A certain man asked me some time ago to help him to pray. The first thought that came to me was a quote from an author who said that we pray by praying, and we pray well by praying much. While this is clearly not the last word on prayer, it is a common-sense approach, one that should at least help us get started. It may be that many worthwhile endeavors are postponed because we think we have to be experts or professionals before we even start. But let’s come as we are and begin to pray.
Too much emphasis today is given to techniques, methods, and what sometimes amount to gimmicks when it comes to prayer. They are usually intended to facilitate spiritual experience—which is good in itself—but the one who prays should not primarily be seeking experience. If the prayer is authentic, one ought only to be seeking God. Sometimes people mistake certain bodily or psychic sensations as genuine spiritual experience. Thus they not only fall short of encountering the true God, they also open themselves to the danger of actually being led astray.
This article is a brief reflection on prayer, from a fellow traveler. If I offer any practical advice on what may seem to be a method or a technique, simply accept it as a suggestion and not an instruction. Such things are peripheral to prayer itself. If they help, use them; if they don’t, don’t. The important thing is to seek God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.
It is wise to begin prayer with an honest admission: I don’t know how to pray. God will look compassionately upon a humble heart. We also need to invoke the Holy Spirit as we start to pray. “For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). If we earnestly implore and then allow the Holy Spirit to pray within us and guide us to the whole truth, we can have confidence that our prayer will end up being something more than our own hapless floundering.
When we pray it is necessary that we learn how to “do what we are doing.” That may sound simplistic or even silly, but reflect for a minute on your experience of prayer. How much of the time are you really praying when you are supposed to be praying? How often are you thinking about what you have to do today, what so-and-so said to you yesterday, or how you are going to deal with some pressing problem? We have to learn how to live and pray in the present moment, because that is the only one we have.
It can be very difficult to do this, especially for those of us whose brains churn out unceasing mental activity. Other concerns seem more present to us than does God, and sometimes they seem more interesting as well. But we have to exercise a bit of self-discipline, supported by our faith and love for the Lord, in order to get focused enough to open ourselves to divine grace in the time that He gives us. If we had any idea of the surpassing value of directing all our energies toward God, instead of scattering them across everything and everyone else, we would devote as much time as possible to sitting at the feet of the Master.
One way of being present to the present moment is by becoming aware of something else that “is” in this moment. You could stand or sit before an icon or a lit candle. You could become aware of sounds coming to you in your environment: the birds singing, rain on the roof, a wind chime, or even the rhythm of your own breathing. The idea is not to focus on these things, but to be quietly aware of them. The candle is burning in the present moment, the rain is raining in the present moment—and if you notice this, you too are in the present moment! Now all you have to do is stay there. All this, however, is not yet prayer. This merely helps you get out of the past and future tenses of your mental labyrinth so you can turn your attention to God.
The above is a kind of immediate preparation for prayer, but there are more “remote” preparations or presuppositions for prayer. Deep and genuine prayer presupposes faith and an appropriate level of moral purity. That doesn’t mean you have to be a saint to start praying, but if you are currently stuck fast in habitual sins, you had better begin with the prayer of the publican: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” You can advance little by little as you get your life in order.
Fasting and other ascetical practices are part of the foundation for prayer, as are the general intent and effort to devote our attention to the things of God and away from the things of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It just stands to reason that we can’t walk in from a night of carousing and expect to enjoy mystical contemplation. Communion with God here on earth, and its eternal fulfillment in Heaven, is not like the cheap thrills of this world. It takes a life of love and dedication—even to the point of suffering—to regain the lost Paradise. The saints knew this, so they persevered in prayer and fidelity to the will of God.
What about the content of your prayer? What do you say? Do you need to say anything? When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He said: “When you pray, say ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven…’” (Perhaps I should just stop right here. If that is the advice of the Son of God, dare I add to it? But since fools rush in where angels fear to tread, I guess I’ll go on.)
We get used to saying the Lord’s Prayer in about 30 seconds and then move on to something else. But suppose we took five or ten minutes to pray it? Suppose we reflected deeply on every phrase and just let them sink into our souls? Since this is a prayer composed by the Eternal Word of God, its riches are infinite. Perhaps you could give your whole prayer time to praying the Our Father, and see what that does for your relationship with God. (By the way, I have done that myself and have found it very fruitful.) When our Lord Jesus Christ explicitly tells us what to say when we pray, we should know with certainty that this is in fact what to say when we pray.
To be continued…
