On Prayer

     I will never forget being in the sacristy at my church one Sunday morning about 6 years ago preparing to altar serve. The Pastor and I were chatting while he put his vestments on for Mass. When he had finished, he turned to me and asked, "How is your prayer life?" I don't remember how I responded, but I know whatever I said wasn't very eloquent because the question had troubled me.

     I had never been asked that question before that morning. I did pray, but prayer was something I considered to be a very specific part of my life. Like many people, I prayed at Mass and I prayed before I went to bed each night. That was about all the praying I did unless someone was sick. Then, when I went off to college, I found that slowly the prayers at night went away as well. I had trimmed my "prayer life" down to a weekly "prayer hour" at Mass. No wonder I felt then as though God had abandoned me!

     When I had my re-kindling of faith a few months ago, I needed no one to tell me that if I were truly serious about devoting myself more fully to God, I needed to speak to Him more often. Obviously, one can not grow in any relationship without increased communication. How much more this is true about our relationship with God. Saint Paul instructs us to rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. (1 Thess 5:16-19)

     To satisfy St. Paul's command, I use the Liturgy of the Hours. The Hours are a collection of psalms and short readings that priests and other religious make a promise to recite daily for the benefit of the Church. It is standardized and easy to locate- it's online (see link above) and there's several good apps for smartphones. I find it is tremendously beneficial to use the Hours because it helps me throughout the day to keep my mind on God. I know I am more susceptible to temptation and sin when I have gone long stretches without praying. By praying the Hours, I am acknowledging Jesus' presence beside me always and my dependence on Him to protect me from the evils of the World that would otherwise consume me.

     These and other official prayers, such as the Our Father or the Hail Mary, are centrally important to my prayer life. I often hear people say that if they pray at all, they prefer to pray using their own words. This personal type of prayer can be beneficial and fruitful, but not at the expense of the prayers we receive from the Lord himself. For official prayers draw their language directly from the Bible: the written word of God. In a very real way, prayer is a lesson in the language of God. By learning how God has spoken to humanity throughout the ages, we will develop a more refined ear for His voice and a greater ability to discern what He is calling us to do with our lives.

     Have you ever had the experience where you learn a word and then suddenly you cannot help but notice that word everywhere around you? So to it can be with the words of our Lord. If we train ourselves in His language, we will be more apt to encounter His presence in our daily lives. For God often speaks to us in hushed whispers, while the devil bombards us with boisterous words of deception.

     Although structured prayers are necessary and proper, the Lord also wants us to come to Him with our personal petitions. The devil would have us feel as though we are not worthy of asking God for his pardon and peace. He would love nothing more than for us to continue to wallow in our lives of despair and fear, filling our days with sin and loneliness. But our Lord instructs us to bring our troubles and our doubts to the foot of His cross. Through His death he has reconciled us to the Father, and because of this we can feel assured that no sin is beyond the threshold our God's forgiveness.

     Again, prayer is, in the final analysis, our communication with God. Without it, we grow apart from the Lord and grow more susceptible to temptation. With it, however, we can acclaim the hymn: no storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I'm clinging. Since Lord is love of heaven and earth how can I keep from singing?