Perhaps you found two minutes to pray this past week, and maybe even found a place that was fairly quiet. You adjusted your attitude, or at least made a valiant effort to do so, and then felt like you were just sitting there, wasting time! “God, I've got things to do!” The Basics of Prayer outlined in last week's column - Place and Time, Relaxation, and Proper Attitude - all lay the foundation for the beginnings of prayer. Like a conversation between two friends or lovers requires attention and effort, so too the discipline of prayer. Our God waits for us to turn to Him and begin to open to His presence. Never once will God force Himself into our lives, or dominate our own free will and choosing to be with Him. That would not be love, and God would never go against Himself. Nor is it the loving thing to do in relegating any and all conversation with someone we claim to love, to take place on the run or from only our side. Prayer requires three very active levels of participation for it to be fully effective and transformative. The pray-er must make every effort to balance the levels of Speaking, Listening and Silence! Without each of these three things working in tandem, our prayer will be stilted and frustrated. We will grow tired quickly of the exercise, and inevitably find ourselves claiming that “God just doesn't seem to care!” The Speaking part of prayer will almost always be the place where we trip up the most consistently and frequently. Basically, we talk too much! And what we say to God is more confusing and rambling than it is engaging God in a conversation. We are good at firing off our requests and needs to God, oftentimes at an almost panicked pace. Once we have “vented” or purged ourselves of what we have to say to God, we offer Him mere seconds to respond and then move on to what is “important” for the day. After all, God does not appear to be standing in front of us, demanding equal air time, nor will he grab our arm and turn us back to Him and say “Hey, hold on! I have something to say!” Or does He? It is almost as if we are afraid of forgetting something or someone. That if we were to stop speaking, we would have no idea what to do. Many a person who has come to me for Spiritual Direction or Reconciliation has heard me ask them, “Do you ever write things down in prayer?” My firm belief and own experience tells me that if we try to keep straight all the things that run through our heads, we will only become totally frustrated and confused. What energy we waste trying to keep it all filed and processed in our minds. Taking five minutes a day and writing down all that seems important for us to worry about each day will release us to focus on what truly matters. We no longer need to keep it all “up here”, but know that it will not be forgotten since it is written down. A remarkable thing happens when we do this, too. The words on the page take on a new meaning, and much of what we thought to be important takes on its true cast, and can be finally set aside. Some things we spend hours and days worrying about can finally be seen to be the dumbest of worries. It is always much easier to prioritize items written on a piece of paper than trying to do so when they are swimming around in the vast recesses of our minds. Speaking with God begins by understanding what it is that we truly have to say to Him. The exercise of writing things down can be a wonderful help to formalize all that must be said in conversation and prayer, and what, after all, can be left aside. In putting things into some semblance of order, our panicky feeling is also relieved, and the “things” of life that call for our attention can be managed a bit more easily. Before we actually open our “mouths” in prayer, the process has already brought us comfort and perhaps direction. So then, how do we then speak to our God? What would you say to a close friend or lover? You acknowledge their presence and greet them warmly! You embrace them with a hug, or offer a kiss perhaps to show that you are truly grateful for them being in your life. Same with God. “Truly God, it is great to have you in my life”, “Thanks, God, for loving me as you do.”, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...”, “Great and awesome God, I am not worthy be in your presence, and yet here you are ...” Whatever works. And notice, you have not asked for one thing on your list. With a friend, would you not at some time recall the good times you have had together, the times that have made you close? How about God? “I cherish my family, Lord...”, “You have been with me through so much already, Lord...”, “...the mercies of the Lord are not exhausted...they are renewed each day” Our trust is expressed, our gratitude, and once more we have asked for nothing, ...

© 2005 Peter J. Andrews