The catechism of the Catholic Church dedicates almost a hundred pages to
the topic of prayer. It offers a great many definitions of prayer. It
delineates the difference of several kinds of prayer such as prayer of petition, liturgical
prayer, meditation, prayer praise, charismatic prayer and contemplation as
examples of the generous coverage of the theme of prayer.
This blog is going to use prayers as defined by Thomas Merton and deepened by Teresa of Avila. We are talking about committed personal prayer. For Merton, a Trappist Monk who was one of the great spiritual teachers in 20th century America, “prayer then means yearning for the simple presence of God, for a personal understanding of God’s word, for knowledge of God’s will, and for the capacity to hear and obey God”. Teresa says prayer “is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him we know loves us.”
All prayer must raise our awareness of God’s loving presence. Humility es the foundation of all prayer.
We need to engage God’s word. The most privileged way of this encounter is in the Bible but also in the experiences of our life.
The encounter with God’s word leads us to God’s will, a call out of our selfishness to generosity toward God and others.
In this prayer listening is the key. New insight into the reality of God’s will guides our way of living with a new openness to humility, service and love. Teresa points out this dialogue involves one we know loves us.
When I use the description of committed personal prayer it can include several types of prayer: vocal, mental, meditation, Lectio Divina, and contemplative prayer. What they have in common is a specific personal effort to pray at a given time. This distinguishes this prayer from spontaneous prayer which can happen any time such as walking the dog, reading or watching a movie. Committed personal prayer is an effort to bring prayer into life by a discipline to pray regularly no matter how we feel. It might start out as only fifteen minutes a day but with commitment, discipline and generosity it will grow and slowly transform our lives. It leads us in a journey of love whose final goal is to be totally in love with God.
This blog is going to use prayers as defined by Thomas Merton and deepened by Teresa of Avila. We are talking about committed personal prayer. For Merton, a Trappist Monk who was one of the great spiritual teachers in 20th century America, “prayer then means yearning for the simple presence of God, for a personal understanding of God’s word, for knowledge of God’s will, and for the capacity to hear and obey God”. Teresa says prayer “is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him we know loves us.”
All prayer must raise our awareness of God’s loving presence. Humility es the foundation of all prayer.
We need to engage God’s word. The most privileged way of this encounter is in the Bible but also in the experiences of our life.
The encounter with God’s word leads us to God’s will, a call out of our selfishness to generosity toward God and others.
In this prayer listening is the key. New insight into the reality of God’s will guides our way of living with a new openness to humility, service and love. Teresa points out this dialogue involves one we know loves us.
When I use the description of committed personal prayer it can include several types of prayer: vocal, mental, meditation, Lectio Divina, and contemplative prayer. What they have in common is a specific personal effort to pray at a given time. This distinguishes this prayer from spontaneous prayer which can happen any time such as walking the dog, reading or watching a movie. Committed personal prayer is an effort to bring prayer into life by a discipline to pray regularly no matter how we feel. It might start out as only fifteen minutes a day but with commitment, discipline and generosity it will grow and slowly transform our lives. It leads us in a journey of love whose final goal is to be totally in love with God.
Teresa’s approach adds the loving dimension to all we are trying to accomplish.Another point on prayer in this blog is that I have chosen to use the structure of Lectio Divina in talking about deep personal prayer. Lectio Divina is a prayerful reading of the Bible or our experience. It involves four steps: reading, reflecting, responding and resting. There are many other methods of mental prayer or meditation. If you are familiar and more comfortable with these other approaches, this is no problem. We should always pray as we can, not as we ought. We need to use what works for us. Likewise, vocal prayer that is practiced with a deep sense of prayer can be help to personal transformation.
As we begin committed personal prayer the
first item is to gather ourselves so we can pay attention to the fact that we
are in the loving presence of God. Along with this centering of our focus we
need to realize that God is very close. In fact, God never takes his eyes off
of us.
The heart is the deepest truth about us.
In speaking about prayer, the Bible speaks of the heart almost a thousand
times. It is the heart that is the source of prayer. The heart is where we
encounter our most real self. It is our center even beyond or power of reason.
In prayer we want to bring the heart into an awareness of God. It is all about
a sense of presence seeking deeper communion with God.
In sum, it is gathering all our faculties to pay attention to intimate presence of God to seek communion. We have a sense of a sacred presence calling us to life in love. “Listen, I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rv 3:20)
The first steps of Lectio Divina, the reading and the reflection, may take the majority fo the time as we begin the quest for a committed personal prayer. However their job is to bring us to a deeper sense of presence so we can seek communion. These are the last steps of responding in prayer with an open heart and resting in silence in the loving presence of the one we know loves us.
The single greatest obstacle to prayer is not to begin. The second is the relentless attack of distractions. The resolution of distracctions is an on-going problem that needs much attention but ultimately it is a return to our focus.
Finally, this experience of committed personal prayer seeks to clarify the will of God in the concrete reality of our daily experience and to empower us in love to incarnate the presence of God’s love in the way we live in service of the kingdom.
In sum, it is gathering all our faculties to pay attention to intimate presence of God to seek communion. We have a sense of a sacred presence calling us to life in love. “Listen, I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rv 3:20)
The first steps of Lectio Divina, the reading and the reflection, may take the majority fo the time as we begin the quest for a committed personal prayer. However their job is to bring us to a deeper sense of presence so we can seek communion. These are the last steps of responding in prayer with an open heart and resting in silence in the loving presence of the one we know loves us.
The single greatest obstacle to prayer is not to begin. The second is the relentless attack of distractions. The resolution of distracctions is an on-going problem that needs much attention but ultimately it is a return to our focus.
Finally, this experience of committed personal prayer seeks to clarify the will of God in the concrete reality of our daily experience and to empower us in love to incarnate the presence of God’s love in the way we live in service of the kingdom.
