We really should learn to pray

IF there’s a skill which is fundamentally indispensable in

life, it is the art of praying. When we really manage to pray, we

would truly be in touch and in union with God.

            And in that state, even while we are still here on earth,

we would already have a foretaste of our definitive state of life.

That is when, as described in the Book of the Apocalypse, “He (God)

will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more

death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed

away.” (21,4)

            Praying is our way of uniting ourselves with God, our

Creator and Father, with whom we are supposed to be always with, since

our life, as an image and likeness of God, is meant to be a shared

life with God.

            Praying is to our spiritual life what breathing and the

beating of the heart are to our biological life. That is why St. Paul

clearly said, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5,17-18)

            When we manage to truly pray, we can also manage to

protect ourselves from all kinds of evil, and to heal whatever wounds

and weaknesses we may have because of our sins. A sense of holy

invulnerability can come to us. We can find peace and joy in spite of

the drama of our life.

            That’s because when we pray, we unite ourselves with

Christ, and with him no evil can affect us badly. We may not be spared

from suffering, but we would know how to convert that suffering into a

means of our purification and eventual salvation. With him, everything

will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

            It is when we manage to truly pray that we comply with

what St. Paul said about putting on the armor of God. It might be good

to remit here his very words: “Put on the full armor of God, so that

you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle

is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the

authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the

spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms....” (Eph 6,11-12)

            We really have to learn how to pray, and I mean, real

prayer, not just an appearance of prayer, which happens to be common

these days. Perhaps the reason why our prayer does not seem to have

the response we want is because our prayer is not really prayer.

            When we truly pray, we would really get in touch with God.

We would know how to deal with him. We would know what he is showing

us and how he is intervening in our life. Our life would go in synch

with God’s providence, with his will and his ways.

            It’s always worthwhile to spend time and effort to learn

how to truly pray. Especially these days when we are dragged by a

strong current of activism and secularization, we need to really force

ourselves to learn this indispensable skill.

            We just cannot resort to prayer during special occasions

when we are faced with some difficulty. Prayer is not meant to be the

remedy of last resort. It is what we have to do always, both in good

times and bad.

            At the beginning of the learning process, things might be

a bit difficult. We might feel awkward. That is to be expected, but we

just have to go on, sometimes forcing ourselves a little, making many

acts of faith, hope and charity, until we can overcome that learning

curve and start to fly like a professional in our prayer.

            To be truly human and Christian, we need to pray.

Otherwise, we may just look like a human being but in reality are not.

Humanity and Christianity are not a matter of biology. They are a

matter of being intimately united with God!