Practicing Presence in Prayer

The impulse to be human doings instead of human beings extends to the realm of prayer. We can become overly concerned about achieving benchmarks in prayer (e.g., praying the rosary each day or making sure we get to Bible Study each week). All too easily, we fall into the trap of believing that our worthiness in God’s eyes is tied to the productivity of our prayer life.

 

Image by Lorenzo Quinn

To be sure, prayer practices are essential because of their role in helping us build a relationship with God. Through prayer, we can remember that God is the source of our life; voice our desires and discern what God desires for us; recognize that God is God and we are not; intercede for others, expanding our understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ; develop gratitude for the gifts of life; and, ultimately, grow into a bond of love and trust with the One who has loved us into being.

When we love someone, what makes us most happy is simply being with them. The same holds true of God. Eventually, more and more of our prayer entails just sitting in God’s presence. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing anything, and that can be uncomfortable, until we relax into this practice of being. As Richard Rohr, OFM, says, “So much of life is just a matter of listening and waiting and enjoying the expansiveness that comes from such willingness to hold” [this tension].

 

I continue to be touched by a story that was relayed by a sister who was sitting with Sr. Maria Van Hee when she was close to death. Sr. Maria started giggling, and her companion asked, “What are you laughing at?” Sr. Maria replied, “God just told me a joke!” May we all enjoy such intimacy and expansiveness when we open our being to God, whose love and joy is eternal.