Week 2: Praying
“Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness.”
- William Carey.
“Prayer catapults us on to the frontier of the spiritual life,” says Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline. Prayer is communication or conversation with God. Real prayer can create and change lives because, as Foster says, “to pray is to change”. God uses prayer to change us. Foster says, “In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the
things he wills”.
To pray is to grow in communion with God. To discover God in all things, to know that God is by our side in every moment of every day, is what prayer is all about. We bring our requests to God in prayer: the joy is not in the answering of those requests but instead in the time spent with God.
Why, then, do we find it so hard to pray? There is often silence
when someone is asked to pray to open or close a meeting. Some people find it intimidating to pray aloud in front of others; they fear not having the words or being teased. There are expectations around prayer, and we forget that just as the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1), we should ask that too. When prayer becomes a conversation between friends, the experience is lightness, peace and joy.
Prayer should not be
complicated. Jesus called us to come like children: open, honest and trusting, with the intimacy of a child with a parent. We do not need to be embarrassed or hesitant about bringing our requests to God, no matter how big or small. We should have the confidence that God will answer our prayers. God may know everything there is to know about us and have all the answers. God desires to know us, for us to bring our whole selves and to tell him or ask him for what we want or need. God wants to
discover the outcome of things together with us. God longs to hear our voice and for us to hear his.
There are many different types of prayers and ways of praying. *Imaginative prayer, for example, is a powerful way in which God can show and tell us what God is inviting us to do. Envisioning Jesus in a situation with us and watching how healing occurs can help us believe that it will be so. “Imagination often opens up the door to
faith.”, according to Foster.
What we need to remember is that to pray also means to listen. When we pray, we must keep our ears open to listen to the Lord. To know God's will and carry it out, we need to hear what that will is. “A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realised that prayer is listening.” - Soren Kierkegaard
We are encouraged to view prayer as an everyday activity, to intentionally put aside time to spend with God. Prayer should not be an addition to the day but a way of life. Mark’s Gospel tells us this about Jesus, “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
Notice how you feel and what you learn about yourself
when praying. What has been the most challenging part of praying? What has been the most rewarding part of praying?
No matter how or when or what we pray, prayer is an adventure and draws us closer to God. The rewards and benefits of prayer are numerous. Richard Foster says, “It is the Discipline of prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of the human spirit.”
What does “to pray is to change” mean to you? How will you further develop your prayer life during Lent?
*Imaginative Prayer
Find a suitable place and time for prayer. Decide which Gospel text to use. Take a moment to settle into your prayer, becoming aware of and giving thanks for God’s presence. Ask God for the grace of an encounter with him during this prayer
time.
Slowly read through the text two or three times, paying attention to the words and description. Set aside your Bible and allow yourself to imagine the scene.
Explore what you can see, hear, smell, taste and touch, and become part of the story. How do you fit into the story? Are you yourself just watching as it unfolds, or are you one of the main characters? What is playing out in the story? Listen to what is being said.
As you use imagination this way, you may find yourself in a different place to the Bible story you are contemplating. You may be in your own life story. God is with you wherever you are. Trust that God is leading you and that you are where you are meant to be.
If you find yourself with Jesus, you should have a conversation (colloquy) with him about your experience and listen to what he is saying to you.
As the
colloquy draws to a close, gently and slowly come out of your prayer time.
After a short break, you may want to journal your experience, noticing your thoughts, feelings, reactions and resistances.
(Adapted from Hearts on Fire: An Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality manual by the Jesuit Institute South Africa)
Readings for the coming
days
26 Feb Matthew 23:1-39
27 Feb Mark 12:41-44
28 Feb Mark 13:1-13
29 Feb Matthew 24:15-35
1 Mar Matthew 24:36-51
2 Mar Matthew 25:1-13
