As you got up this morning, I watched you and hoped you would talk to me even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday – but I noticed you were too busy to find the right outfit to put on and wear. I waited again.
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During the first week of Lent, I listened to an audio book from Archbishop Desmond Tutu titled, ‘God Has A Dream.’ In that book, he makes this enlightening statement:
“Pray as you can – not as you can’t.”
He refers to the times when we are so exhausted that we can barely function, and we do not have the energy to give God our fullest attention.
The point is that we should not just give up or neglect prayer altogether because of our physical state of being. What we need to do is open up a dialogue with God letting him know that we don’t have it in us right now for “full-blown” prayer. Simply stating this to our heavenly Father is indeed a prayer in-and-of-itself. The purpose is to pray as you can – in the condition that you are. It doesn’t have to be a 15-minute litany. A simple prayer will do just as well. For it is better to pray short and simple than to not pray at all.
What we need to do is something that my spiritual director has told me for years. Instead of stressing over the fact that we cannot manage to pray in the manner that we would prefer, we just need to say something like this:
“Father, I am too exhausted right now to give you my complete attention or the praise that you rightly deserve. I will make the time to speak with you later. Until then, please continue to watch over me and keep me safe. Amen.”
Our intentions may always be good, but the body is often too weak. So, don’t be afraid to ask God to have the patience with us if we fall asleep in the middle of our prayer. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you fall asleep during prayer. As I always say, what better way to fall asleep than in the arms of our loving Father.
Don’t let exhaustion or extreme busyness pull us away from prayer. Make the effort to keep that line of communication with God always open and active. Remember, pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray and you will find true peace this Lenten season. Amen.
A couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they’re physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember.
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair and asks his wife, “Want anything while I’m in the kitchen?”
“Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?” “Sure.”
“Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?” she asks. “No, I can remember it.”
“Well, I’d like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?”
He says, “I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.”
“I’d also like whipped cream. I’m certain you’ll forget that, write it down?” she asks.
Irritated, he says, “I don’t need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream – I got it, for goodness sake!”
Then he goes into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, the old man returns and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment and says, “Where’s my toast?”
Have you ever had that feeling like you’re forgetting something? It happens to me all the time. But let’s face it: we’ve got a lot of stuff going on in our lives and it’s hard to remember everything. Between work, school, family, kids, church, social activities, home projects, etc., we often feel like something is missing. We feel like we’ve forgotten something important, but we just can’t remember what.
Today’s reading (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) reminds us to stop, take a deep breath, and feel the loving presence of God in our lives. When we truly feel God’s love, we can’t help but love God in return. But sometimes, in the midst of our crazy-busy lives, we forget to love, thank, and praise God for who God is and what God has done for us. We forget to live the Gospel, to be kind to our neighbor, and to be Christ to all we meet. We forget to love others like God loves us.
Maybe what we all need is a little reminder. What if we wrote down notes for ourselves reminding us to pray, or to notice that God is standing right next to us; or to thank God when something good happens to us; or to be strong in faith when temptation comes our way? Writing things down activates a part of our brains that helps us focus on these things – and God should be our top priority.
Let us remember to love the Lord with our whole heart, our whole being, and our whole strength. Write a note on our arms, doorposts and gates of our houses, if we must. God is worthy of our praise, and that is something worth remembering.
Not too long ago, I was at the grocery story waiting in line to check out. All was good with the world when suddenly I noticed that the checker ran out of change and had to call a manager; and I had to wait. So, I switched to another lane and quickly learned that the person in front of me had some sort of problem. The checker had to call for a price check, and I ended up waiting and waiting and waiting.
We get so easily frustrated and impatient with the little things of life, especially this time of year: the irritations of what happens around us, the daily struggles with our own attitudes, and the busyness of the season. These small, seemingly innocent circumstances have a way of piling up until we finally explode from the pressure.
What would happen if we were to put all this behind us and just focus on our relationship with God? Instead of groaning and complaining, we chose to be joyful and giving. What would happen if we lived every moment as a prayer, being in constant communication with the One who is to come and the One who is already here? Perhaps we would live our lives with more happiness, thankfulness, peace and love.
Lord, we come to you just as we are – right where we are. Help us to use these remaining days of Advent to constantly seek you, perhaps even grope for you as we patiently wait with hopeful anticipation.
O come, o come, Emmanuel!
We live in a crazy-busy world. We struggle to find time to do the things that are required of us, yet alone do things that we would like to do. Sometimes, life simply gets in the way of living. We find ourselves so preoccupied with duties and tasks that we often forget to take time for personal prayer. And when we do take time for prayer, we tend to jump right in and quickly jump right out again. We never seem to actually prepare ourselves for prayer: to find the right place, the right presence, and perhaps even the right material. We may not always find the right words to say, but saying The Lord’s Prayer is always a great place to start. As Jesus said, “This is how you are to pray: Read More
We all are busy people. There is always something going on, somewhere to go or something to do. Between work, school, family commitments, sports, hobbies, leisure, etc., we barely have time to breathe. Our calendars fill up more quickly than a rain barrel in a thunderstorm. Let’s face it: we are insanely busy! And yet today, Jesus tells us that there are two additional things that we have to find time to do:
God and a man are walking down the road. The man asks God, “What is the world like?” God replies, “I cannot talk when I am thirsty. If you could get me a drink of cool water, we could discuss what the world is like. There is a village nearby. Go and get me a drink.”
The man goes into the village and knocks at the door of the first house. A beautiful young woman opens the door. His jaw drops, but he manages to say, “I need a glass of cool water.” “Of course,” she says smiling, “but it is midday. Would you care to stay for some food?” “I am hungry,” he says, and your offer of food is truly kind.” He goes in and the door closes behind him. Read More
I saw a commercial last night on television for a very large sandwich chain. They have a special going on where you can get a different sandwich every day of the week for a low price, eliminating the possibility of getting stuck in a routine of eating the same sandwich day after day. And that got me thinking: what if we did the same thing with our prayer lives? Read More
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