CELERY
No Christian is a stranger to prayer. We learn early to communicate our desires to God. When he heeds our requests, we thank him, and we are happy. Eventually, I realized that this one-sided exchange between the giver and recipient was not the real value of prayer.
God lives in me, giving me the privilege of a personal, give-and-take relationship with him, a covenant. He has gifted me with the capability of knowing him and walking in his ways. He grants me the free will to choose him over things that distract or destroy me. Prayer is an opening to the love God offers me. He wants me to listen with ears, mind, and heart to the messages he sends me through people and circumstances. Only through prayer can I live and fulfill my side of the covenant, his plan transforming me throughout my journey.
The Purpose of Prayer
I read recently that the purpose of prayer is to be one with God’s will for us. It implies that I must prepare to give up the stuff I like, which may not be in tune with God’s desire for me. He can only help me become what he has intended me to be if I unite my will totally to his. But often, there is a battle between what we want and what God wants for us, even when we know that what he offers is always better. So when I lose the battle and fall, my antidote is prayer. God picks me up. This is how his life in me is nourished and how he changes me.
God’s Initiative
The prayer that moves me to follow God is when I choose God’s agenda over mine. This usually comes silently into my mind and heart. I do not have to utter anything.
I had plans to write a different article for today, September 7, but God had a different one. The other morning, I could not find the time to pray because I had so many things to do. But I felt God’s presence as I exchanged texts on my phone with someone who needed my attention. Thereafter, he inspired me to watch EWTN while I exercised in the gym. The topic – of all things – was prayer!
That day, God seemed to have adjusted to where I was so I could hear his word for me.
Shifting
Prayer is like driving a car. I stay alert and shift gears while on the road. I anticipate what happens ahead of me so I can adjust to the traffic conditions. Similarly, when God allows unexpected situations to come into my life, my prayer is more of seeking his help and shifting gears to face the challenge rather than pleading with him to spare me the difficulty.
The Example of Jesus
When Jesus prayed to God the Father, it was all about deferring to the Father’s will. Jesus did not bargain. But he never hesitated to express his emotions. He cried when Lazarus died, agonized in the garden over the suffering he faced, and expressed his feeling alone and abandoned when he was dying on the cross.
God knows what I need and want in my heart and reaches out to me where I am. As long as I lift my heart to him – he will come, and I shall neither want nor need anything else. He is the initiator and author of who I will be and what I will do. I am bent on living under God’s perspective, where I find so much peace and joy. My spiritual orientation and reference point have greatly influenced my time, energy, and resources.
Finally, God expands my vision in prayer and leads me to a life on wings.