This is the final addition to the prayer study. I hope you have found the information and questions here helpful as you reflected on your spiritual or prayer life. Please email me at mtviewminister@rogers.com to let us know if you enjoyed this online experience and if you would interested in having other “studies” offered online.
As we continue to delve into the spiritual life and prayer there is often the question of why? In week three it was suggested that the main reason to embark on this journey of prayer, a spiritual life, is to grow closer with God. Through prayer we are able to open our hearts to the heart of God and be made whole and more compassionate. I want to share with you two quotes from two different people.
Mother Teresa (1910-1997) after working in India, first teaching and then working with the poorest of the poor, on October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI. It has been stated that Mother Teresa had a “dark night of the soul” that lasted through many of her later years. However, she is quoted as saying: “Therefore it is necessary to pray – the fruit of prayer is deepening faith – the fruit of faith is love – Love in action and service – and so acts of love are acts of peace – and this is the living of the golden rule. Love one another as God loves each one of us.” Thus she states that the result of prayer is love which is expressed in action and service. Through prayer, being open to find union with the heart of God, we are changed and able to look beyond ourselves to those around us and work for love, justice and peace in our world.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) a visionary French Jesuit, palaeontologist, biologist, and philosopher said: “The time will come when after harnessing the winds, the tides, and gravitation we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.
So the world will be changed by our attentiveness to prayer and the resulting acts of love and compassion in our world.
I also want to share with you the words to a contemporary song by the musician and song writer Jewel. The song is entitled “A Life Uncommon”. The first time I heard this song I was moved to tears. I hear great wisdom in this song. In it I hear a call to be mindful of where we put our energy and enthusiasm. How often do we give attention and energy to those things we that we say aren’t important or we wish weren’t true. How often do we hear people complain of violence in our world over and over and yet do nothing about it? How many people get divorced and then spend years talking about the X spouse who was so mean to them. Are they really free from that person if so much energy and time goes into reliving those experiences??
In the song we are reminded that prayer requires action. And our words have power, power to hurt and heal, power to redeem and set free or enslave and control. I could go on and on but let me share the words with you.
Don't worry mother, it'll be all right
And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep tight
It'll be fine lover of mine
It'll be just fine
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a life uncommon
I've heard your anguish, I've heard your hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
Set down your chains, until only faith remains
Set down your chains
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that
Which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear our voices ring out clear
With sounds of freedom
Sounds of freedom
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
There is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that we wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead...
Lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
(Written by Jewel from her Cd A Life Uncommon 1999)
Prayer is an important discipline that we undertake and it has many positive effects the least of which is how it changes us and our relationship to God, others and the world.
There are times, however, when we begin to doubt or cease to be confident that God is present during our prayer time or even throughout our day. This can be unsettling and disheartening. We begin to doubt that our prayers matter or are being heard. We can feel lost and abandoned by God our Creator. I take solace in the fact that even someone like Mother Teresa experienced such times of doubt and uncertainty. The truth is, I believe, that most people on a spiritual path will have times like these. It is unrealistic to believe that we will always have an acute awareness of our Creator, many things in our lives and experiences can get in the way. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some things that come between God and us. (This is not an exhausted list but a place to start reflecting on when we have difficulties in our relationship with God)
1. In our day to day life we can get so busy that we fail to recognize God in the midst of our running around. All that we do can become a deterrent in our relationship with God. In all our doing we can fail to see God’s presence in our lives and experiences. When is it that you are less aware of God`s presence. What about during Advent (the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas) during that busy time of preparation are you able to stay connected with God?
2. In times of personal struggle, guilt, self doubt we can forget that God is with us and a part of our struggle. We can become so self absorbed or doubt that God can be with us in the midst of our mistakes, or troubles that we deny the very presence of our loving Creator. Take a moment and read Genesis 32: 22-31. This is the story of Jacob wrestling with God. Remember Jacob has betrayed his brother. So Jacob has sent away his family and all his possessions as he waits to meet his brother for the first time in years. Through the night Jacob must face his loss and grief for what he has done to his family, how he hurt his brother. He must literally wrestle with his feelings of guilt and desire for forgiveness and wondering what he will encounter when he sees his brother again. In the midst of this Jacob encounters God and there wrestles God until dawn. This offers us assurance through a wonderful story that in during difficult times God is there with us in our struggle. Think of a time in your life when you were experiencing a difficult time perhaps due to some relationship that had deteriorated and in the midst of that time of struggle, perhaps guilt, or fear God seemed absent. As you re-examine that time in your life, look carefully to see if you can notice God`s presence in the midst of that experience.
3. Over time our prayer life can become stale and we stop being able to experience God. Often what we are looking for is a pleasant experience of God instead of a real experience with the Holy. "So often what we like to have through prayer…is simply another period of happiness; we are not prepared to sell all that we have in order to buy the pearl of great price." (pg 30 Anthony Bloom Beginning to Pray) How often do you find yourself wishing things to be a certain way? How often do you expect God to do what you want? Sometimes we do not let God into our real experiences/our real lives. We try to present God with something other than our real authentic selves. When God does not measure up to our expectation we can begin to believe that God is absent from our lives but in truth we just may not be willing to accept that things are not happening in our lives the way we want and we blame God.
4. Sometimes we make prayer seem more romantic than it is. We have this very pleasant idea that prayer will always be a time of deep connection with God. That is unrealistic!! Anthony Bloom in this book Beginning to pray says: "the Gospel must reach not only the intellect but the whole being…(we) often say: "That's interesting, let's talk about it, let's explore it as an idea," but actually do nothing about it. To meet God means to enter into the 'cave of the tiger' - it is not a pussy cat you meet - it's a tiger. The realm of God is dangerous. You must enter into it and not just seek information about it." (Beginning to Pray p 15) Here Bloom further expresses the idea that we must put our whole selves into our relationship with God, into our prayer time. It is up to us to make our spiritual lives come alive. Sure there are times when we just don`t have the energy or desire and we pull back. But in time when we are ready we need to put our heart into the experience. It is only when we are real that our relationship with God is fruitful and alive. Following God is not about happiness and pleasantries it is about seeing things as they are, seeing reality, accepting truth and finding God there, trusting/knowing God is there!
God helps us when there is no one else to help. God is there at the point of greatest tension, at the breaking point, at the centre of the storm…We must be prepared for a period when God is not there for us and we must be aware of not trying to substitute a false God."…The day when God is absent, when He is silent - that is the beginning of prayer. Not when we have a lot to say but when we say to God I can't live without you, why are you so cruel, so silent? that makes us break through to the place where we are in the Presence." (P 17 Bloom) Sometimes when we feel an absence of God what may be happening is that God is present but we are trying to be something other than who we are and when we are not authentic or honest about whom we are before God, the relationship cannot be real either. God seeks our authentic selves – that is where the encounter can take place.
5. Perhaps the method of prayer we have been using has stopped serving us and we need to look at other ways of communicating with God.
So what can we do?
§ Margaret Guenther in her book At Home in the World suggests that: “first we recognize what is happening.” This sounds easy but is too often the most difficult step to take. So often, I find myself trying to make something work – even in my prayer life. When in fact what is needed is the honest reflection that this is no longer working, something has shifted and what has been a help on my spiritual journey is now an impediment or simply is no longer working. Perhaps we have just come through a difficult time or tragedy and we need to leave time for us to integrate what has just happened and see how that fits into our understanding of God.
§ You can find a spiritual companion, someone to talk to about what you are experiencing. It is often helpful to have someone with whom you can verbalize your questions, doubts, and fears. You will not find answers from the spiritual companion rather they will help you to recognize things you are unable to notice, or help you find the answers already within yourself.
§ Read the psalms/write our own psalm. There are many psalms written by people who are struggling with their faith. There I find consolation in the fact that others have had this experience and I am not alone. One favourite psalm to read in a time of distance with God is psalm 102. Here you hear of a person experiencing a time of desolation but then it ends with a note of confidence. It is important for us to notice the authentic nature of this psalm. The author does not deny or minimize the suffering but eventually perspective is restored. Sometimes writing our own psalm can be of great help as you are able to express your true feelings to God. Reading the psalms helps us to see that others have shared their souls with God, expressed anger, frustration and disappointment and it has been heard. God can handle all our emotions; in fact God can help us deal with our emotions.
§ Ask yourself what has helped before in times of the dark night of the soul? We have all experienced such times and they continue throughout our life time. It seems to be a necessary part of the spiritual journey. So simply asking yourself what has worked to help you through these times before and trying them again can be a great help.
§ What are some things that you do to help you reconnect with God?? For some it is music or the arts, calling a trusted friend, writing a poem, taking a walk on the beach, reading a spiritual book. What has worked for you??
In the end we have to come back to the question – why are we praying? Why are we on this journey?? It is not easy but it is a part of who we are. On the spiritual journey we come closer to God, we are strengthened for the journey of life, we grow in faith and love and therefore service.
Through this journey of the spirit we are called outside of ourselves. True spiritual work helps us to look inward and grow but then invites us to care for others, to help bring about the kingdom of God on earth, to help create a place where all people are welcome, where there is justice and peace throughout the world.
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