Advent Preparation – Devotion To Prayer

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So far in this Advent Preparation series, we have looked at A – Attend Holy Mass Regularly. Today we will be looking at the second letter in Advent – D – Devotion to prayer. If you have not read or listened to A – Attend Holy Mass Regularly, then I suggest that you do so now.

So what exactly is prayer, and why do we need to pray? Well, prayer is simply defined as communicating with God. Prayer is about us ‘the lesser’ communicating with God ‘The Greater.’ That being said, one very important part of prayer is for us ‘the lesser’ to know what God ‘The Greater’ has to say to us. It is not about me running to God with a shopping list, but rather about me finding out from God what he desires of me. For many, prayer is a one-way conversation – we talk to God, then we sign off. Then we wonder why our prayers aren’t being answered. It is because we did not listen to what He was telling us to do. We ran out before that time.

Every day, I begin with prayer. I go to God to find out what he desires of me. Contemplating on the readings of the day can help in discovering God’s plan for us each day.. I go through the readings of the day with my heart open and asking God to speak to me through them. Almost every time He does. Whenever I get up late, and I start the day with a rush with not enough time to pray and greet God and find out what he desires of me, nine out of ten times, the day ends up being quite chaotic. I experience peace during the day when I am able to hear God’s still sweet voice speaking to me through praying the rosary or through contemplating on His Word through the readings of the day.

Many people attempt to compartmentalize prayer. What I mean is they may have a particular time of day when they pray, and pretty much nothing happens for the remaining 23 hours or more of the day. It is a good practice to have specific times during the day dedicated to prayer. However, this should not be the only time that we pray. Prayer should therefore not be something that we do, but rather what we become. Prayer should be a way of life for a Christian. So yes it is a great thing to start your day with prayer, it is even more fantastic to continue praying throughout the day. Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians encourages us to “In all your prayer and entreaty keep on praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for God’s holy people.” (Ephesians 6: 18) So for example, while you are driving, especially if your journey will take some time, you can pray. You can pray and ask God for his grace to get you safely to where you are going. You can pray for the other drivers around you. Instead of listening to secular radio stations – especially those that promote things that go against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you can listen to the Word of God in mp3 format. You can also drive alone silently asking God to speak in the quiet of your heart. The point is to invite the presence of God into your life – into your space and to be aware of His saving presence around you.. I always find it very sad when someone had a near accident, and instead of praying and thanking God for protection, they would exclaim how lucky they were. That is really sad.

Very often I encounter persons who shy away from praying publicly. They are very often even afraid to pray within the confines of the church. Many also seem to think that there is a particular way that one ought to pray. That is not the case. Prayer is simply you talking to God and God speaking to you. There aren’t any special words to be used. You can speak to God just as you are; just as you would speak with your best friend. He will accept you and he will listen to you. All he desires is that you come to Him with an honest, contrite, and humble heart.

Another very important aspect of prayer is within the confines of the family, where spouses pray for and with one another; mothers and fathers pray for and with their children. That way the children growing up in that home, experience prayer from their parents, and they would not be afraid or uncomfortable to pray in public. I remember many years ago going to a pizza parlor with members of the group that I am in. There were about twenty of us. When the pizza was finally served, we all stood up, made a circle, and prayed the Grace before meals. The entire place got very quiet as we did so. God alone knows how that witness of public prayer touched the lives of those who were there. Growing up, we were taught that whenever we walked past a Catholic church, we should make the sign of the cross. That in itself is a powerful prayer and it is also a powerful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Advent is a beautiful time to deepen our devotion to prayer. As mentioned earlier, the ability to pray at just about any time in our day is a great blessing. For me, a huge part of prayer is carrying Jesus in my mind and in my heart. This is not at all as easy as it sounds and in fact, can be quite a challenge. It challenges me to earnestly seek to allow God‘s Holy Spirit to captivate my heart and mind, which will propel my every action. Our every decision and action during the day should be guided by the Holy Spirit. How do we attempt to get to this place? The key to this I mentioned earlier, that is starting your day with prayer. Openly and sincerely consecrating the day ahead to God. This can include praying the Holy Rosary and reading the scripture passages for the day. Contemplating on the scripture passages for the day will give us an idea of what our Heavenly Father wants to say to us each day.

We pray for various reasons and in various forms. I pray to grow closer to God and to tell him what’s in my heart and on my mind. I pray to listen to God and to know what he wants of me in all circumstances. I pray to thank God, to intercede on behalf of my family and friends, for our church, government, the sick, conversion for sinners, and for our world. There is so much to pray about in our world right now. Advent allows us to really dive deeper into our prayer.

We learn from Jesus the importance of a life of prayer. In Luke 6:12, we see that Jesus spent the entire night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles. This suggests that prayer should be an important part of our decision-making process. We also see that Jesus was always running off to pray and to commune with His Father. As Christians, we too ought to imitate this life of prayer. For something as important as Advent – the coming of Christ, we should be in constant prayer, asking God to show us how He wants us to prepare for His coming. Prayer should be our lifeline to get and stay connected to God.

As Catholics, we have the Holy Mass which affords us a foretaste of Heaven in the Holy Eucharist. We would have looked at the importance of the Eucharist in “Attend Holy Mass Regularly. Jesus also through his holy Church, makes himself available to us in Eucharistic adoration, yet another beautiful and powerful way to deepen our prayer life and to encounter Jesus Christ. Eucharistic adoration has been for me a tremendous source of grace and strength. I get to pour my heart out to Jesus, thank him, to listen to him, to worship him, and have that one on one encounter I have with my best friend, who loves me and knows me inside out. I recommend Eucharistic adoration to anyone who earnestly desires to deepen their prayer life, not just during Advent but throughout their entire life. Jesus will be waiting for you there.

One of the great benefits of Eucharistic adoration is that it helps you to develop that sense of silence, which is critical for prayer. As mentioned earlier, the most important part of prayer is not what we have to say to God. He already knows. It is what He has to say to us. We can only discover what He is saying to us when we learn to be still – to be silent and listen to Him. In our very busy world, this is not always easy to do. In fact, it can be very difficult at times. With the constant noise that is both external and within us, silence can be a challenge. Do not give up. Keep on trying to find that quiet place in the presence of Jesus. Eucharistic adoration provides the ideal setting for this – you, Jesus, and silence.

So far much has been said about what prayer is; different forms of prayer, and how to pray, but what exactly does prayer have in relation to Advent and the second coming of Christ? Well, we said earlier that prayer is me – ‘the lesser’, conversing with God – ‘The Greater’. Prayer is about our being in tune with what God is saying to us. Prayer is about us opening our hearts to what God desires. Prayer is about us constantly listening for that still sweet voice of God. Here is the connection. If we pray the correct way, that is where what God has to say is far more important than what we have to say to him, and if our minds and our hearts are open, prayer will bring transformation to our own lives. Even though we may be praying about a particular situation, through prayer we will always find ourselves being transformed. Through earnest prayer therefore our hearts will be transformed, and we will grow closer to God. When we grow closer to God, we will become more open to His will for our lives. When we are open to the will of God for our lives, we would be in the greatest state of readiness for his coming – in what-ever form that may take.

In many instances, people go to God in prayer with the wrong attitude. What I mean is they are constantly fretting, and almost every time they pray it sounds like they are quarreling with God. Listen to what St. Paul has to say about our approach to prayer. “Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul again employs us to, “always and everywhere give thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5: 20). In both instances, Paul is saying the same thing; we must have the right attitude in prayer, and that attitude is one of gratitude – always giving thanks to God. A couple days ago, I was looking at our local news when they featured the plight of a woman whose body was overtaken with a form of cancer that left her deformed and in excruciating pain. I was really moved when she cried out in pain; and with her tear-filled eyes, and a weak embattled voice she said, “thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus!” My dear friends, that is the attitude that God desires us to have, even when our crosses seem unbearable.

Recently I visited one of the shopping centers here in Trinidad, and there was this tree among other trees close to the entrance, that seemed as if its roots won’t deep enough in the soil. Rain fell and saturated the soil. All of the other trees seemed to be OK but this one tree keeled over, withered, and died. This reminds me of the scripture passage in John 15: 5 that says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me and him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.” For me that was a very powerful demonstration of the importance of prayer in our lives. Prayer is what connects us to Jesus, our source for power. Prayer is what roots us, secures our foundation so that nothing can break us. Life may bend us but it will not break us because we are rooted in Christ through the power of prayer. As important as it was for that tree to be deeply rooted in the soil, so it is important for us to be devoted to prayer as one of the means of preparing for the coming of Christ this Advent and throughout our lives.

Finally, Luke chapter 11 tells us that ‘once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples to pray.“ Jesus answered him and said, “ Say this when you pray:

Father, may your name be held holy,
Your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.

This blueprint for prayer as given to us by Jesus (the Lord’s prayer) is a perfect template for devotion to prayer. If we were to translate or apply the Lord’s prayer to our daily life, it could possibly sound something like this:

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge you and you alone as God. You are holy and there is none like you. We place you first in our lives Lord, high above all others. Help us to recognize that we are all connected and that you desire that all of us be saved.
May your kingdom come. May your will be done. Bend our will to yours oh God. Give us the grace to recognize that you know and you desire what is best for each of us. Help us always to seek to do your will and to cooperate with your plan for our lives.
Father, we rely on you to provide for all our needs. We rely on you this day and every day for all that we need. We believe that all that we need you have already provided. Help each of us to recognize that we are our brother’s (sister’s) keeper, and that we should always seek to help each other.
Father, we are all sinners, and we are in need of your mercy. Please forgive us all of our sins. Please help us to recognize our sinfulness and in so doing, to recognize how much we need Jesus Christ your Son, the savior of all the world. Help us never to think that we are any better than others, but that all of us are in need of your saving grace.
Father, please forgive us, in so much as we forgive others who have offended us. Father, we desire that we be forgiven by you so we ask you for the grace to forgive those who have offended us, even those who have hurt us in the worst possible way.
Father, we are weak but you are strong. Please do not put us to the test. Like Saint Paul, we all can testify that ‘there go I but for the grace of God.’ Help us to rely on your grace and please God keep us far from sin. Help us Lord to recognize sin and to run far away from it so that we may live lives that are pleasing to you.
Amen

So may God bless you, and as you strive to have a better and deeper prayer life. May God through his Holy Spirit, guide you so that you may truly encounter him in ways never known before.