When you look into the bible, the biblical record that we cherish, you discover many commandments. We are all familiar with the the Big Ten, which are ultimately summarized and condensed in the Two Great Commandments: Love God above all and Love your neighbor as yourself.
Every commandment we stumble across in the bible reflects back on these Ten or the Two great ones.
Most of us, for the most part of our life seek to fulfill these commandments, that is live them in the life we have. Generally speaking we do okay. We can do better but we aren't terrible at it.
But there is one commandment that we stink at. We neglect it to our own detriment.
It is the commandment that is at the center of this particular parable, Jesus speaks of often in his gospel, and it reechoed in the words of St. Paul: Pray ALways without Ceasing.
Prayer is a mandate.
It is a commandment that demands not that we make prayer a part of our life but rather that our life becomes part of our prayer.
We pray as we live, we live as we pray. Prayer is indicative of our faith in the living God. Pray is a sign of life, our life and God's living reality in our life. No one prays to a God that is dead. When we do not pray then we live as if God were dead.
God waits. No time is bad time and all time is prayer time.
Most of our life is about showing up. Such is the reality of prayer. It is about setting aside time, creating space for the living God to come in and move through us and thus guide us along the way.
Most of us experience prayer in time of trouble, crisis, anxiety. We use prayer to pressure God, to bend his will in our favor. We often use it as a means to tell GOd what do, when to do, how to do ti, how soon to do it and on and on.
Prayer is not about getting what we want. IT is about surrendering, It i about learning. It is about listening. It is about waiting. It is about growing in silence and solitude. It is about discovering the living presence of God right before us and allowing that presence to transform us.
The Habit of prayer transforms us, molds us. When we go to pray we never leave the same as before.
Just a few things of note;
1) prayer is a battle
It is a battle for time; it is a battle with distractions; it is a battle with dryness; it is a battle of selfishness; it is a battle to surrender; it is a battle that calls us to action; it is a battle for patience.
We need to give time to prayer and be faithful to it.
If we say we are going to pray for fifteen minutes or ten minutes or thirty minutes then we need to be faithful and persistent. Sticking to a program actually strengthens our will toward the highest good which helps us in other areas of our life. We teach our will what to seek and how to stand firm in seeking.
Also, God will hold us to our desire and thus may wait to speak in the last second of the last minute. We do not want to cut it short unless an emergency occurs. But training our heart and mind to listen attentively enables us to hear God speaking in the noise of living.
Distractions are normal. When you step in to a tank and stir the mud, visibility declines. But once the agitation subsides then the mud settles and visibility returns. The business of life stirs up the mud in our hearts and minds. When we go to pray the mud will settle and appear as distractions. We need to bring these distractions to God and allow him to help us see them clearly. They may be God speaking to us.
In prayer we think about our families, our jobs, our relationships, our life. This is okay. God wants to be part of all of that. We must accept them, embrace them and surrender them: Lord, I give these to you, show me what I need to see.
Then we bring ourself back to the center, giving our attention to God. Again this is training our will to put God at the center of our life.
Dryness is inevitable.
Often people complain about not feeling anything in prayer, having no enthusiasm or experiencing no consolation. But this is okay. Thing about the Israelites in the desert for 40 years. There they had God accompany them with a pillar of fire and cloud. Yet they experienced bitterness, grumbling, rebellion, complaining. God continued to lead them,
Dryness is important because it refines our desires and purifies them. It helps us to make sure we are in it for God and not just for ourselves. Dryness is what teaches us trust and fidelity. Here our faith grows.
Prayer is about activity.
Notice in the first reading Moses was on the hill with arms raised while Joshua was in the valley with sword in hand. The Victory needed both, Moses on the Hill and Joshua in the Valley. The strength of prayer enabled the fight to be fought.
Prayer isn't magic. It doesn't mean we do nothing. It means we pray and work and together God's will is accomplished.
Lastly we must begin every prayer with the words: thy will be done.
We ask God for everything but seldom do we ask for the one thing necessary.
Only then does the habit of prayer transform, guide, direct and lead our life to Christ.
If we do this then the answer to the question Jesus poses in the gospel today, "when the son of man comes will he find faith on earth," will be Yes.
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