In St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he writes, “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18). These words from the Apostle Paul are one of a handful of Bible verses that almost everyone knows, but at the same time, they are the hardest to put into practice. When we think of someone who prays without ceasing we often think of monks and nuns who cloister themselves off and spend every day in prayer. It is hard for us to think that we are able to achieve this state of constant prayer and still live a normal life with jobs, kids, friends, etc. While this idea of praying without ceasing seems like a daunting task it doesn’t necessarily have to be an overnight sort of thing. Achieving this state of prayer takes years of dedication and it usually involves taking things slow and not overdoing things. So if you are interested in trying to live out St. Paul’s words then here are three ordinary things that anyone can incorporate into their lives.
The first recommendation is for the beginning and end of our day. Before you even put your feet on the floor consecrate your day to our Mother, so that she may be with you and pray for you throughout the day. It can something as easy as a Hail Mary, or you can have a brief conversation with her about your plans for today. If you are having trouble saying something a priest once told us that he starts his day off saying, “most dear Mother, I offer you this day. All the highs and lows, my successes and failures, I give it all to you.” Starting your day off with prayer helps to keep a positive focus on the day. The second part of this recommendation comes from Pope Francis who prays this prayer before he goes to bed, “Lord, if you want, you can purify me.” Then he prays five Our Fathers, one for each of Christ’s wounds on the Cross (both feet, both hands, and his side). He does this, he explained, “because Jesus has cleansed us with his sores.” This prayer helps us at the end of our day because most likely we failed and sinned and so we can pray this in hope because tomorrow is another day and Christ can work wonders in us as long as we are open to him.
The second recommendation is to have a simple phrase that we can repeat when we are in traffic, when our co-worker is bothering us, while we are in line for something, the uses for this are endless. One great example is just repeating the phrase, “Jesus I love you.” At first, it feels weird and some days you might not actually believe in what you are saying, and some days this phrase is the truest thing anyone has ever said. The important thing is that we continue saying it because on the days that it doesn’t feel that we love Christ (or if you choose another phrase) it is good to keep saying it because deep in your heart we know that it is true.
The last recommendation is to pray during any meal that you have. This might seem simple, but how many of us actually pray before a meal when we are out in public or when we are with friends, co-workers, or people of different faiths. This last recommendation is useful because if we want to strive to pray without ceasing, praying before each meal helps us to at least pray once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. This last recommendation might seem daunting at first because of the weird glances, or the awkward stares by the person you are eating with who isn’t Catholic or doesn’t do this, but it is very helpful to remind us to be thankful for the food we have, even if it comes from a fast food place.
One thing that comes with being a Christian is that we are called to have a loving relationship with the Father, and in a hectic world where everyone is busy, it seems that our prayer life is the first to go, but it doesn’t have to be that way. These simple recommendations are the stepping stone to a deeper prayer life and can help us understand the plan that God has for us but also it can help us to understand who we are because we can learn a lot about ourselves when we pray and listen to what the God has to say. |
