All through our life we are continually in relationships. It’s what we are about. Different relationships can have different demands, but ultimately it is meant to be a two way thing. Can you imagine having a relationship with someone who eventually only came to you when they were in need of something, but no other time? I guess we would hardly even call it a relationship. Relationships also require work. If we don’t work at a relationship it breaks down.
The way we relate to each other and the way we relate to God is very similar. If we don’t communicate with God, there will be no relationship and the way we communicate with him is through prayer. Just like a relationship with another person, it isn’t just limited to certain times or places and it takes as many different forms as any relationship. We speak to God, we listen, we ask favors, we do things that God asks us to do because we love him, we spend time in his presence.
How do I speak to God, you might ask? the same way you would speak to anyone else. Through devotional prayers, like the rosary, the divine mercy chaplet and similar prayers, through reading Scripture. What often surprises people is that when we begin to communicate with God, God also communicates with us. God is in fact communicating with us all the time, but we often don’t hear it, because we are not listening, but as soon as we begin to pray, we start to notice it much more.
The best way to learn about prayer is to look to the Scriptures and see how the people of the Bible prayed. It says that God spoke to Moses face to face as a person talks to his friend. As well as talking to God directly, Moses continually interceded for the people when God was angry with them. Then he also defended God’s actions when the people were rebelling against God. Moses continually stepped into the breech between God and the people. He interceded for both sides. We are also called to intercede for the people around us and indeed for so many different needs in the world. I think we often underestimate the importance of our praying for other people.
Every so often we have a bad encounter with someone, who is just nasty, or hateful, or evil and it can be upsetting. I have found the Lord saying to me, ‘Now that they have your attention, pray for them.’ If someone is full of anger and hatred, they need spiritual help. Maybe the upsetting encounter we have had with people is also a sign to us to pray for that person. You may be the only one who does pray for them. This is where it is good to remember that God has us exactly where He wants us, at this exact time in history and the people we interact with are meant to be there.
Another form of prayer that we see very often in the Bible and it’s one we don’t usually think of, is prayer of praise, where people simply acknowledge, praise and thank God, for all that He does for us. One of the most beautiful examples is the Magnificat, where Our Lady meeting Elizabeth gives thanks for all that has happened:
‘My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.’
When we speak to God, we don’t usually begin by praising and thanking God, but that’s what all the great figures of the Bible did, even in desperate situations.
In the prophet Daniel, when God reveals to Daniel the answer that the king is looking for, his first reaction is to praise God:
May the name of God be blessed for ever and ever,
since wisdom and power are his alone...
To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise
for having given me wisdom and strength (Dan 2:20, 23).
The three men in the furnace
In the same book, Daniel and two others refuse to worship a statue of the king. As a result they are thrown into a fire to be burnt alive. As they begin to pray to God to help them, Azariah begins:
May you be blessed and revered, Lord, God of our ancestors,
may your name be held glorious for ever. (Dan 3:26)
Then the other men begin to sing as well:
May you be blessed, Lord, God of our ancestors,
be praised and extolled for ever.
Blessed be your glorious and holy name... (Dan 3:52)
The message to us is to praise God no matter what and not just for what suits us, which is what we are inclined to do.
Tobit’s prayer when he goes blind
When Tobit goes blind, he prays to God to restore his sight to him, but notice how he begins the prayer:
You are just, O Lord, and just are all your works.
All your ways are grace and truth,
and you are the Judge of the world.
Therefore Lord, remember me... (Tobit 3:2-3)
Sarah cries out to God in her distress
You are blessed, O God of mercy!
May your name be blessed for ever,
and may all things you have made
bless you everlastingly.
And now I turn my face
and I raise my eyes to you... (Tobit 3:11-12)
Tobias and Sarah pray on their wedding night
You are blessed, O God of our fathers;
blessed too is your name
for ever and ever.
Let the heavens bless you
and all things you have made for evermore (Tobit 8:5b)
‘In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18)
In Ireland people always talk about the weather because it is constantly changing. People tend to say, ‘It’s a beautiful day, thank God.’ But if it’s a rainy dark day, people tend to just say that, ‘What an awful day.’ I like to add, ‘Yes. Thank God.’ People look at me surprised. But why should we only thank God when things suit us? God should be praised in all circumstances, no matter what.
Our Father
When the Apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them the Our Father. But notice that they didn’t ask Jesus to teach them a prayer, but how to pray. So the Our Father isn’t just a prayer, but it is a structure of how to pray and if you think about it, the first half of the Our Father is all about acknowledging God’s greatness and holiness. Only in the second half do we ask for our needs and this is what Jesus taught them when they asked how to pray. So the Lord is telling us always to acknowledge and praise God first.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
If you think of the Sunday mass, the first thing we do after acknowledging our sins is to glorify God: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you…’ Only after praising God and then listening to God’s word and then stating what we believe, then we ask for our needs.
The greatest prayer we have is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There is nothing greater than this. You may not even think of it as a prayer, rather as something you just go to. But there is nothing else like it, because it is the offering of God the Son, to God the Father, at Calvary. In each mass time stands still and we are present at Calvary with Jesus being offered to the Father. That’s why it is so powerful and that’s why we pray for everything and everyone in each mass. Then we also receive Jesus himself in the Eucharist. There is no more intimate meeting with God than this. His body is united with our body.
As well as reading the Scriptures, which are the living and inspired Word of God, there is also praying in silence, or just being still in God’s presence. It is just the same as a couple being together without needing to talk. We are not used to silence and often not comfortable with it, but this is where it can be a great help to learn some method to help you be still in prayer.
I know it is tempting to say that we don’t have time, there are just too many demands on us in daily life, but if you think about it, no matter how busy we are we never stop sleeping or eating, because we know they are essential for our bodies. Prayer is essential for our spirit, which is just as real and which is the part of us that will live on after our bodies die. We will be with God for all eternity, God willing, and now is the time to begin that relationship.
One of our difficulties when it comes to praying is that we are not so good at relating to or believing in the world of the spirit. In the western world we tend to be much more at home with the material world. In the east, they are actually more at home with the spiritual world.
If you feel that you can’t pray, or don’t want to pray, just ask yourself this: would you really expect to have a relationship with someone without speaking to them at all, or only asking them for your needs? Do you really expect to have a relationship with God without communicating with him at all?
‘In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18)
No comments:
Post a Comment