Simply put, prayer is communication between
the Creator and the created.
The yearning and need for
intimate communion with God has been built into man's soul: prayer is universal and is found in all
cultures and in all religions.
When a serious illness such as
cancer appears we instinctively turn to prayer for prayer can bring comfort,
hope, forgiveness, courage, faith, a sense of community and the feeling of God's
close presence. When grief,
sadness, or tragedy strikes, words may fail us; hearts and minds may be unable to
form coherent thoughts or word patterns.
Devastated, silent, empty, we may only be able to manage a prayer of "Please,
God" and hope that these words as well as tears will be heard. At these times we can only rest in God's presence, hopeful that God's compassion and mercy will come.
Many say they don't really know
how to pray. Accustomed to attending
church services where beautiful formal prayers are prayed with language that's
passed down through the centuries or to hearing
prayers with lilting language that have
been written beforehand, we don't feel
our prayers are "good enough" or that God will hear them. Feeling inadequate and intimidated, we may
not even try to pray. The Christian
church and the Jewish tradition have given us numerous methods and models to
follow, but the most important ingredient is sincerity in the heart of the
person praying. Posture, place, words and
time don't matter, only the heart-felt desire to be open to God's presence and
to feel the peace and strength that can come from this communion.
Jesus gave us the model of prayer
we call the "Our Father" or "The Lord's Prayer" in the
Gospel of Matthew. In addressing God as
"Abba" (which translates closest to 'Papa' in Aramaic), Jesus taught
us to speak with God as if we were talking with our own beloved and familiar earthly
father. No fancy words or phrases are needed, just simple, honest
communication. And as with any good
conversation, times of silence are needed when one listens as well as speaks.
Only when hearts and minds are
stilled in reverence can we hear the small still voice of God.
St. Benedict in the sixth century
made popular an ancient practice of the church, "Lectio Divina",
or "holy reading", a prayerful and reverent reading of the sacred
scriptures with the "ear of the heart" which can lead the listener to
deep prayer and communion with God. In
reading slowly and thoughtfully, one listens to the Bible text as if in
conversation with God and God is suggesting the topics.
In the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and
Anglican traditions, monastics and the devout since the sixth century have
prayed the "Divine Office" or "Liturgy of the
Hours". Composed of prayers, the psalms and other Biblical readings
which are chanted or recited at determined hours several times a day - morning,
noon, early evening, and before bedtime as well as at other times - these
fulfill the Lord's precept to pray without ceasing as well as revealing deeper
meanings of the Christian mysteries and preparing one for silent prayer.
For over three thousand years,
since the time of King David, the
Psalms have been prayed by Jews and Christians.
In Praying the Psalms, the reader speaks or reads the words as if
they were his own. The psalms portray
the human soul in its many dimensions and complexities and addresses all of the
human condition and upon seeing this portrait of one's soul, new understanding
and spiritual formation may come.
The Roman Catholic Breviary
and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, have been sources of prayer,
inspiration and solace for hundreds of years.
Included are the Psalms and the Divine Office as well as beautiful
written prayers for all occasions.
Prayer is the response of the
human heart to the need for communion with God.
Many models and excellent resources have been made available to assist
in developing a prayer life but above all, it is communicating, with or without
words, in company or in solitude, in joy or in sorrow, in praise or petition, with
our Maker and developing a close and sustaining relationship through the good
and bad times that life inevitably flings our way.