Prayer
As I have traveled my faith journey, I have come to understand prayer more deeply.
The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, encouraged the church to “pray without ceasing”. (1Thessalonians 5:17)
I love that the desert mothers and fathers saw prayer as a way of life, perhaps answering the call to pray without ceasing. “Prayer was not an activity undertaken for a few hours each day, it was a life continually turned towards God.” (Center for Action and Contemplation Meditation, February 19)
In our Centering Prayer Group, we are reading (I’m re-reading) The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a humble Carmelite monk from the 17th century. In the Foreward, Henri Nouwen notes “Brother Lawrence’s deep conviction that prayer is not saying prayers but a way of living in which all we do becomes a prayer.” Brother Lawrence saw God’s love in every moment of life and encouraged others to find the same. For example, he wrote a Reverend Mother:
“Become accustomed then little by little to adore Him in this way: demand of Him His grace; offer Him your heart from time to time during the day in the midst of your work at every moment if you can; do not burden yourself with rules or particular devotions but act with faith, with love and with humility.” (p. 52)
So when my spiritual directors ask me about my prayer life, I respond that I practice Centering or Contemplative Prayer, a time set aside to listen for God’s voice, AND I have my “Brother Lawrence prayers”, where I practice the presence of God in the most ordinary times of my day.
I am convinced that the “listening” prayers have begun to rewire my brain and the “Brother Lawrence” prayers allow me to see God in all of creation, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta captures now for me this amazing power of prayer and the connection between contemplation and action:
“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
May our Lenten journey be filled with prayer, peace, and thoughtful response to God’s call.
Lenten Blessings, Judy Q
