Are our prayers working?

 

Anyone that has followed my blog(principalsonlineoffice.blogspot.com) knows that I struggle with my prayer life.  I struggle to remember to pray, daily, and when I do pray, I wonder if I am saying the right things or am I doing it the right way.  I have overcome most of these hurdles, not completely, but I am much better than I ever was before.

 

In an effort to remember to pray, daily, I got an app for that.  I know, this is kind of sad that I have to have an application to pray daily, but before the app I would forget to pray completely.  Now, every time I open my phone, there is the app on the first page, and while it only gives me a morning prayer and an afternoon prayer, I see the image and now I do not have to use the app to pray, I use it to remind me to pray.  I might not open the app and read what it suggests, but now I will just say a few words in my head, whether it be to ask for God’s guidance, give Him praise and thanksgiving, or to ask God to protect a loved one or friend.

 

As for worrying what to say, I had a friend give me some great advice, about what to say when one prays to God:  J.O.Y.  Jesus, Others, You.  I have stuck pretty much to that plan every time I pray.  I thank God for the wonderful blessings in my life.  I pray for those that have asked me to pray for them by name, then I ask God for his guidance and understanding in whatever my struggles are in my life. 

 

As far as praying the “right way” I have come to the conclusion that there is no correct way to pray.  If I am wrong on this, boy am I in trouble.  However, I have learned that God is ready to listen to anyone willing to engage in conversation with Him.  He is there ready and waiting on us to start the conversation, so I believe that He does not have a particular “right way” to pray.

 

Now I have an entirely different struggle.  At Mass we always have prayers and petitions starting with the Church, the Pope, the Priest, then it usually turns to peaceful end to wars, and for our world leaders to find said solution.  Finally they end in a more personal or community prayers.  However, the other day, I must have been in a bad mood, for I wondered why we continue to pray for the same thing over, and does God even listen?  Because if He did, then why are we not praying for something different every week?

 

After long contemplation, I had two epiphanies when it comes to prayers and petitions.  First is something that Fr. Hunter tweeted a couple of weeks ago that reminded me that God has three answers to prayers, “Yes,” “No,” or “I have another plan.”  The second epiphany I was reminded that the purpose of prayer is to change something.  Change the sick to healthy, the wicked to kind, whenever we pray, we are actually praying for some kind of change. 

 

Now, for the biggest revelation of all, I have come to conclude that regardless of who or what you are praying for, whatever change you wish to see from your prayer, the biggest change one gets from prayer is hopefully from within.  The most important thing prayer can change is your heart.  When one experiences change from within, it can’t help but change their actions and the way they treat others.  If we pray for an end to war and for the beginning of peace, it will not and cannot happen if we are not allowing our prayers to change us from within.

 

Think, if we all allowed prayer to change us from within, then it changes our actions towards others.  Hopefully, that change for the better is contagious towards the family and friends that we surround ourselves.  Then they start to spread the change to family and friends they are around, and next thing you know, we could have an epidemic, of the good kind.  If we can allow God to change our hearts, and spread that to everyone we know, then before you know it, we might just have the peaceful place we always pray for at Mass.

 

 

 

Would you have a job?

In the past, I have written about my joy of funny signs one might see while driving down the road.  Church signs usually have some play on words or times of important events on their signs, and sometimes they even post points to ponder.  Today, I want to write about the one I saw on the way to church, this past weekend, for it definitely made me think about my prayer life.  The quote was, “If praying was your job, would you be employed?”  Whoa!!!! 

As if I needed another sign(no pun intended) that maybe, just maybe, God is trying to encourage me to increase my prayer life, the Mass I went to this weekend, the priest did his homily on Eucharist Adoration.  He spent his homily sharing with the congregation the things people might see in Adoration, such as the candles, the monstrance, etc.  The priest also talked a little bit about his experience with Adoration.  Then at the end of his homily, he actually exposed the Blessed Sacrament, and we had the opportunity to be in the presence of God, and just pray. 

Then to finish me off, what was on our sign, this morning, when I pulled into work, the Adoration schedule for last Sunday.  Okay God, I get it!!!  I need to be more prayerful in my life.  The rote prayers I am doing are not enough, anymore.  I see the dangers in our world of natural disasters, the constant fighting between our political parties, the fear of world leaders on the brink of war, and I think to myself, what is the point?  It is not working.  My prayers have not changed a thing in this world, so why even bother?

I won’t even go into the selfishness of those thoughts and how I could even think that my prayer for peace is actually going to make peace in this world, or how I can possibly pray for a Hurricane not to hit land, and expect that it actually not his land.  However, what I can attest to is the power of prayer to change my heart. 

I am a firm believer that the power of prayer can change anyone’s life for the better, because it changes said persons heart from within.  Spending time with our Lord will change anyone, if we are willing to start the conversation, listen to what He tells us, and then actually allow our own hearts to change.  We must let the power of prayer change our heart. 

Prayer is a powerful thing that can lead us to places we could never have dreamed of.  Today, make a promise to God and to yourself, that you will increase your prayer life in some way.  Are you praying at family meals?  If not, start.  Are you praying as a family at bedtime?  If not, start.  Are you spending time in the real presence of Christ, at Eucharistic Adoration?  If not, start. 

In order to increase your prayer life, I might suggest that you start by making it a part of your daily schedule by adding it to your calendar.  Set it up to give you a reminder on your phone or computer and when that reminder pops up, stop what you are doing and spend time in prayer.  Mark your calendar to spend time in Adoration.  If the SPX times do not fit your schedule, find other churches that might.  Some churches will have perpetual Adoration or almost perpetual Adoration, find a schedule that fits around yours.   Do something that will take you out of the daily routine of your life, and add time for God.  Let Him change your heart and you might be surprised how the change in your heart, might be an example for someone else.