer Intention
Choosing a single prayer intention for a novena gives us a way to pray for something in particular.
We can choose our prayer intention from the point of view of the novena’s saint. For example, since St. Joseph is the patron saint of families and fathers, we could pray for our family. We could pray in general for someone who might need the prayers at that moment. Or it could be a prayer of thanksgiving.
Petition
Another way to look at intentions is from the point of view of the one needing the prayers. That is, we can pray for a personal request, for a family member or friend, or a more general intention like world peace.
It Helps Us Persevere
Since we focus on one particular prayer intention and make it a priority, we will enjoy praying more and therefore be more likely to persevere with the routine of prayer for the nine days of the novena.
2
Set Up Reminders
Be sure to make a sincere effort to pray every day. For example, we can set up cell phone alarms, use an app, or use novena tracking beads like the one in the photo with the brown beads and cord.
3
Forget a Day?
If you miss a day, you can carry on because what matters is a sincere effort. If you are praying a nine-day novena that ends on a feast day, it is acceptable to say both prayers the next day. Otherwise, you can carry on from where you left off on the following day.
4
Distracted?
Trying to keep our mind from wandering takes practice, but it’s worthwhile. A distraction-free prayer environment, combined with a time of day that works for us, sets the tone for focussed prayer. We can also pray for the grace to keep our minds and hearts only on God.
Motivation
As a result, we will feel more motivated, enjoy praying more, and feel calmer as we take the needs of the one we are praying for and place them in God’s hands. Then, our prayers can be from the deepest part of our souls
5
Learn to Trust God's Timing
What if a request seems to go unanswered? While a novena is a concentrated way to bring an intention before God, it is not a guarantee that He will answer it with what we want and at the time we hope. In this situation, we can learn to trust God to answer our request in the way that is best for us.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Bartolome Esteban Murillo painted St. Joseph walking with the Child Jesus circa the 1970s.
Lukas Rychvalsky from Pexels shared the photo of a silhouette against the morning sky.
Perchek Industrie photographed the breathtaking starry sky scene.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet resources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
Our novena prayer tips will make the 9 days of prayer more meaningful as you pray for a special intention or prepare for a feast day.
- Choose one prayer intention at a time. It helps us persevere.
- Set up reminders like a cell phone alarm, an app, or use novena tracking beads.
- If you forget a day, say both prayers the next day or carry on from where you left off.
- Use a distraction-free environment to set the tone for focused prayer. We can also pray for the grace to keep our minds and hearts only on God.
- Learn to trust God’s timing that He will answer our request in the way that is best for us.