Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
May 10, 2014
Spiritual Ponderings
Going Deeper in Prayer

Last week, we began a reflection on “How can we grow deeper in our prayer?” For help answering that question, I have turned to an article written by Fr. Michael Schmitz called “Going Deeper” for the magazine called Shalom Tidings. Quotes from his articles will be in bold while my reflections will be in normal font.

With these two thoughts in mind, there is a need to take the following step: in spite of the fact that God is infinitely patient with us and has irrevocably chosen us, it is our task to remove any known obstacles between us and God. Here are three possible obstacles: pride, unforgiveness, and distraction.

1. To root out pride, we must become humble. This doesn’t mean thinking, “I’m so small, so bad, so inconsequential.” It simply means telling the truth. And the first truth is that there is a God, and you are not Him. It means acknowledging that there is Someone infinitely “bigger” and infinitely better than you. And that this Someone believes that you are worth loving. Humility always tells the whole truth; the happy truths and the hard truths. To know if you are humble, ask yourself, “Am I open to being taught, or do I resent instruction and correction?”

My best prayer happens when I stop pretending to be God and start asking God for help. The Pharisees missed Jesus because they did not think that they needed a savior. Tell God about the parts of your life that are screwed up and trust that He wants to listen to you and share with you your pain.

2. The refusal to forgive hardens our hearts to God, to others, and even makes it difficult to know ourselves. If I am aware that I hold bitterness in my heart, I need to make some effort to express that I am choosing to forgive. This can be extremely difficult (and will most likely have to be repeated many times in some cases!). Remember, forgiveness is not excusing someone’s actions, and it is not ignoring real pain. It is the choice to “will the good of the other.” While our emotions can still be inflamed, our decision to pray for someone’s eternal soul (we could say “praying for their conversion...praying that God’s will is done in their life”) not only fulfills our Lord’s command, but frees us.

Sometimes, I refer to God as “my boss.” There are times in which I love the assignments my boss gives me. Other times I hate them. There is no assignment that God can give me that I hate more than the one to forgive someone who has hurt me. I hate to forgive others because there is a part of me that feels that when I forgive someone I am setting myself up to get hurt again. When I know God wants me to do something, I don’t want to do, I sometimes try to avoid doing it by trying to avoid God by not praying. What I should do instead of avoiding God is to take my lack of forgiveness to prayer and begin my prayer saying “God help me to forgive so and so because I really do not want.” Honesty is a good foundation for prayer.

3. Distractions can be anything that diverts our attention from what or who should have our attention at a given moment. Sometimes we utilize diversions for entertainment and stress relief; that’s great. If recreation is what we should be doing, then games or entertainment aren’t the wrong thing... they’re the right thing. But if I invite distractions in so that I don’t have to think about the present, then I am most likely keeping God out of the moment and out of my life. This step is nothing more than the “living deliberately” of which Thoreau wrote.

Waiting till there are no distractions is a mistake because there will always be distractions. There will never be the perfect time. Setting aside the time to pray should always be a priority. Do you spend fifteen minutes in prayer? Do you spend any time reading the Bible and asking the question what does God want to tell me with that passage? Fr. Barron recommends praying the rosary to overcome distractions as the repetition of the prayers helps to calm our “monkey minds” which normally swing from thought to the next rather quickly. Also realize that God loves you as much as when you sitting around doing nothing as when you are extremely busy. Why not take time to sit down and talk with the person (God) who is your biggest support, cheerleader, coach, etc.?”