Entering into the Presence of God

Someone asked me, "How do you pray?"  My answer is that there are as many ways to pray as there are fingerprint patterns.  I recommend The Book of All Saints by Adrienne Von Spyrer as an example. Von Spyrer was a Swedish mystic, a physician, wife, and mother, and a convert to Catholicism.  When she prayed, she was able to see into, and participate in, the prayer life of all the saints -- and even others who are not canonized, like Shakespeare and Dante.  As she saw, she reported her visions to her confessor and scribe, Father Hans Urs Von Balthazor, who wrote what she said.  Some of those she saw at prayer she had never heard of previously, but if her confessor suggested them, she could see them.  She remarked on the humility of the saints, who allowed themselves to be seen, weaknesses, faults, and all.  This is a very large book, but reading through it encourages us who all think we do not know how to pray.  On one page or another, we will surely find someone whose prayer resonates with our own.

But since the question was, "How do you pray?"  I decided to reflect on my own experience, for whatever it may be worth to someone else.  There is not a set pattern so much to my prayer, since at the very beginning, I try to keep in mind Jesus saying, I Am the Alpha and the Omega.  I know that He is the beginning and the end, and, being in His Presence, I try to be led by His Spirit in my prayer.  It is the job of the Holy Spirit to teach us to pray and to lead us in prayer, so being open to His influence is the most important thing of all.  But there are definite helps to being open to the Spirit Who wants to lead us into the Presence of God and to Communion with Him.

The first step is actually a very simple one:  we have to have a place and a time to pray, an "appointment" with God, so to speak.  I know many people say they pray all day long, and that is a fact for those who have learned to pray.  And there are those who pray first thing in the morning, but their routine is really a set of prayers that they "say."  Actually, it was one of these who asked me the question.  Although she prays regularly and frequently -- more faithfully than I do, in fact --- she is yearning for a deeper communion with God, and that is why she asked the question.

Saying prayers is indeed praying -- but the old Baltimore Catechism defined prayer as "opening our hearts and minds to God."  And if we imagine being a disciple of Jesus, walking with Him through the countryside, eating with Him by the way, and conversing with Him throughout the day, I think our "prayer" would certainly include listening to Him with our whole hearts, our whole minds, and our whole strength:  Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke?  In fact, I consider prayer much more as listening to God than saying anything at all to Him.  Whenever I sense the presence of God, everything in me shuts down and shuts up -- I cannot speak at all, and I understand very little of what is happening.  But He works in secret; He is not obligated to give me an explanation of what He is doing.

So it is important to find a time and a place to meet with God.  That is the very first step.  Tomorrow, God willing, I will write more about this important step.