The Value of Prayer - First Entry

Many people say they are Christians. Even people who no longer go to Church often profess a belief in God. But, is such a faith always authentic? A man and woman can fall in love and get married; and yet, what if they never talk or spend quality time with each other? If other things, like business affairs or even personal hobbies and clubs supplant the relationship, would we not say that the marriage was hurting or dying? While it is possible that real love was not there from the beginning, it is more likely that the affection from such a union was allowed to wither because of neglect. Just as this is true about the relationships of couples, as well as other human congress, it also may be the desperate case in our personal relationship with God.

When I begin the work of spiritual direction with someone, an initial question I ask is “Do you pray?” Perhaps because the type of people who would seek out a priest is more religious anyway, most of them say “Yes.” But good follow-up queries are to ask, simply, “When?” and “How much?” Immediately a snapshot of a person’s prayer life comes into view. We also begin the first efforts at breaking down the walls of deception, to one’s self and to others. I have witnessed the uncomfortable silence where people who claimed to pray were unable to give a solitary instance of personal prayer, other than perhaps the bedside prayers they said as children. Others will say that they pray at Mass. Certainly liturgical and corporate prayer is efficacious, but what is it if personal prayer has disappeared? It can happen that a person who goes through the mechanical motions of prayer may not really be praying at all—just satisfying the demands of duty.

Nothing can replace personal prayer. We cannot have a corporate faith and trust in Christ as a Church unless there is an essential personal relationship with Jesus. Every Catholic should be able to answer the evangelical question, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” with a resounding, “Yes!” Directives from Rome to replace the current translation of the Creed at Mass with one more faithful to the Latin is illustrative of this. We make the profession of faith together, but for each member, it is “I believe . . . .”

Life in the modern world can be intensely hectic. The believer needs to take “time outs” for dialogue with God. We come back again and again to the life-giving stream or as some express it today, we need to take time to “recharge our batteries”. Otherwise, we would run down spiritually, impoverishing ourselves and having nothing of eternal consequence to offer others. Notice in the Gospels how many times Jesus went off by himself for prayer. If such is a human need for Christ, who is God come among us, then how much more so is it essential to you and me?

Obviously the personal prayer of Jesus was not entirely analogous to our own. However, neither did his prayer constitute only an example for us. The apparent fact of prayer on the part of Jesus is a defense against any and all forms of Gnosticism, a heresy where the spirit is heralded and the flesh or matter is condemned. Jesus is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. This remains true throughout and nothing diminishes his divinity. But prayer is a vital element in the human equation, as important or more so than eating, drinking and breathing. Jesus prays because he is truly human.

It may be remarked with some haste, that the theme of repentance which so often qualifies our personal prayer was alien to the personal orations of our Lord. Jesus could be tempted, but he was perfect and could not sin. Remember that sin is rebellion against God and since Jesus is a divine Person, he cannot be in rebellion against himself. We bend the knee and cry out, “Lord, forgive me, I am a sinner.” This is where our personal prayer begins and this is the posture to which we repeatedly return. Nevertheless, precisely because he was the Christ and our Savior, he could make such a prayer with us in mind. He came into the world specifically to do his saving work—to forgive sins and to heal the rift inflicted by the primordial rebellion. Long before he said those fateful words from the Cross, he no doubt prayed alone, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

It is only in prayer with God that we find ourselves. The tragedy of our times is that so many people, particularly the young, search for meaning in the seemingly exotic non-Christian religions of the East while there is a vibrant and enormous spiritual heritage left undiscovered in the Christian West. Others push aside religion altogether and worship the false God they see in the mirror. Still others attempt to inebriate themselves with alcohol, drugs and the sins of the flesh as a distraction from the real purpose of existence. No matter whether we want to accept it or not, every one of us was made for God. As the catechism taught so many of us, we were made to know, to love, and to serve God and to give glory and to be happy with him forever in the life to come. All Christian prayer must be reflective of this truth.

How can we really say we love God if we do not communicate with him? Prayer is love-talk between ourselves and God, and not just one way either. This is important because a not so subtle atheism can infect contemporary men and women. They can pray as if it is a soliloquy and they are utterly alone. They can tell themselves what they want to hear and fail to appreciate the true voice of God that challenges every believer to embrace the Cross and to be a sign of contradiction in the world. Sometimes we should speak less in our prayer and listen more. Placing ourselves in the divine presence, we need to spend time allowing God to speak to our hearts. Those who do this are often amazed at the insights they are given. There are few secrets to existence and discipleship that are not revealed by prayer.