How's Your Prayer Life

by Mike Hey

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”

I’ve got to admit it guys, mine is kind of dry sometimes. While I do not normally make New Year’s resolutions I have reflected on what I would like to do in 2017 to be a better Catholic. Praying more intentionally and fervently heads my list.

We’re all busy. We have responsibilities and duties that fill our days and crowd our minds and hearts. They stretch us and keep us on the go. In the midst of this reality, how are we to preserve and nurture a spiritual life? How are we to prevent our souls from being casualties to our life’s activities? In summary, how are we to stay close to the Lord in our everyday lives? How are we to pray when prayer becomes dry and challenging?

Some might respond that we need a quiet life, solitude, and set times for prayer in order to grow spiritually. This may be possible for some of us, but probably not the majority of us. How about this: Seek to quiet some of the things we do; instead of complete solitude, we need to look for solitude within our hearts and where we might be able to find a few minutes to be alone; instead of set times for prayer, we should look for zones of prayer that acknowledge our legitimate duties and gives the flexibility we need to find time to pray.

“What am I supposed to say when I pray?” When we pray, we can say whatever we want. There is no such thing as a bad prayer. When we begin to pray, the most important thing is just that we are praying.

To help us when we begin to pray, we can do what we do best in our fallen nature; namely, we can just complain! We can open our hearts and just let God know about our struggles and disappointments. As our habit strengthens, we can change our complaining into thanksgiving and gratitude. We can thank God for all his blessings. Eventually, our five minutes can become ten minutes. We can pray for family and friends. We can pray for special intentions of the Holy Infant Prayer Group. We can pray for teachers, who have such an instrumental role in fashioning the intellect, ethics, and character of young people. We can pray for our government leaders because they need all the help they can get! Most importantly we should remember to pray for the souls in Purgatory, the sick, dying, poor, homeless, and those who are marginalized by society. Don’t forget to ask for a small measure of grace and forgiveness for yourself. Now pause and let God speak to you. In forming our habit of prayer, we begin to deepen our understanding that prayer is about relationship and covenant, and not about a “to do” list for God. We begin to see that prayer is about asking God what he wants from us, and not asserting what we want from him.

In time, our ten minutes can become fifteen or twenty minutes and then we can begin to use different prayer forms from the Church’s spiritual treasury (Holy scripture, CRHP (March 25-26, 2017), PX90, Eucharistic Adoration, daily Mass) to help us deepen our prayer and more clearly hear the Lord speak to us.

“What can I do when prayer gets really difficult?” When our prayer life becomes dry, it’s important that we understand what is happening. Some might think that when prayer becomes difficult or dry, that they are doing something wrong, have offended God in some way, or something in that arena. This is especially true if we have experienced spiritual consolations and the joy of prayer. The hardship of prayer can come as a swift and firm lesson. What is happening in these moments? What is God doing? Have I lost my mojo?

This part of the spiritual life is known as the purgative way. The expression reflects the reality: we are being purged in these dark times of prayer. God is removing the consolation and teaching us to love him for himself and not for the blessings we receive from him. As St. Theresa of Avila, the great Doctor of Mystical Prayer, teaches us, “We worship the God of consolations, not the consolations of God.” In the purgative way, God has moved from “soul triage” to “soul surgery.” In this process, he is teaching us dependency and trust.

We should not be afraid of these moments. Even as we wrestle, the spiritual masters teach us that God is closer to us in our purgation than in our times of consolation. God is doing more in our souls than we could ever imagine. Our task is to persevere and let God work.

The purgative way usually concludes with an illumination of some form. The Lord imprints knowledge within us in a profound way. This could include a mystical awareness of love, mercy, hope, healing, or other areas that we need in our discipleship. After this illumination, the purgative way begins again and the process continues within us leading us from “glory unto glory” (John 1:16).

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

God’s blessings to you and your family this Christmas, and to a happy, healthy, prosperous, and prayerful 2017.