How to Pray

This Sunday I would like to meditate with you on one of the most important elements of our Christian life – prayer. Prayer is to spiritual life as food is to physical life. It is the way for us to connect to God. It is the life line a believer has with God. Those who do not pray have no idea of what they are lacking in their life. Once I tried in vain to make the treadmill work until I realized that it was not plugged in to electricity. Our life should be connected to the source of our energy – God - to work properly. Happy is the one who transforms his/her life into a prayer for God.   These are few ideas I tried to implement in my life to improve my own life and I recommend this for you too.

-         Set aside a time and place for daily prayer. Once it becomes part of our daily routine in life, we will continue to enjoy doing it.

-         Allow a few minutes of silence in your life. This can be practiced along with the daily prayer or several times a day on different occasions.

-         Feel the presence of God, who is always with us. There is a divine holy presence around us - we just have to be aware of that presence.

-         Try to converse with the Lord the way you talk to somebody dear to you. We know from experience that once you fall in love with someone you want to be with that person for ever and it will never be boring. You are in a way blinded not to listen to the distracting elements of life.

-          The world has so many distracting elements – discipline yourself not to be carried away by what you find in the television, Internet etc.

-         It is better not to get involved in any quarrels and fights since it may distract you from doing what is important in your life.

-         One secret in having a happy life is to make others happy in a genuinely Christian way.

-         Try to lead a simple life and be happy with what you have than worry about what you don’t have. We all need the basic necessities of life but none of those material things are capable of making us genuinely happy.

-         Talk to the Lord before making important decisions in your life. Let your plan be that of God’s plan too.

-         Read the Bible every day.  It is the word of God. There are solutions in the Bible for all our problems. If you need help in understanding the Scripture join a Bible study group or approach a person who is capable of interpreting it for you.

-         Be grateful to the Lord for what God has given you. Thank the Lord for the food you eat, the health you enjoy, the house in which you live, the family and friends you love.

-         Don’t listen to the people who have only negative things to say about everything. Try to see the positive elements in your life. Life is consisted of joy and sorrow but it is the way how you handle – the glass is always “half full” than “half empty” for you. Some plants can even grow through the cracks of a hard rock.    

-         Seek help when you need, especially from those whom you can trust and are able to help you spiritually.

-         Request others to pray for your intentions and don’t hesitate to offer your prayers for others.

-         Let your offer to pray for others may not be a mechanical response to their request. Make sure that you fulfill that promise as best as you could.

-         Ask the Lord for forgiveness for your sins and also for the wounds you create in the life of others by your words and deeds.

-             Try to spend some time in silence before the Holy Eucharist.  Even if it is for only a few seconds, you will be glad that you did it.

-             When you pray, believe in the miracles God can perform and be sure to acknowledge it when that happens.

-             Try to be part of the Eucharistic celebration, as this is the greatest of all the prayers. It is better to reach early and leave late to spend time to prepare for mass and thank the Lord after the mass.

Prayer was at the root and beginning of Mother Teresa's approach to life. Once she remarked: "Without prayer I could not work for even half an hour." The more she prayed, the more strongly the message of Jesus to "love one another" spoke to her.  The more she responded to the message to love, the more compelled she became to help the people she saw around her who were in the greatest need of help - “the poorest of the poor” in the world. The world’s transformation depends on your ability to transform yourself through your prayer life.

I prayed for you today in my mass at the Norbertine chapel.