Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
May 3, 2014
Spiritual Ponderings
Going Deeper in Prayer

Normally during the month of May, I reflect on different spiritual themes, that I find in contemporary music and I like to refer to those reflections as “IPod Theology.” Over the years, I have found it hard to format these reflections in a way that allows me to also print the song lyrics which are often necessary to understand my reflections. I decided therefore this year that I would do something new and that is to continue to reflect on contemporary music on my website www.mayjesuschristbepraised.com. I will also be pondering with you the idea of “how do we go deeper in our prayer?”

Last summer, I had the opportunity to work a Life Teen Summer Camp with Fr. Michael Schmitz. He is the campus minister at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. In addition to his ministry at the college, he is an amazing Catholic speaker who travels around the United States giving conferences to young adults and teenagers. He has also recorded a series of DVD for Lighthouse Catholic Media. This past winter, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were both published in the same Catholic Magazine called Shalom Tidings. His article was called “Going Deeper” and it contained some great insights into prayer that I can’t wait to share with you. Quotes from his article will be in bold and my commentary will be in regular font.

“I want to go deeper in my prayer life, but I’m not sure how to start. What is my first step?” Your first step is the one in front of you. I know that sounds like I’m out of the TV show Kung Fu, young grasshopper, but it is true. We all find ourselves at different starting points. That means that our first step is going to be our own; it is going to be very personal and unique to ourselves.

I have come to believe that two of the hardest things to do in life is to start something and not to compare ourselves to others. The truth of matter when it comes to prayer, we know what we need to be doing. We know that we are supposed to go to Mass on Sunday, read and ponder Scripture, and spend time in quiet listening to God. These are very simple things to actually do (more difficult steps may follow) but how often do we spend more energy in creating excuses rather than simply taking the first step.

The second thing I think that we need to realize that God does not judge us by comparing us to others. He knows each of us in the most intimate way. He knows that the gifts that I have are not the gifts that you have and that is fine with Him. I know my prayer life grew leaps and bounds when I stopped worrying how other people prayed and just started praying.

And yet, there are some general guidelines that might apply to your case. A potential first might be your image of God. I cannot stress how important this is to get right. Not only because God deserves to be known as He has revealed Himself, but also because this will shape every subsequent step. If we are under the impression that God needs to be bribed into loving us, or manipulated into helping us, or placated when His “fragile ego” is bruised, then that will shape our prayer. This is the false image of the gods presented in the Greek and Roman myths: the gods were fickle, they couldn’t be trusted, their “love” was arbitrary. It is represented quite well in the recent movie The Clash of the Titans. In it, the main message is “The gods need us. We grow more powerful the less we pay attention to them.”

Our God does not need us but He desires us. God did not create us because He had to or because He wanted people to serve Him as slaves. Our God created us out love. He loves us so much that He would rather die than be without us. He however will respect our freewill to reject His love and thus proves once again that He is self-sufficient. I always love hanging out with people who want to be with me more than hanging out with people who have to hang out with me for one reason or another.

What is your image of God? How much has modern philosophy, ancient myths, authority figures colored your image of God? How can you love God and not your image of God?

A second helpful step might be God’s image of us. Ask the question, “What does God think of me?” If we think that we are merely an annoyance to God, this will shape our prayer (it may even cause us to avoid prayer entirely!). God’s image of you: you are completely unique in all of creation, you are precious to God, you are worth loving. That last piece is critical. I talk with many people who wrestle with this wound. They do not believe that they are worth loving... especially in their weakness and sin. This wound is in desperate need of healing and this lie is in desperate need of being exorcized.

I spend a lot of time asking the question “What does God see in me?” When you think about it I really am a nobody from a nobody family and most likely you are the same. Yet somehow God desires to have be as a companion in prayer, a co-worker in ministry, and even an adopted son in His Family. I have to constantly remind myself that God does judge like other human beings. God loves me and has made me special. If God did not love me than He simply would not have created me. Our God does not have to tolerate things that He does not love.