“At every opportunity pray in the Spirit, using prayers and petitions of every sort. Pray constantly and attentively for all in the holy company. Pray for me that God may put his word on my lips, that I may courageously make known the mystery of the gospel – that mystery for which I am an ambassador in chains.” - Ephesians 6: 18-20
“I give thanks to my God every time I think of you – which is constantly, in every prayer I utter – rejoicing, as I plead on your behalf, at the way you have all continually helped promote the gospel from the very first day.” - Philippians 1: 3-5
PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
When a believer becomes a committed follower of Jesus, prayer ceases to be an obligation. It now expresses the disciple’s relationship with Jesus who is claimed as Savior and Lord. A personal relationship has developed between Lord and disciple, resulting in an ardent desire on the disciple’s part to be in the Master’s company continually. The desire to know Jesus and his ways grows incrementally, resulting in a firm commitment to walk in the Master’s footsteps. At this stage prayer becomes the vehicle to express and experience intimacy and communion with the Lord.
Such intimacy can no longer be confined to some stipulated time on the daily schedule. It becomes a necessity to be with the Lord throughout the day. Jesus takes on the role of itinerant Teacher, Friend, and Beloved. The marketplace becomes holy because God resides there. It is now as holy a sanctuary as is Church, because in both places the Lord is present and wishes to commune with the disciple.
Practicing the presence of God throughout the day is a tradition that dates back to the early Church. Paul was definitely a person who lived and breathed God. He and countless others have shaped their lives in God’s presence and under God’s directions. We will look at three different expressions of this practice of God’s Presence.
THE JESUS PRAYER TRADITION:
If you wish to get a good understanding of the Jesus Prayer tradition, a wonderful source would be The Way of a Pilgrim, by an anonymous Russian author. It is the story of a pilgrim who experienced transformation and union with Jesus through the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. Briefly, the Jesus Prayer originated in the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East in the first centuries of Christianity. By the sixth century this practice became a well-established tradition, and Saint John Climacus is commonly held as the founder and consolidator of this practice.
What is the Jesus Prayer? It is the constant recitation of the prayer formula, “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The longer version is, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Various individuals in the New Testament who needed healing uttered this prayer-exclamation, in one form or another. The most prominent of these individuals is the blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10: 47: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” In the parable of the Pharisee and Publican in Luke 18, the publican utters a similar formula, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
This prayer-exclamation is both simple and profound. These words capture the very heart of Christian discipleship, namely, that salvation comes from God and can never be something that we carve out on our own, or merit through our own efforts. Salvation can only be a gift, or Jesus can only be our Savior when we acknowledge the reality of sin in our thoughts, words, and actions. Whoever prays these words with simple faith, as did Bartimaeus, will experience salvation and God’s life in Jesus.
There are three simple steps to follow: Locate Jesus’ presence in your heart; recite the prayer with loving attention to the words and the presence of Jesus in your heart; and recite the prayer to the accompaniment of your breathing, praying the first half as you breathe in, and the second half as you breathe out. Try to make it a practice to say this prayer throughout the day.
You will grow in this practice in stages. In the beginning it will not be possible to do it throughout the day. A valuable tip is that whenever you remember to say it during the day, to recite it several times in a row. Using rosary beads along with the recitation seems to help some people. If the recitation distracts you from the task at hand, do it during your countless moments of transition during the day, when you move from one task to another. Gradually you may be able to do it even while you are concentrating on your various duties. As for saying the prayer to the accompaniment of your breathing, it would do you well to use this step only when you are seated and at rest.
THE BENEFITS OF THE JESUS PRAYER:
The benefits of the Jesus Prayer are many and beyond measure. As disciples get into the practice of reciting this prayer continually throughout the day, they begin to have a strong sense of God’s presence within them. They recognize that they have become temples of the Trinity. There is a deep recognition of the sacred within and outside of them. They belong to God and everything else is to be used for the greater praise and service of this indwelling God.
At first they are reciting the prayer with their lips. Gradually they recognize that they are praying it in their hearts. An abiding sense of God’s presence and the recitation of the prayer in their hearts emerge in their consciousness. They might recognize that even in their sleep this prayer is being prayed within them. They might have this sense upon awakening in the middle of the night. This practice creates the mind and heart of Jesus in the disciple. A slow and steady transformation is taking place. The disciple wants to follow in the Master’s footsteps in every way. There is a strong commitment to choose God and avoid evil. There is as well a strong commitment to choose the better of two good options in decision-making.
FINDING GOD IN ALL THINGS:
At the end of his month long Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola offered a special prayer exercise as a way of transitioning into the marketplace. He called it “Contemplation to Attain the Love of God.” Ignatius was well aware that the retreatant’s circumstances after the retreat would change dramatically. They would be far from idyllic in terms of solitude and freedom from everyday pressures of life. At the same time he was confident that the retreatant could preserve and deepen the intimacy with God and familiarity with prayer developed during the retreat amidst the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. Ignatius was convinced that obligations and pressures of everyday life are not a distraction or hindrance to union with God. Rather they are stepping-stones to God as our duties and obligations are part of God’s will for us. We would attain union with God if we did our everyday duties for God generously and solicitously. Keeping this conviction in mind he offered a great help to do God’s will in our daily tasks and encumbrances. He offered the “Contemplation to Attain the Love of God” during the last days of the retreat and to continue practicing after the retreat.
What then is this way of praying? It is a very simple practice that has far reaching effects on the life of the disciple. Throughout the day you make it a practice to be gratefully aware of God’s providence and largesse in every circumstance of your life. Consequently throughout the day you will experience first hand how God is providing and taking care of your every need. Before long your consciousness is suffused with God’s ardent love and compassion for you in Jesus Christ.
THE BENEFITS OF CONTINUAL THANKSGIVING:
The benefits of this way of praying are immense. Ignatius suggests the chief benefit in the title. He believes that anyone who focuses on God’s continual providence to him/her, will invariably come to a deep experience of love – God’s love for the disciple in the first place, leading to an ardent and serious commitment to loving God in deeds, or doing God’s will in the nitty-gritty of life. A second and equally important benefit is that a person focusing on being loveable and loving is invariably joyful and hopeful. Such individuals know what Paul is talking about in the Scripture passage quoted above from 2 Corinthians. They experience God’s comforting presence even in affliction.
CONTINUAL CONVERSATION WITH GOD:
In “The Practice of the Presence of God,” Brother Lawrence tells us that God gave him this method of being with God. He was told to converse with God during all of his waking hours. From after his year of novitiate till he was an old man, Brother Lawrence learned to be with God continually through an ongoing conversation. There would be times when he would speak his heart out to God. There would be other times when God would speak to him and he would receive answers to questions and dilemmas as well as deeper understanding of God’s mystery through special graces. He speaks of being overwhelmed with profuse tears for over thirty years, so that at times he would have to remove himself from human company. Clearly he lived with the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit was his Teacher and Mentor. And if anyone asked him for one piece of advice, he would recommend very strongly this simple and profound method of prayer.
HELPFUL ATTITUDES FOR PRAYER:
· The Jesus Prayer: Pay loving attention to the words as well as to the presence of God whom you place before you or in your heart.
· Pray this prayer with the simple faith of a child.
· You can use any prayer formula that suits you. Obviously the Jesus Prayer has stood the test of time, and it makes sense to give it a good try.
· Recite the prayer to the accompaniment of your breathing only when you are seated or lying down and at rest.
· If you are losing your sense of joy, hope, and loving attitude, maybe you are not engaging enough in the prayer of gratitude and recollection of God’s presence in your life.
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER:
· Be faithful to your time of prayer, and make it between 20 and 30 minutes daily.
· Begin every prayer session with an earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit like the one I have composed for you: Come, Holy Spirit, and overshadow me with your gentle wisdom and power as I endeavor to sit at the feet of Jesus during this period of prayer. Purify my mind and heart as I seek to make the teachings of Jesus my priority in life, thinking, speaking and doing as He desires. You are the keeper of my soul, leading me into God’s heart. May I be docile and submissive to your wisdom and guidance. May my life be a pleasing offering in your sight. Amen.
· Take one of the passages suggested for prayer. During the week you might want to ponder the question, “Do I strive religiously to make God present in the daily circumstances of my life?”
· Lastly, during your prayer make sure you also address God directly and listen for the Holy Spirit’s responses.
· You can end your prayer with the following: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank you for your gracious companionship. I praise you for being my Creator, Savior and Lord. May I take your blessings to my day, and may your presence envelop and permeate all my thoughts and actions. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PASSAGES FOR PRAYER:
You can try the Jesus Prayer for your prayer sessions this week.
SPIRITUAL READING:
The Imitation of Christ:
After the Bible, this classic is the most widely read. There are four books and 114 chapters in all. You could savor this book three times over if you read a single chapter each day of the retreat. For this week the following chapters might be useful:
Book III: Chapters 31, 34, and 37.
The Bible:
It would be even more important for you to become familiar with the Bible, especially with the New Testament. For this week choose a few passages from the New Testament.
JOURNALING:
· Journal for a few minutes daily about your experience with God in prayer and during the day.
· Your journal will help you with your sharing in spiritual direction
· Gradually patterns of insights, themes, consolations, and resistance to God’s promptings will emerge.
· Your journal will help you appreciate the Holy Spirit’s action in your being.
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