Jesus begins his teaching on prayer by stating that prayer is not babbling. When we pray we are to resist just saying empty words that have no meaning, or praying in words that we think God wants us to hear.
Prayer, first and foremost, is a response to the Holy Spirit moving within us, urging us to pray, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (cf. Romans 8:26). We are to speak honestly to God in our prayer. One of the most honest prayers I prayed was when I was around eight years old and overheard my parents discussing the idea of getting a divorce. I said to God that if I woke up in the morning and he allowed this to happen we were through. When we pray we bring our struggles and petitions, but also our joys and prayers of Thanksgiving, and let us not forget, we are to be still and silent as well to listen for his word or his silence.
Reading the psalms are also a great way to pray because they cover the full range of our human emotion and prayer; prayers of blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. We will even come across a reading like Psalm 88, which we feel does not appeal to us at the moment, as it is such a psalm of despair, yet someone is feeling that prayer and we can read and pray it for others.
Jesus also shares today with his disciples and us the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father. This is a gift of prayer as it presents two ways to pray, through rote and as a model for all prayer. A rote prayer is one that we memorize word for word. The blessing of a rote prayer is we can pray it in communion with others, as we all know the same words. Another important gift of rote prayers is that we can pray them when we are physically in pain or emotionally distraught when we feel we can’t pray. Having prayed the Our Father daily, it is a prayer we can lean on to give us strength through the storms of our life. Praying the Our Father gives us the words to speak when we have none, and by loosening our tongues, we can then speak more freely.
The Lord’s Prayer is also a model of prayer, in that the beginning, “Our Father”, is a reminder that God is the Father of us all. His sun shines on the good and the bad alike. Our prayer begins by putting our self in his presence. He is with us even when we seem afraid, forgotten, misunderstood, or alone. Our Father loves us and is only a word away. Calling on his name is a reminder that he is always present with us and he hasn’t forsaken us. He provides our daily bread and forgives us as we forgive others.
May we make some time today to pray the Our Father slowly. Allow our present situation in life to enter into our recitation. When we invoke the words, “Our Father”, stop and share with him our intentions and petitions, share with him what comes to mind; our joys, sorrows, or struggles, and seek his guidance as we seek his will that we can participate with him on earth as it is in heaven. Word by word, phrase by phrase, enter into a loving dialogue, remembering that the best dialogue also allows each party involved to spend some time listening to the other. Maybe by making some time to listen to God, we can listen to each other better. As St Mother Teresa taught, “God speaks in the silence of our hearts.” May this prayer lead us from temptation that we may be more open to follow his will today as God delivers us from all evil.
Photo: Painting of Jesus that my maternal grandparents had in their bedroom that was passed on to us and is now in our bedroom.
Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, February 19, 2018:
Spiritual Stepping Stones