Luke 18: 1
Jesus
was telling his friends a parable to show that at all
times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.
*
Jesus
told his friends to pray always and not lose heart. But what is prayer all
about? Can we really change God’s mind or his will by our prayers? I don’t
think so. But we can indeed change the course of events with prayer. Because
prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us ─ it makes us into new persons with
new options for the future.
When
I was a young Catholic school boy back in the Bronx, prayer was a simple
matter. I just made the nine first Fridays and I was guaranteed a seat in heaven.
All I had to do to pass my math test was to neatly etch the initials of Jesus,
Mary and Joseph, JMJ, on the top of
my test paper. But of course that was before Vatican II.
As
I grew into a young man of the 1960s, I became intellectually uncomfortable
with the concept of prayer. I developed a distorted view of prayer as a self
serving attempt to manipulate God; something that I was way above trying ─
unless, of course, I lost my car keys when, after holding out for a mere 45
seconds, I’d be begging Saint Anthony to find them ─ and he always did! I never
could figure how those keys would magically reappear. And, you know, they still
do.
As
I’ve matured in my faith, I have come to understand that prayer is not about
changing God, but about changing the person who prays. Prayer is about letting
go. It’s about emptying ourselves, so that there is room for God to come into
our hearts to change US.
We
are filled with clutter: anxieties and agendas and instructions for God. So
filled, that there is no room for God to get in. Before God can work within us,
we need to let go, to empty ourselves of all the clutter.
It’s
not so easy to empty ourselves, to let go of all that clutter. There is so much
clutter in our world — things to fill us with anxiety and dread. But it can be
done. Each of us has to find our own way.
Dag
Hammarskjold was Secretary General of the UN in the 1950s and early 1960s. His
job caused him to witness the dark side of human nature, over and over again:
violence, war, bloodshed, greed, political betrayal. You could say he had a
front row view of original sin.
And
yet Dag Hammarskjold remained a man of faith, a deeply spiritual human being.
Perhaps he is best remembered by the answer he gave when asked by a reporter
what he said to God when he prayed. Hammarskjold responded, “For everything
that has gone before, thank you! For everything that is still to come, yes!”
Three
little words, ‘thank you’ and
‘yes’; that’s how Dag Hammarskjold emptied himself to make room for God. Each
of us has to find his or her own way.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers
of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on
Amazon.com:
Just
to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
Synchronicity
as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and
Pastoral Ministry
YES, I would AGREE with you IN prayer!
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