They ask you for something.
Now the excitement you were feeling about rekindling that former friendship has turned into discontent. Yeah, you’re still glad they called, but the conversation has suddenly become a petition and you’re wishing you would’ve put out the “no solicitors” sign.
Why do you feel this way? Probably because you wish the motive for this out-of-the-blue phone call would’ve been one of a more routine social nature. But why does your pleading friend feel comfortable enough with your relationship to call you after so long only to ask you for a favor? Because he knows you are always willing to listen and he knows he can turn to you when in need.
Put it in Perspective
Now imagine you are the friend and your speaking with God in prayer. You are calling on him because you need help. Maybe you’re asking for a raise at work or for a blessing before you make a presentation to your boss. Or maybe your petition is a 911 call. You are in a life or death situation and all of a sudden you realize that he’s the only one you can count on.
Funny that when life’s going great and everything is just peachy, you had no need for him. You didn’t bother to just sit down and chat with him. You were too preoccupied with what you thought to be more important matters. He never complained that you were pushing him away as your friendship slowly diminished. He was patient and understanding so he just sighed and thought “maybe next time.”
We Have Ceased to Pray
Saint Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians, “Pray without ceasing,” but unfortunately we have ceased to pray. Could it be that we don’t value our relationship with God? How do you feel when you get that dreaded phone call? It feels like your being used, doesn‘t it? How do you think he feels when all we do is ask for more and more?
We don’t sense God’s presence in our lives. Matthew Kellys said, “It’s not that God has stopped talking, but rather we have stopped listening.” I say it often, that sometimes we just have to shut up and listen. He wants to give us the answers to all of life’s most important questions. He wants to lead us to peace and happiness in our lives through a deeper understanding of who he is and what he means to us.
“Prayer is like a great love. When you start dating the silence can be awkward, but as you grow to know each other you can sit in silence for hours and just being with each other is a great comfort.” ~ Matthew Kelly
Maybe your relationship with God needs a little reassessment. Possibly your prayer life, or lack there of, is in dire need of a rejuvenation. Your relationship with your creator is dwindling and it needs your attention. Your eternal father wants to hear how your day went. He wants to know what’s troubling you on the bad days and he also wants to know what’s got you so happy on the good ones.
Relationship
Imagine coming home from a long day at the office and your spouse wants to talk. You are tired, but you at least make an effort to hear them out. Why don’t you just blow them off and go take some time for yourself to relax? Because you value your relationship with them and even after years of marriage you get to know your partner better with each day. The love a married couple possesses for each other grows with each passing day.
So when it comes to your relationship with God, prayer is essential. It’s one way in which we get to know our God on a more intimate level. Through prayer God reveals to us who we really are and perhaps that’s why we’ve lost interest in prayer. We are scared to meet ourselves face to face, to see who we really are.
Prayer is not for God’s benefit, it’s for ours. How blessed are we to have a direct line of communication with the God of the universe? He’s given us that opportunity, but we must take advantage of it. Our prayers should flow freely and continually from our hearts. Of the many ways to pray we all have our favorites. Pray in the way that you’re most comfortable and do it often. Keep him on your mind.
You remember those days as a teenager when you were in love. You would talk on the phone into the late hours of the night. Why? Because you wanted to know any and everything about that person. The better we get to know someone the better we can love them. When you’re in love you talk on the phone, you go on dates, you spend every hour of your day thinking of that special someone. Through this relationship you form a strong bond with that person and so we should do with God through prayer.
The Five Forms of Prayer
There are five forms of prayer and in each conversation with the Lord, whether verbal or in silence, we should attempt to encompass all of them. In adoration we offer praise to our God. Through our prayers of contrition our merciful God listens as we humbly ask for his forgiveness. In charity we express a deep and personal love of God. A favorite form of prayer seems to be petition, in which we call upon the Lord to ask for his help. And finally, in the often forgotten form of prayer of thanksgiving, we thank God for the cards we’ve been dealt, both the good and the bad.
Put them all together and what do you have? A true and meaningful prayer. Obviously not all of our prayers are perfect and we don’t always remember to include all of these forms, but God knows our hearts and he understands our intentions. As Catholics we have been given many tools to help strengthen our prayer life. Some of these tools are the Rosary, the stories of the saints, the Divine Office, the Mass, and Eucharistic Adoration.
It all leads me back to one of my favorite passages from the New Testament. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)” Jesus gave us the Church so that through his grace and the efforts of the Church we may be led closer to him. Let’s take advantage of what Matthew Kelly has rightly called the “genius in Catholicism.”
“For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” ~ St. Therese of Lisieux
May our prayers be heartfelt as they rise to our Father in heaven and may he lead us closer to him as we attempt to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. I will end with an excerpt of an ever so eloquent prayer, that my fellow Catholics should recognize.
“I ask Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
Photo by Jesper Noer.