Ask Father, Part 3 of 3
Here's our final note from Fr. Bolek on...prayer.
Father, I am too busy to pray, what can I do?
I’ve tried learning how to pray, but I just don’t ‘get it.’ It’s too hard.
Truth: A prayer life is essential to the Christian life.
Prayer is “a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God” (Catechism, 2558). Without prayer, your faith will die (CCC 2744).
Truth: Prayer is compatible with everyday life. You do need a small amount of quiet time each day to learn how to pray. But it’s not difficult – just 5 or 10 minutes to start is fine. You will also make prayer a part of the fabric of everyday life. You can find God in all the normal tasks of daily life. Seek him there! “It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in a shop, while buying or selling, … or even while cooking” (St. John Chrysostom).
Truth: Even the smallest faith will blossom through prayer.
Here’s a secret: as with faith itself, God does all the hard work! We get the easy part. Our part is learning how to pray, and then praying every day. St. Paul tells us, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26). The Catechism says: “The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God’s works, is the master of prayer” (CCC 741).
Truth: Learning how to pray is simple.
The basics of prayer are simple. Throughout the ages, all kinds of people have learned how to pray. Why not you, too? “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (St. Therese of Lisieux). If you recognize your own thinking in any of those myths about prayer, examine the problem directly. You own it to yourself to come to terms with it!
Just do it!
Enter into a conversation with God; when the church for Adoration you will find even more opportunities to pray and be silent. Do not be afraid or negative, you can do it! God longs for you to respond by being like Mary and saying “YES!”