Difficulty with Prayer

By Friar Jim Van Vurst, O.F.M.

Our Early Experiences of Prayer

As Catholic Christians, we know that we are called to be people who pray. And as a matter of fact, through our earliest years we have been taught to pray. Most of us remember repeating prayers our parents taught us when we were very young as they sat on the edge of the bed. At first, we didn't know exactly what we were saying, but soon understood that we were talking to God and asking him to bless all those who were dear to us. including our pets that were basically part of the family anyway. We learned formal prayers, as we got older, especially as we prepared for our first Holy Communion. We sang hymns in Church, which, in fact, were often prayers of faith and love and adoration of the Lord. We learned to pray an act of contrition when we approached the sacrament of confession. We prayed before meals and for our deceased when we gathered for funerals of dear loved ones. And we probably all remember praying fervently; no matter what age we were or are, when faced with a crisis or threat of some sort. In a word, prayer is part and parcel of our lives as believers. And even those who seemingly drift away probably still pray at times, though they may feel sheepish about it.

Lack of Good Feeling Can Lead to

Discouragement

But let’s consider what we all run into from time to time in our journey from here to eternity. It's the feeling that we no longer seem able to pray or that our prayers don't really mean much or may even seem to lack sincerity. Perhaps it's because we, for some reason or other, "distant" from God. Perhaps we entered a struggle with some old sin that makes us feel unworthy of the Lord, and we think, "Well, I better shape up before I pray. If I prayed the way I feel now, it would seem like an insult to God." Not at all. It is unfortunate that we so often feel we must move away from God before we sit down and talk with him. Perhaps there is no attraction to prayer when we believe we have to feel something when we pray. I'm not talking about great thrills or ecstasy, but for heaven's sake, shouldn't there be just a little good feeling inside when all I feel is blah?

Prayer Is Simply Talking to God

First of all, we have to remind ourselves that prayer is simply talking to God. Prayer is not determined by grammar or vocabulary; it is not measured in terms of length and creativity. It is simply speaking to God no matter what condition we are in! It may be a simple cry, “HELP, LORD!! I’M IN TROUBLE!!” It may be a simple plea, “Lord, I need you” or “Lord, I’m all messed up.” It may be a simple word of thanks and gratitude for something good that has happened; it may be an awareness of some blessing we have forgotten about. It may be an expression of gratitude: “Oh, God, you are so good to me.” All those simple expressions come from the heart, can be spontaneous and are indeed prayers. Remember, God made us for himself. He knows we need him. We can’t be happy without him. Wealth, fame, pleasure, power can never finally satisfy us. One of the most precious moments we have for prayer is when we receive the Eucharist at Mass. Imagine, we have the Eucharistic Jesus in our hand or on our tongue, and the same Jesus we heard about in the gospel that has just been read. What an opportunity that is to pray for our families (“Lord, take care of them”); to ask forgiveness for our failings (“I’m sorry, Lord, for hurting you in what I said to my friend”); to ask, thank or praise Jesus who died for us and rose to promise us eternal life (“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will never die” [Jn 6:51]).

Distractions at Prayer Do Not Detract From

Prayer

I want to mention something that is very important in prayer. At Mass, or even in private times when we may sit and talk with the Lord, we can find our minds filled with distractions, wandering all over the place. We can be discouraged because even though we intend to pray we seem weak in our efforts. Remember, prayer is in the heart, not the head. When we find ourselves distracted, we don’t fight them, we simply “drop away” and try again to be conscious of God’s presence to us and in us. And this may happen many times. It does not matter. The times we are distracted does not mean that our prayer time is wasted. Prayer is in the heart and intention and in the time we give to the Lord in prayer, whether it is with the rosary or in church before Mass or perhaps at a time of quiet prayer when we are alone. Whatever it is, if it is our desire to pray, then it is prayer in spite of distractions and worries. God is always looking at our heart. Perhaps you’ve felt unable to pray because you fear you can’t do it perfectly or think your efforts are not worth it or even pleasing to the Lord. Let me assure you that your desire is itself pleasing to God. God can read and understand your heart perfectly. He loves you. Reprinted with permission from www.AmericanCatholic.org Copyright 2009 St. Anthony Messenger Press. All Rights Reserved.