Prayer Problems
Prayer is as essential to our spiritual life as breathing is to our physical life. It is getting in touch with God, our Creator, and communicating with him. This deepens our relationship with God. We wouldn’t want to arrive at the pearly gates of heaven and have God say to us, “And who are you?” Many of us who know the value of prayer also know that it may be plagued with difficulties. As one woman bemoaned, “I would pray more if I knew how to do it.” Let’s investigate some of the complaints about prayer and possible solutions.
1. “I don’t have time to pray.” In today’s crazy society, this may truly be the #1 problem. We have so many demands on us that the day disappears before we know it and we haven’t given a thought to God. That’s unfortunate because it’s God who has given us those twenty-four hours. The least we can do is thank him for it! A friend of mine observed that we always find time to do the things we really want to do. (like watch a football game or “Downton Abbey”) Some people solve the problem of finding time for prayer by rising a little early and devoting those first minutes to God. A university student confided to me that if he doesn’t pray first thing in the morning, he feels as though his day was wasted. Another idea for wresting time for prayer from our jam-packed days is to make use of downtime for prayer. We can say, “Jesus, I love you” or “God, help Bob get through his surgery successfully” while we are standing in line in a store, waiting for something to download, or being “on hold” on the phone. We can also pray as we drive, walk, run, or exercise.
By the way, someone who doesn’t carve out time for prayer might rationalize, “My work is my prayer.” That’s like a husband reasoning that because he works to support his family he doesn’t have to talk to his wife!
2. “My prayer is filled with distractions.” Talk about multitasking. I can find that I close my Prayer of Christians book and don’t remember a word I said to God, but I know the outline for my next book! Distractions are like pesky mosquitoes. They are unavoidable. There’s a story about a man who was offered a horse if he could say the Our Father without a distraction. The man began, “Our Father, who art in heaven” and then asked, “Do I get the saddle too?” Sometimes distractions can be a blessing, a way that God is telling us something. Also we might be able to work our distractions into our prayer. For example, if we start to think about the latest murder in the news, we can offer a prayer for those who are mourning.
3. “I fall asleep when I pray.” St. Teresa of Avila tells us not to worry about this. She asks, “Does a Father love a child less when the child is sleeping in his arms?” Finding a better time to pray might help, as well as a cup of coffee. When I was in the novitiate, VERY early in the morning we meditated and prayed together in chapel for forty-five minutes before Mass. Coffee, called Lauds coffee, left over from the previous day was available. It kept many a sister from falling off her pew.
4. “I’m bored by prayer.” Change the way you pray. There are as many varieties of prayer as there are cereals in the supermarket, to name a few, guided meditation, prayers written by saints, the rosary, mantras, and lectio divina. Just this week a Sister said that she prays the rosary addressing Mary by a different title for each decade. She said this brought her closer to Our Lady. Now that is creative prayer.
5. “God doesn’t answer my prayers anyway. (He must not like me.)” To hear God, we need to be quiet and listen. Then we will be aware of God speaking in our heart and putting thoughts in our heads. What if God doesn’t answer our requests? Well, sometimes God responds, “No,” or “I’ve got a better idea,” or “Wait awhile,” or (according to Jimmy Carter), “Are you kidding?”
6. “When I pray nothing happens. I don’t feel anything, nor do I hear God speak.” You are in good company. What is called “dryness” in prayer has been experienced by the saints. The test of prayer is whether or not you are a better person.
If you are unhappy with your prayer, take heart. It’s said that most people pray more and better than they think they do!
What is your favorite time and place to pray?
Can You Imagine?
As a child, I had a record that played the song, “Mr. I. Magination.” I believe the first line continued, “the man with the magic reputation.” Our imagination truly is magical. We thank God for our gifts of sight, hearing, and—especially after a scrumptious meal—taste, but how many of us thank for the gift of imagination? Recently I heard a homily in which the priest pointed out that imagination is a power of our soul that we share with God. After all, God first imagined the world and us—conceived it in his mind—before he brought it into being! Our imagination helps us to create too. Author Jules Verne imagined things like lunar modules, diving bells, and tasers before they became realities. As Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” No doubt Michelangelo, Monet, and Van Gogh first visualized their masterpieces in their mind’s eye.
We imagine how we would like a room decorated, how we will plant a garden, and cook a meal before we actually do it. With our imagination we solve problems and daydream. Writers draw on imagination to come up with a fascinating story, and readers use imagination to visualize that story. For example, when we hear or see the word “red,” immediately that color appears in our mind’s eye. Likewise, at the words “Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” our imagination lets us hear “Da-da-da-Dum” even when we are not listening to an orchestra. (more…)
Pluto, Our Tongue, and God
Pluto is the brightest of many objects orbiting the sun in what is known as the Kuiper Belt. Yesterday, the NASA probe New Horizons going 31,000 mph passed Pluto, snapping pictures and recording data. The 3-billion-mile journey there took nine years. This is an awesome feat for the human race. When Pluto was discovered in 1930, it was hailed as a planet. Now that we know more, it has been re-dubbed as a “dwarf planet.” Pondering the immensity of the universe beyond earth gives me vertigo. It’s impossible to fathom the mind-boggling distances and seemingly endless number of extraterrestial bodies—stars, asteroids, planets, and black holes—surrounding our little blue and green Earth hurtling through space. No wonder some Jewish man ages ago gazing at the breathtaking night sky exclaimed, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4).
Our mortal bodies themselves are amazing. Recently while reading a children’s magazine, I came across an article on the tongue. Usually I don’t give my tongue a thought unless I bite it, but I now have a new appreciation for it. This muscle helps us taste. It is covered with little knobs that grip food. Nerves called taste buds between the knobs signal the brain what the food tastes like. (Taste buds on the back of the tongue sense bitter, toward the front on each side are sour taste buds, closer to the front on the sides are salty, and on the tip of the tongue are sweet.) The tongue pushes food to the teeth so it can be crushed. Saliva glands at the side wet the tongue in order to soften the food. The tongue moves food to the back of the mouth to be swallowed. If the glob of food is too big, the tongue humps up and closes the way to the throat so we don’t choke. Besides enabling us to eat, the tongue helps us speak. Facts not found in the children’s magazine: We show dislike by sticking out our tongue and express love with it in a french kiss. Analyzing other members of our body that we take for granted, such as the eye or heart, would similarly reveal how remarkable we have been fashioned.
The marvelous way our bodies work came home to me years ago when I experienced a numb thumb and such severe pain in my shoulder that it sometimes brought tears to my eyes. The doctor explained that the problem was a herniated disk in my neck—not my shoulder at all. The trapezius muscle runs from our neck to our shoulder. When somehow this muscle knows there is a problem in the neck, it contracts to cause pain and prevent movement, thereby protecting the spinal cord. Truly we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). By the way, the nurse who prepared me for surgery told me that her husband was cured of epilepsy after their parish had prayed for him. When I said that I’ve been praying hard to be cured, but God hadn’t answered my prayer, the nurse responded, “He is answering it . . . through doctors.” And he did.
What realization or experience has confirmed your faith in a loving and wise creator?
Dig into the Bible (and Maybe Strike It Rich)
This week I came across a book that was a collection of little known facts in the Bible. It reminded me of the time I heard that God shut the door of Noah’s ark after all were boarded. Really? I had to look it up and, sure enough, there it was. (See Genesis 7:16.) At this morning’s Mass we heard the story of Jacob wrestling with God, and again, a detail I didn’t realize before stood out. When Jacob politely asked God’s name, the only response he received was “Why is it it that you ask my name?” Now why did God tell his name to Moses but not to Jacob, I wonder. If you’re like me, sometimes when Scripture is proclaimed at Mass I think, “I know that story,” and I tune out. Instead of listening attentively for God’s message, maybe I plan my next writing project or decide what to have for dinner. This is not smart, for our memories have holes in them, and besides, no matter how often we read or hear God’s word, there is always some fresh insight.
God’s word is like an onion. It has many layers of meaning. A verse or a story can mean one thing to a Jewish person and another thing to a Christian, one thing to a married person and another thing to a priest, one thing to you this year and another thing to you next year. You’ve experienced differences in interpretation if you ever attended a Bible study or prayed lectio divina in a group where participants shared what a passage meant to them.
Perhaps you are familiar with the role Scripture played in St. Augustine’s life. One day when he was still a playboy, he heard a child chanting, “Take it and read it; take it and read it.” He picked up Scripture and read, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:13–14). That was all Augustine needed to turn around his life and become a bishop and a saint. Another instance of the Bible’s striking power involves author Thomas Merton. When he was in the throes of discerning whether or not to become a Trappist, he opened the Bible and saw the words “Be still” (Psalm 46:10). Trappists were known for their silence.
If you believe that in Scripture God speaks to us personally regarding our lives and our relationship with him, then you will listen as St. Benedict says, “With the ears of your heart.” And, you will wrestle with God’s word.
Just for fun and to pique your interest, here are Bible trivia that might be a “revelation” to you.
1. At the time of the flood, Noah was 600 years old. (Genesis 7:6) As they say, “Old age isn’t for cowards.”
2. Abraham and Sarah had the same father. (Genesis 20:12) So Abraham really wasn’t totally lying when he told the Pharaoh she was his sister.
3. David’s warriors could shoot arrows right and left handed. (1 Chronicles 12:2)
4. The Levites (Jewish priests) had a mandatory retirement age of 50 years. (Numbers 8:25) Imagine if that were true for our priests today.
5. God described the people in Nineveh as not knowing their left from their right. (Jonah 4:11) No wonder he had pity on them.
6. In the Book of Esther, God is never mentioned. This led some people to argue against including it the canon, official list of biblical books. Why do you think Esther is considered sacred scripture?
7. Phoebe (a woman!) was a minister or deacon in the the early Church. (Romans 16:1-2)
8. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were both written to Theophilus. This name means “lover of God,” so it might mean any follower of Jesus.
9. Although we say, “Jesus fed 5,000,” that number didn’t include the women and children. (Matthew 14:21) So how many did he really feed?
10. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” is a quotation from Jesus not found in the Gospels. (Acts 20:35) Don’t you wish you knew what else he said that didn’t come down to us?
11. When Jesus was arrested, a young man following him was caught but ran away naked, leaving behind his linen cloth. (Mark 14:51-52) This detail is only in the Gospel of Mark—who might have been the young man.
12. The new earth won’t have oceans. (Revelation 21:1)
What Scripture verse has captured your attention in a new way?
A Few Notes on Music in Life and Worship
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One of the most delightful gifts we human beings have is music. Thank God we can enjoy listening to it, making it, singing to it, whistling it, humming it, and dancing to it. Although preferences range from stirring classical pieces like Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” and operatic arias to rock numbers and toe-tapping songs like “Happy,” everyone likes music. It’s no surprise that music plays a dominant role in our worship. Singing is a way to use our body to praise God. As St. Augustine remarked, “Singing is praying twice,” or as my friend pointed out, the saint really said, “Singing well is praying twice”!
I used to balk at the idea of singing after receiving Communion, preferring to use this sacred time for a tete-a-tete between Jesus and me. But then I considered the explanation that in Communion we are bonded together with all other Church members and what better way to express this than by uniting our voices in song? (more…)
