January 17, 2014

What is Prayer?

What is Prayer?

This past week some of the Sisters of Life were in the New Orleans area, and the other afternoon they joined with several homeschooling families for a luncheon. My wife and daughters were in attendance, and they returned home with the latest newsletter from the Sisters of Life.

The very first article in the newsletter was about prayer. It’s real, and it resonated with me. I want to share that short article with you here, introduce you to the Sisters of Life, and then direct you to their website for more resource to grow in faith and in prayer.

*Please note that what you are about to read is reproduced from the Winter Issue of IMPRINT, a publication of The Sisters of Life.*

Have you ever knelt in prayer, and thought, “Am I doing this right? Should something be happening right now? Is this what it’s supposed to be like?” Or have you watched another pray and wondered, “What is she saying? Is she hearing anything back?”

What is Prayer?

It’s all about letting God love you.

Life is messy. But the consoling truth is that all of history revolves around the moment when the Son of God was born in a smelly stable, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. Jesus loves to come into our mess! Nothing is too much for Him. Come as you are… no need to try to clean up your act before approaching Him. He knows us intimately and loves us passionately, even when we find aspects of ourselves that make us feel unlovable. Many of us go for years believing lies about ourselves. All the while, Jesus stands at the door of our heart and knocks, awaiting a response. It is in prayer, this meeting with Christ, that we become whole, and truly ourselves.

God was born in a smelly stable.

God doesn’t mind our messiness.

We live in a culture of distraction and instant gratification, a society of fad diets, workout programs, and minimal requirement spiritualities, with answers to almost any question at the tip of a screen or the click of a mouse. We want responses, results, a measure of success and a reward for our efforts – it is easy to transfer these expectations to our prayer life.

We can only learn to pray by praying. There is no shortcut or one-size-fits-all method, and this is for our benefit. Prayer is a gift to be received. Simply put, prayer is “letting God love you.” It means intentionally stirring up a heightened awareness of His presence and providence, daily. It is a grace, and we need to ask for it.

You can find more thoughts to help you in prayer at http://SistersOfLife.org.