How to Pray | How to Live
I love you with my heart. I seek you with my heart.
After Christmas, I spent a couple of days on quiet retreat. One evening, as I sat in silence before the Eucharist, I found myself praying these words to Jesus: (Breathing in) I love you with my heart; (breathing out) I seek you with my heart. (Breathing in) I love you with my heart; (breathing out) I seek you with my heart.
As time passed, my prayer and my awareness changed. No longer were these words coming from my heart to the Lord’s; I was aware that they were coming from His heart to mine. I began my prayer by seeking to love Jesus more deeply, but the grace He gave me in prayer was the knowledge of how deeply He loves me.
That hour reminded me about the essence of prayer: it’s about relationship. That hour also refocused me on the importance of keeping my prayer simple. So often, when I go to pray, I have this inner urge to share as much as I can with the Lord. But all I really need to do is be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). He already knows what’s in my heart. My prayer is most fruitful when I simply allow myself to be loved by Him. I don’t need to say a lot; I just need to be present to Him.
Last year, I challenged the readers of this blog to commit to daily silence. I’d like to issue that challenge once again. Every day, take time to be silent with the Lord. Start with ten minutes, and then gradually increase your prayer time. Let Him love you. Resist the compulsion to be too wordy in your prayer. He knows what’s in your heart. When you pray today, simply sit in silence and pray: I love you with my heart; I seek you with my heart. Then, realize that it’s not so much about you saying these words to the Lord; it’s more about Him saying them to you.
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“God is love” (1 John 4:8)
A troubled Soul: Lord, sometimes I have a hard time believing that you love me unconditionally.
Jesus: Why?
Soul: Because I have so many imperfections. I feel weighed down by weaknesses. I commit the same sins over and over.
Jesus: Your saying “I” a lot. Sounds like you’re focused more on yourself than on Me and My love for you.
Soul: There are just times when I don’t like myself very much.
Jesus: So your struggle is not really about My love for you; you’re having a hard time loving yourself.
Soul: I guess so.
Jesus: Don’t you believe my Word?
Soul: Remind me. Read more »
I think it’s safe to say that most of the readers of this blog greatly admire the saints. We look to them as our role models for living the fullness of the Christian life. “They inspire us by their heroic lives.”[1] “Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us…gives us inspiration and strength…” [2]
We know some of their stories. Some spent hours in deep prayer every day (Teresa of Avila), with little sleep to boot (John Vianney); others spent their days in selfless service to the poor and homeless (Mother Teresa); still others worked tirelessly in hospitals ministering to the sick (Elizabeth of Hungary), or built orphanages (John Bosco), or schools (Elizabeth Ann Seton). And then we look at our own lives and think, I just don’t have what it takes to be like that; I don’t have what it takes to be a saint. Read more »
The other day, as I was driving south on Route 95, I was awestruck by the autumn foliage. A couple of times I was tempted to stop and look, but that’s not the smartest thing to do when you’re on the highway during rush hour. However, when I was on the back roads about a [...]
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