In Silence There Is Strength - The Power of Prayer

Be still and know that I am God. 

We all have within us the power to approach the Throne of Grace with our humble requests day or night, in a crowd or alone.  In a church or in a prison.  More than that we have a need to pray.  We have an unconscious desire to be one with God.  This is why we have this urgent urge within us, we want to be close to the one whose love has always been there for us. 

Prayer from God's point of view is not necessary, He does not need to hear from us to be satisfied. It is His will that we have the opportunity to pray but he does not force us to do so. He wants to be our friend but only if we want to be His. 

I imagine that there are some people who go their whole life without once thinking of God or praying to Him. These are the saddest of all creatures for by exercising their right to turn their back on God, they chose a horrible destiny. 

For some of us foxhole prayers are the norm.  When life presses in and the storms of life close in, God gets called upon as sort of a Mister Fix It. Once the problem is solved our conversation with God stops until the next storm or urgent need crosses our path. 

Some people pray the prayers learned in their youth, prayers that come to mind and are said by rote.  These people are the first that are engaging in prayer, real prayer.  To pray by rote using words written by others is not a bad thing if it expresses the love you have for God and/or the needs of your soul. 

Still others never use memorized prayers.  They speak to God as if he is a friend.  They share all of the needs of their heart, they pray for others and for others needs, they praise God for His goodness. This group is where many devoted followers of the Lord spend their life.  It is not a bad place to be, it is just not complete. 

For prayer to be complete it has to be a conversation.  In a conversation between you and your best friend do you both speak at once?  No, one will speak, the other will listen.  And then the pattern is reversed.  In this way one friend communicates with another,

Prayer is to be communication, not just a one way "here's what I need Lord" sort of thing.  We must get in the habit of listening for God's response to our prayers.  Silencing ourselves, our minds, our bodies, this is a difficult proposition.  We are too used to being the one in charge.  After all, God needs to know what our needs are, doesn't He?  Of course He knows us better than we do ourselves so He knows our needs already and discerns needs from wants. 

I think that while prayers of petition are good, that there is another way to pray that is superior to all others.  In this type of prayer  we simply meditate on the goodness of God and then we silence our mind and soul and let the light of God penetrate to the deepest recesses of our soul. This type of prayer is called contemplation and it is difficult but not impossible to do.  The secret is very simple but complex.  After thinking of God for awhile, just stop and enjoy the radiance of God's love for you in absolute silence of mind and body.  In your mind do not even imagine what God looks like, you just listen in silence for one minute, two minutes, or longer if you can.  First attempts will be difficult because your mind is used to being involved in everything that you do and it will try to shatter the silence because it sees this type of prayer as another task it needs to help with. Reign it in and tell it to be silent.  At the beginning you may not manage as long as a minute.  If not, do not be discouraged. Ten seconds of listening can be worth more than two hours of speaking. In the case of distractions where the mind in spite of your attempt to quiet it busts in Thank God for the brief moment where you tried to listen and then try again later.  The trick is to never give up. 

God is very much in love with you.  He sent His only Son to redeem you by the Blood of the Cross.  An honest search will help you find your way home to Him in the Catholic Church.  Please remember that I will answer any question about the Catholic Church or Christianity in general.  Hate mail will go unanswered. 

May Christ find a dwelling place in your heart this day and may He light your way as you walk the narrow path towards your heavenly home.  God bless.