IN the Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 2558- 2565, we see that prayer is:
Raising up our mind and heart to him with reverent attention and devotion
A vital and personal relationship of the children of God with their Father
There are two important elements of prayer. First of all, prayer is focusing our mind and heart to God. Secondly, it is a personal relationship. This means, whenever we give our attention to God and create an intimate relationship with him, we are actually praying.
These questions most probably cross our minds:
How do I give my full attention to God in the midst of my busy schedule?
What does ‘having a relationship with Christ’ mean?
Often times, I am preoccupied with how well my “preparation” is before I pray. I am a working mom with one toddler and currently I am 8-month pregnant. I used to feel frustrated because I can’t seem to find the perfect time and environment for me to pray. The perfect environment will be a quiet evening, lighted scented candles and an uninterrupted one hour of prayer time. How I wish this can happen every day. For the many days in a month that it didn’t happen according to my plan, I got more and more frustrated. I felt it’s just impossible to connect with God.
After I’ve discovered the two elements of prayer- focus and relationship, I’ve changed the way I connect with God. Thanks to the formation I’ve received in community and the encouragement from my sharing group who is always committed to helping me grow in my relationship with God.
Naturally, I love expressing myself with words. I can focus more on God when I am writing. Relationship with Christ means that there is an authentic communication between God and me. I define my prayer time as writing a ‘love letter to God’. This is where I feel most loved and closest to God. In the words that I express to him, I feel heard. I can also see how he responded to me through my journal writing. I write whenever I have the chance throughout the day. I can come freely to God because I feel loved by him. Prayer no longer becomes my to-accomplish-list or it has to be perfect. It is now a time I look forward to everyday. I come as I am.
Prayer time can be very different for each person. Some friends I know feel most connected to God when they worship him through music. Some by drawing or crafting, taking a walk in the nature and some meditating the words of God. Each of us can connect to God in a creative way that allows God to speak intimately to our hearts.
How do you best communicate with God? It means identifying what is the one thing that you do to raise your mind and heart to God. What helps in communicating with God?
God is a personal being. He wants to connect with us in a special way that we feel loved the most. Our prayer time can be creative and unique because we are all designed specially by him. One thing for sure, however way we choose to connect with him, he is more concerned of our being than our doing. He is interested to know our deepest heart. He wants to connect with us.
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Jessica Rine is a passionate educator who loves teaching her young students.
