MANY of us need to have a wider understanding of the concept of prayer.
Some of us think that prayer is just coming to church for an hour on Sunday, praying a decade of the Holy Rosary, or spending twenty minutes of silence before the Blessed Sacrament.
All these forms of prayer are good, but they don’t fully expand the concept of prayer.
I would say that one’s life should be a prayer. When someone asks you how you’re doing with your prayer life, your answer should not just be about the number of times or hours you spend in prayer.
It should be how you’re consciously and constantly contemplating on how your life reflects the word of God, the saving acts of Jesus. It should be how you’re consistently giving praise and thanks to God every minute of the day and feeling his presence.
Prayer is not merely about the times when you ask God for help during an experience of difficulty, anguish or confusion.
It’s when you’re overwhelmed with joy over a grace-filled life; it’s when you feel the hunger for solitude; it’s when you wake up in the middle of the night and are overcome with a healthy fear of God. It’s even those times when you ask some existential questions or when you think about your own death. It’s those times when you have meaningful, honest, and soulful conversations with friends and loved ones.
Absolutely, prayer is about those moments when you gather in prayer with church members, families, and friends. It’s about those periods when you feel the spirit of harmony, love, and peace in community and family.
It’s when you feel compassion for the poor and the suffering; it’s when you are compelled to share your time, talent, and money for the benefit of church and humanity.
Prayer is when you drive around with your love ones passing through the beautiful world that God has created for us; it’s the feeling of being blessed for having a partner and children in life.
Prayer is recognizing that your success or fortune comes from God, that you are merely a steward of these gifts. Prayer is being moved to use these gifts not just for your own benefit and for that of your loved ones, but also for those who are in need.
In our liturgical proclamation of the Word of God this Sunday, Moses kept his hand raised up with the staff of God to secure the Israelites’ victory over Amalek and all their enemies.
The widow in the Parable of the Dishonest judge persisted in asking the judge to deliver a just decision. Paul asks us to remain faithful to what we have learned and believed.
All these words call us to possess one thing: a life of constant and persistent prayer to God, the Creator and Provider of all!
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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].
