Day 348: The Battle of Prayer (2725-2731)
It’s Day 348!!
This is Fr. Mike’s FAVORITE SECTION ON PRAYER
ARTICLE 2: THE BATTLE OF PRAYER
Paragraph 2725 says, “Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The ‘spiritual battle’ of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.”
Prayer is ALWAYS a response
When we pray, we are responding to God’s initiative
Sometimes we may think that if we love God, then praying should be easy
Prayer is difficult and if that is the norm, then we are not doing something wrong
If you find yourself having difficulty in prayer, then you are in the right boat
OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER
HUMBLE VIGILANCE OF HEART
FACING DIFFICULTIES IN PRAYER
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for bringing us to this day. Thank you so much for getting us all the way to Day 348. We thank you, Lord, for the ups and downs, we thank you for the battles we have faced. We thank you for the successes and the achievements that you have done through us and through our effort. We thank you for the grace that we are unaware of. You surround us. You fill us with your grace. And we, so often, are completely unaware of the ways in which you have sustained us, the ways in which you have been the one, unseen and unfelt, but not inactive and not absent. Lord God, you are always present. You are always active. For all the times that we have failed to recognize your grace, your presence, your action, we repent of that and we acknowledge you now, and we thank you now, and we praise and love you now. Be with us always, and help us always to recognize your presence and your action in our lives. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”
So there we have it!!
Paragraph 2725 says, “Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The ‘spiritual battle’ of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.”
Prayer is not getting into a hot tub and enjoying the soak
God is the one who moves, and grace NEEDS to be present
We don’t just white knuckle our way into holiness or prayer
PRAYER COMES FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
PRAYER IS A GIFT OF GRACE!!
Every form of growth we have in prayer is God’s work
We are merely cooperating with God’s work
At the same time, it is gift and grit
It is grace and grit
Prayer is a battle against myself
I realize that God is inviting me to pray and there are all these other things that pop into my head that want to take priority
In so many ways, I am my own worst enemy
At the same time, the Evil One does not want what God wants
God wants us to have union with Him
We will be most blessed when we have union with God
If the Evil One can do anything to get us off track, he does not want us to have union with God
Sometimes we think that we can live however we want to live and that when we go to pray, we should experience union with God and experience an abundance of God’s grace
WE PRAY AS WE LIVE BECAUSE WE LIVE AS WE PRAY!!
If we don’t want to WALK or LIVE according to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and I don’t want to do God’s will on a regular basis, then why in the world would I think I could regularly PRAY in the Spirit of Jesus Christ?
How we live is INSEPARABLE from how we pray
So what do we do?
Go back and read PILLAR 3: HOW WE LIVE
PILLAR 4: HOW WE PRAY is incredibly connected to that
New life and new prayer has to be connected
We cannot consistently live out of the Spirit of Christ
We cannot consistently live out of that state of grace, that state of union with God in our actions and then hope that we have some kind of deep connection with God in our prayer
THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE!!
OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER
Paragraph 2726 says, “In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they ‘don’t have the time.’ Those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone.”
We can’t just go through the motions
We need to put our hearts into prayer
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about Fr. Thomas Dubay…
PRAYER PRIMER by Fr. Thomas Dubay
If you don't have time to pray, that’s ok…you can be a mediocre mom or dad or person
Prayer is a yes to the Lord and He is the one that causes growth
God is the one who brings us closer and closer to Him
We are merely cooperating with Him
Paragraph 2727 says, “We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of ‘this present world’ can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant. For example, some would have it that only that is true which can be verified by reason and science; yet prayer is a mystery that overflows both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize production and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and the beautiful; whereas prayer, the ‘love of beauty’ (philokalia), is caught up in the glory of the living and true God. Finally, some see prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against activism; but in fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life.”
We cannot measure God’s grace
Prayer is meant to help us be better Christians
Hopefully being better Christians helps us become better in other areas of our lives
Prayer’s primary goal is not about being more productive
God is often in the difficulty
God is often in the discomfort
God can do more for us in that discomfort than He does in us in that pleasure or comfort
IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALIZE THIS!!
Paragraph 2728 says, “Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have ‘great possessions,’ we have not given all to the Lord; disappointment over not being heard according to our own will; wounded pride, stiffened by the indignity that is ours as sinners; our resistance to the idea that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth. The conclusion is always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.”
We complain about not being heard in our prayer, but it’s really complaining about not being heard according to OUR OWN WILL
God answers prayers, but maybe God didn’t answer in the way that we want
God is FIRST
God is on a level completely on His own
God is God and I am not
Our pride can get in the way
So what good does it do to pray?
How do we navigate this challenge to overcome these obstacles?
Well, we need HUMILITY, TRUST, and PERSEVERANCE
We need to be VIGILANT
Paragraph 2731 says, “Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’ If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion.”
We need to recognize that periods of dryness in prayer are there for our good
When you are distracted in prayer, calmly and gently bring your attention back to the Lord
When it comes to dryness, realize that dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God
So we need to ask ourselves if we have separated our hearts from the Lord if we experience dryness in prayer
Dryness in prayer is normal, yes, but we still need to ask ourselves that question
Have I taken my heart back from the Lord?
Have I intentionally and consciously chosen to say NO to His will?
If that is not the case, then we get to ask, “Ok Lord, how do you want to use this dryness in prayer to purify my heart?”
The Lord God will use that dryness in prayer to purify your heart
To be able to show up again and again, even in the midst of dryness, does vastly so much more for the soul than virtually any other kind of prayer
To cling faithfully to God and saying, “I trust in your promises.”
In those moments, God makes your heart bigger, makes your love purer
Why?
Because we do not love the gifts, we love the giver
Take consolation in the fact that when you show up to prayer and it is dry, and there are distractions say, “Ok, Lord. I am going to calmly and gently acknowledge the distraction and bring my heart and attention back to you. When I experience that dryness, am I living outside of your will?”
If there is nothing obvious, then be at peace
“Lord God, use this dryness to purify my love for you.”
Because that is what God is doing
God does the work
We are merely cooperating with that work
Even though sometimes that cooperation is difficult, God is present and He is doing something
SO HAVE FAITH!!
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT…