It is interesting to me that those who say they believe in answered prayer, also complain how difficult it is to pray at times. They seem to be caught up in making sure their phrasing is so correct that whatever they are praying for or about will convince God that not only is it important but that He will not be confused by what is being said. Below is a Scripture passage from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians from the New Testament of the New American Bible which I believe answers their trepidation.
“Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hurts and minds, in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7
St. Luke in his Gospel sites three verses from three chapters alone that should help anyone who doubts the reasons behind and the power of prayer’s importance to God and our relationship with Him.
“He (Jesus) often retired to deserted places and prayed.” Lk. 5:16
“So I say to you: Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you
shall find, Knock and it shall be opened to you.” Lk. 11:9
“He told them a parable on the necessity of praying always
and not losing heart.” Lk. 18:1
If
nothing else, these verses alone should encourage us to pray from our heart
rather than worry if what we say is grammatically correct. God does not need an explanation to
understand. God who created us out of
His love I believe is well aware of our needs and wants.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes 75 pages to Christian Prayer. Section one tells us about Prayer in the Christian Life and section two delves into the depth of the Lord’s Prayer taught to us by Jesus, the Son of God. Everything and anything one wants to know about prayer, both positive and negative aspects, are included in these pages to help us better understand the importance God places in how He and we need to communicate.
Of course, most importantly is that we do pray. Prayer is God’s way of indicating the intimacy we have of thanking Him for creating us out of His love for us so we can be with Him forever if we follow His ways. We need to focus on our relationship through expressing ourselves with our heart not by what we might think is a “right” way to do so. God knows what is in our heart. Trust that He will provide for us in all we need and want that promotes faith, hope and love.
“Rejoice always, never cease praying, render constant
thanks; such is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. “ 1 Thes. 5:16-18
In
addition this Lent to fasting and almsgiving, set aside time for prayer in the
mornings, midday and evening hours prior to going to sleep. It doesn’t have to be a long period of time
(5 to 10 minutes). When you do it
regularly, you will discover that how long it takes does not matter because it
is a time of being uplifted. It will
bring you both a peace and joy that you may not have experienced in the past
because you are spending more time with God who loves to hear from us as often
as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment