“Relying on God has to begin all over again every
day as if nothing had yet been done.” ― C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on
Prayer
As
challenging as the previous chapter was for many of us, Prayer evokes a
different thought and emotion. Prayer is essential to the Christian experience.
Christian life is not sustainable without it, because growth in the Christian
life is simply not possible without prayer. Growing in character and virtue,
learning to hear the voice of God in our lives and walking where he calls us,
all require the discipline of prayer. Prayer requires a daily commitment.
Matthew
opens this chapter with one of his wonderful stories that help us grasp the message on the second pillar of Catholic Spirituality - Prayer. This story is about a child’s simple question, “Why do you pray?” As you
might imagine, Matthew is well versed on prayer and certainly has the right
answers. In crafting his reply to the young student, he thought of the catechism and the listing of the purposes of prayer: adoration,
petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. But surely this would not be
an appropriate answer for a seven year old.
Then he
thought of Therese of Lisieux, one of the great teachers of Christian prayer
and her definition of prayer being “a surge of the heart, it is a simple look
turned toward heaven; it is a cry for recognition and of love, embracing both
trial and joy.” But again, he knew this was not the answer to give this
student. The more he thought about it, the more adult examples rushed through
his mind.
Finally, after failing to find the words to answer his question he
asked the young student the same question, “Why do you pray?” Without
hesitation the young boy replied, “Well, God is my friend, and friends like to
know what is going on in each others lives.” Wow, so simple yet so complete. Prayer is all about communication and communion with God. So why do you
pray?
Matthew says
he prays for practical reasons. First, he prays to make sense of things in
his life. Second, because he wants to live life deeply and deliberately so that
he is able to fully experience the gift that life is. Lastly, he prays for the
very practical reason to build up an inner density needed to prevent the outside
world from swallowing him up. So why do you pray?
The power of an effective prayer life is its ability to take us deep into ourselves and
towards God. This occurs when we take time to ponder, to contemplate what God
is telling us. Contemplation and prayer go together because thought determines
action. Matthew tells us that the actions of our lives are determined by our most dominant
thoughts. If we are honest with ourselves, keeping our thoughts centered on God
is challenging. Our minds
wander and these thoughts eventually direct our actions. This challenge was no different
for the saints. Their success came from habits honed out of the disciplined
contemplation that helped them turn their thoughts to higher things when
challenged with the wandering mind.
Matthew suggests we begin to learn this
habit by listening to the advice of the Apostle Paul: “Whatever is true,
whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). God loves you as you
are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
Ten Minutes
Our lives
change when our habits change. Matthew challenges us, if we are not already
doing so, to make prayer a priority in our lives, to make it an indispensable
part of our daily schedule. First, find a place where you can enter into the
classroom of silence each day to sit with the Divine Architect and together
design something wonderful. Matthew highly recommends this be at Church for all of the other benefits it offers us in developing this discipline.
Second, remember this habit is about prayer and
reflection. Ask God the big question, “What do you think I should do?” Then
listen. This question should be a constant theme in our spiritual lives. Third,
if it is going to be ten minutes a day, make it ten minutes a day – not six and
not fourteen – ten. Lastly, Matthew urges us to track what days we do this and
what days we don’t and how long we spend in prayer. If we don’t measure it we
won’t change it. We are the habits we live.
Matthew
makes two promises to us about spending Ten Minutes each day in prayer and
contemplation: In the silence of the classroom we will find God and find
ourselves. This is how we can stay on the path to holiness; to know and do the will of God; and to ultimately be the-best-version-of-ourselves.
Question
How do you communicate
with God in your daily life? If you haven’t developed a daily habit of prayer,
what are your reasons? How do they stack up to what Matthew is calling us to
consider about prayer?
I urge you
to read again the closing story in this chapter, “once upon a glorious summer’s
evening.” It’s a great story, consider
sharing it!
In peace,
Dan
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