My 3 Favourite Prayers

As I wrote about last week, the universal Catholic Church has embarked on its "Year of Faith". Obviously, a large part of faith is prayer and I'm really looking forward to ramping up my prayer life over the next year (and beyond).  After all, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! 

Here are 3 of my favourite prayers: 

1.  The Guardian Angel Prayer.  It's one of the very first prayers that my lovely wife Gail taught me before she was my wife (she's always been lovely).  We pray it as a family anytime we travel together in the van (such as on our recent road trip to California) and I pray it every time I drive my car.  I ask my guardian angel to light, guard, rule, and guide me by keeping me alert and helping me avoid freak accidents and freaky drivers.  So it has nothing to do with me being an Asian driver.  Okay...maybe a little bit.

• Angel of God, my guardian dear
  To whom God's love commits me here
  Ever this day, be at my side
  To light and guard, rule and guide
  Amen

2.  The Lord's Prayer.  It's the first prayer that Gail taught me back in high school as she humbly (yet strategically and sneakily) introduced me to the Catholic faith and Jesus Christ.  One day, as I opened my agenda book to write down my chemistry homework, I found this prayer written in bright red ink.  Reciting it is one of my favourite parts of Mass as we all join hands united in our prayer.  It's the inspiration for one of my favourite worship songs ever:  Matt Maher's "As It Is In Heaven."  And it's a safe go-to prayer when you're asked without warning to lead a group in prayer...especially if you're not comfortable with spontaneous prayer.  This seems to happen a lot in youth ministry!

3.  Jesus Loves Me.  Singing is praying twice, right?  I have fond memories of singing this song when our St. Paul's 6:30pm choir was just starting:  Gary, Christina, Bernie and I did a rendition based on a song called "We Dedicate" by the 90s r&b group All-4-One.  My kids have continued the tradition, as both Jake and Kayla have YouTube videos of them singing the song.  A simple song with a powerful and unfailing message:  that Jesus loves me...and you.  The Bible tells us so!

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo