I have shared with friends on Facebook a profound dialogue I read in Paulo Coelho’s new book, Aleph:
“But isn’t prayer a way of bringing us closer to God?”
“Allow me to answer with another question: will all your prayers make the sun rise tomorrow? Of course not. The sun rises in obedience to a universal law. God is always close to us, whether we pray to him or not.”
“Are you saying that our prayers are useless?,” says Tatiana.
“Not at all. If you don’t get up early, you’ll never see the sun. If you don’t pray, God may be near, but you won’t feel his presence.”
I thought that this dialogue captures well the fundamental motive of prayer. Prayer isn’t so much about asking for God’s favor; rather it’s about being in and feeling the presence of God who is near us.
Some people may resist this thought because of a limited understanding of spirituality. But those who have mastered a life of prayer can attest to the truth that prayer is primarily about being with God and not about asking God to answer every need.
A life of prayer, an intimacy with God, gives us strength and peace to deal with every challenge and responsibility. For life is not so much about solving every problem or removing every difficulty from our lives, but having courage and peace to deal with every struggle and uncertainty.
As this Sunday’s Gospel tells us, “It is the spirit that gives life.” A life always lived in the Spirit of Christ through prayer would grant us energy, peace, and wisdom.
Two of my closest friends have continually reminded me about the need to engage in this higher form of prayer—the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God every day of our lives. They are both priests like me who have taken difficult positions in the Church. Both have testified that without a life of prayer, it would be hard for them to fulfill their heavy pastoral and administrative responsibilities and to overcome their personal weaknesses.
Again, for them it’s not about asking God to remove any barrier in their ministry, but about maintaining interior peace in the midst of crises and difficult decisions.
“Do you also want to leave?,” Jesus asked his disciples in this Sunday’s Gospel. Perhaps, we must interpret the question of Jesus in the light of this fundamental purpose of prayer. We’re called to be with God, to stay with Him every moment of our lives in order that we can remain strong and calm. Like Simon Peter, we say, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
