When We Pray

Many, if not most, of us save our praying for a time of crisis or danger.  We tend to turn to God when our own resources have run out; when there is no hope, when no one else can help us.

But how wonderful it would be to know our Helper at every moment of our lives!  What a blessing it would be for the Incarnate Word to be present in the smallest moments of our lives -- even those we think we are 'capable' of handling on our own.  To have a true Partner in life is what we were meant for--although, like two-year-olds, we always want to "do it myself."

When Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, with Mary 9 months pregnant, they were hoping to find lodging among Joseph's relatives in Bethlehem or the surrounding area.  On the way, they had to rely on God at every moment.  They had to be in prayer constantly for protection, for food, for shelter. 

We are no different.  No matter how simple the day appears, we also are on a journey, and we need the constant 'hovering' of the Holy Spirit over our lives.  Psalm 103 is a song of praise, thanksgiving, and petition for God's constant Presence in our lives:

Praise the Lord, O my soul;

All my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

 

He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases;

he redeems my life from the pit

and crowns me with love and compassion.

He satisfies my desires with good things,

so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's.

 

Here is a wonderful Psalm to start us on the way of Lectio Divina.  If we read it the first time, we may tend to gloss over its deeper implications and go on.  But if we slow down and read it a second time, letting each word and phrase sink deeply into our souls, pondering each phrase as Mary keeping all these things in her heart, then we really begin to pray -- and not just read -- the Psalm. 

 

Suddenly, Scripture becomes "ours."  It is "my" soul we are talking about; it is "my" sins the Lord has forgiven and "my" diseases" He has healed.  It is "my" life He has redeemed from the pit, and "my" life He has crowned with love and compassion.

 

When we pray the Psalms on a daily basis, we begin to connect them to whatever large or small daily events are happening in our lives.  And the joy of discovering that God is present and active in those events is priceless!  Here is where our faith leaps, when we discover that we are not alone.  Prayer is simply giving God an opportunity to flow into the situations of our lives -- opening a 'window,' as I wrote yesterday, to the Divine Presence. 

 

A friend of mine has been struggling with a family situation for years.  It has kept her on edge and upset, even losing sleep.  Sometimes the situation fades into the background, but always comes back again and is never settled.  Finally, after listening to her talk about this situation for several years, I began earnestly to seek God's answer for her.  Morning after morning, a particular psalm would come to me, and I began passing on the psalms to her.  She too began to read the psalms on her own -- and then, suddenly at Mass one day, a solution came to her with a peace that passes all understanding.  She followed through on the solution she was given and was amazed at the peace it brought to her as well as to the situation.  God has been waiting all this time for a window through which He could enter the situation, but no one in the family was ever willing to open the window for Him. 

 

We need every single day to open a window for God, no matter how "small" the situation may seem.  I have learned to pray even when I run out of mulch in my big yard:  Lord, I need more mulch now.  I know people would tell me that there are hungry children and wars for God to be attending to, that in the grand scale of things, my mulch is totally unimportant to God.  I smile, knowing how small is my request, but also knowing that my small request takes nothing away from the larger scale of hungry children and wars.  And very soon, my doorbell rings.  Here is the man with pine straw, who needs my money to feed his family.  Or here is my next-door-neighbor with 16 bags of leaves he raked out of his yard -- do I want the leaves?  He is happy to dispose of them, and I am happy to get them.

 

If He cares that I have a supply of mulch, I know he cares that I have also my daily bread and peace in my family.  When we pray about small things, and God shows Himself present in our lives, we then have the faith to pray also about the big things, knowing God's love and concern for us is real.