Last night we met for our third Lenten Journey discussion at the parish and again, it was a great experience for all of us. We talked more about the book Rediscover Jesus by Matthew Kelly. One of the points we discussed had to do with the reality of praying to God for so many of our needs. Matthew Kelly's insight on prayer was very enlightening to us. He said that we are many times the answer from God for the prayers people and ourselves offer. Actually, very few prayers that we offer are directly answered by God.
Think about it. We pray for the hungry. God then asks us to be instruments of generosity in giving to those who are in need of food. We pray for the sick. God then inspires us to cook a pot of chicken soup for a sick neighbor and bring it over. We ask God to help us have families that live in peace. Then our conscience reminds us of ways that we, ourselves can be better peacemakers in our own homes. This helps me to better envision the often quoted words that "we are the hands, the voice and the presence of Christ in our world".
Most of the time it is easy to have a prayer roll off our tongues, and then go about our business of living and leave the rest up to God. This new insight of being God's answered prayer for others helps me to see my prayer in a very different way. I need to step up to the plate to live the prayers I pray. This takes effort. This may inconvenience me. I may not even want to think about this right now, because it will put me face to face with something God is asking me to change about myself.
Could it be that when I pray, I am saying to God, "How do you want me to die to myself in order that someone else may live more fully in your love"? This, most assuredly, is the Resurrection Way. I need to pray about this today.
Think about it. We pray for the hungry. God then asks us to be instruments of generosity in giving to those who are in need of food. We pray for the sick. God then inspires us to cook a pot of chicken soup for a sick neighbor and bring it over. We ask God to help us have families that live in peace. Then our conscience reminds us of ways that we, ourselves can be better peacemakers in our own homes. This helps me to better envision the often quoted words that "we are the hands, the voice and the presence of Christ in our world".
Most of the time it is easy to have a prayer roll off our tongues, and then go about our business of living and leave the rest up to God. This new insight of being God's answered prayer for others helps me to see my prayer in a very different way. I need to step up to the plate to live the prayers I pray. This takes effort. This may inconvenience me. I may not even want to think about this right now, because it will put me face to face with something God is asking me to change about myself.
Could it be that when I pray, I am saying to God, "How do you want me to die to myself in order that someone else may live more fully in your love"? This, most assuredly, is the Resurrection Way. I need to pray about this today.
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