The patriarchs of the Old Testament prayed to God in the open air, in nature. They passed on the stories of their fathers’ experiences with God, and they danced and sang the praises of God around the campfires. God heard their prayers as they tended their sheep and raised their children. Sometimes, God would send heavenly messengers to visit these men and women of old, and their lives would be changed forever. When these women and men spoke to God in prayer, they spoke from the heart, which is where prayer is born. *(CCC2562-2564).
Today, we are bombarded with stiumli. We are a society of distractions, multiple activities and short thought processes. Aren’t you, like me, often challenged in finding time to pray? When we find the time, how do we pray? I ask myself that question often. Do I attend Mass, the greatest prayer of all? Do I pray a Rosary? (Always a good option in my eyes.) Do I sit in silence with God? Do I pull out an old prayer book and recite those prayers? Am I close to a church where I can sit in adoration of our Risen Lord? How do we find and use our prayer voice?
God blesses us with so many ways to communicate with Him. As always, my recommendation is to begin your search for your prayer voice with a simple prayer.
Lord, God, I want to communicate with You in the best way I can. Please show me how You want me to talk with You.
The answer to your prayer might be given immediately or it might take a while. No matter, practice the virtue of patience as you seek to find. Remember, God will open that door for you. Ask for this gift in Faith.
“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7: 7-8
I pray in many different ways, however, I found my prayer voice in writing. I have journaled for years, since I was a teenager caught up in the angst of my raging hormones. I have kept gratitude journals, negativity dump journals, journals of being in love, journals of my children’s lives, journals of my hopes and dreams, journals of ways to decorate my home, photo journals, blogs. Well, you get the picture. I have journaled for years.
One day, many years ago, as I prayed, I fought distraction after distraction. Frustrated, I stopped praying. When I stopped my prayer, I saw my gratitude journal out of the corner of my eye. (The Holy Spirit was working here! ) Suddenly, I realized, my attention was always focused when I wrote. I found a new notebook, labeled it “Prayer Journal,” and I began to write. I felt God smile on me that day. I found my prayer voice!
Now, I use my prayer journal almost everyday. I also pray in other ways, too. Yet, I know, my true prayer voice, a gift from our Loving God, is in the gift of writing.
Thank You, Lord, for this gift! Amen.
* CCC = Catechism of the Catholic Church
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