Master, Teach us how to pray

Over the years many people have come to me and asked about prayer. T hey have asked all the questions each of us struggle with: how are they to pray, what do you do when you are sitting before the Blessed Sacrament, how to cope with distractions, what happened when you fall to sleep while you are at prayer. One person asked me if it was okay to say nothing. I am sure you have a few questions of your own from your own experiences of prayer.

Prayer can be looked at from many perspectives. There is the great prayer of the Church, liturgical prayer. The greatest of all prayers is of course the Holy Mass itself, when the prayer of Christ in his offering of himself to the Father is made present to us and for us. Then there is the prayer of the Office or the breviary, which all clerics are obliged to say and many religious and lay people pray each day. This is the official prayer of the Church, when the Bride addresses her Beloved Lord and prays in and through Christ for the Church and the whole world.

But then there is our own private personal prayer, our own personal relationship with God. This is your time with God. In this Sunday’s Gospel we see that Jesus Himself had time alone for prayer. When we have this personal time it is very important to remember that this is “my” time with God. There is not a good or bad way to pray, there is your way of being with Christ.

All the great Christian spiritual writers tell us that there is one great rule in prayer, you must do it daily. If you wish to take your relationship with the Lord seriously you must set time alone each day to be with Him. Even Jesus Himself did it.

Jesus Himself in the Gospel tells us to keep at it. Keep asking, searching, and knocking at the door of God’s heart. All the distractions and difficulties we experience in prayer should not stop us from faithfully setting time aside each day to search for the Lord.

 Set time aside for God each day of this week, personal time. He loves you, He desires your presence.

Fr. John Harris OP