Advancing his kingdom in prayer
By Tracy Rosachi
When I was praying about what to share during this talk on the Time for God Appendices by Fr. Liebermann and Br. Lawrence, the Lord kept giving me the first part of the Our Father prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This seems to fit in well with some of today’s sharings. We are connected to God's kingdom by prayer, and it is only through surrender in prayer, a willingness of heart and faith in Christ Jesus that we are able to enter into the kingdom.
Faith in prayer
So how does prayer connect us to the kingdom of God? Prayer is the language of the kingdom and, just like any language, if we don't use it, we lose it. Many of us are taught a different language in high school, and I would guess most of us haven't used it since then. I learned French, but I couldn't tell you many words in French these days because I haven't continued to use it. We must continue to practice the language of prayer because prayer is how God speaks to us and we speak to him.
If prayer is the door to the kingdom of God and our means to speak to God, then faith is what opens that door. We have to have faith that he is there and that he is speaking to us in prayer. It is important to know that our faith is us saying in prayer, "Yes, God, I am here,” and trusting that he is always there waiting for us to open that door.
Practicing the presence of God
In the second appendix, Br. Lawrence talks about practicing the presence of God. Sometimes when my life is so busy, God reminds me to "practice my presence." What does that mean? Well, what does “practice” mean? First of all, it means doing something over and over again until you don't even have to think about it anymore. It just becomes a part of you.
Practicing his presence is about remembering throughout the day to just stop and say "Thank you, God. Here I am, God," and having faith that he is present. I will use an example that happened to me this week. I was running some errands and had to stop to get gas. I don’t know about you, but a lot of times while I’m at the gas station, I’m thinking about what I have to do next, or where I have to be next. All of sudden, I just looked up and realized it was a beautiful day and saw a bird flying by, and I remembered to say: "Thank you, Lord, for being present and allowing me to be with you while the gas is pumping."
Whether he brings it to our mind, or we make an effort to practice his presence, I have found that it is a great way to draw nearer to him, and it puts back into perspective what is truly important. If we open ourselves up to his presence, we will realize those brief moments that can touch our lives in an intimate way and help us grow in our faith. We also open ourselves up to his will and allow him to give us the courage to respond to his will. The more of an effort I have made to practice living in his presence, the more it's become a habit and the more fruitful it has become.
The gift of tongues
ne of the greatest gifts that many of us have as charismatics is the gift of tongues. We talk about that being a heavenly language and the language of the kingdom. Therefore, another great way to practice his presence is to pray in tongues. I know for me, it is very easy to sit down with good intentions of praying in his presence, but I'm too distracted by everything else going on to really enter into his presence. Praying in tongues allows my spirit and God’s spirit to talk to each other and takes my brain, and my distractions, out of the equation. Whether it's a long prayer time or just a short practice of his presence, praying in tongues allows us to connect to him in a much deeper way than if we tried to use our own words.
I have learned from my spiritual director over the years that we all have our different faculties that aid us in prayer: memory, intellect, will, imagination and emotions. When we begin to pray in the way discussed in Time for God, and have faith in the Lord’s presence in our prayer, and we allow the Lord to work with the faculties he gave us and enter deeply into his presence in prayer, we often find that the things that we sometimes get lost in – life’s distractions – become less distracting We see the Lord’s will start to take shape in our lives instead. I encourage everyone to be on the lookout for the moments where God can speak to us and practice entering into his presence in the moments you would normally allow distractions to consume.
Advancing his kingdom in prayer
A few weeks ago at prayer meeting, we talked about being in awe of God and appreciating his creation around us and the people he brings into our lives. When we bring our whole self into prayer and allow ourselves to be in awe of him, God brings us deeper into his kingdom. The more in tune we are with his presence, the more we allow him to use us to advance his kingdom.
In Dan Burke’s book, Into the Deep, he uses the term “sacred attention.” Burke defines sacred attention as a simple attentiveness to Jesus. He goes on to describe it as allowing ourselves to slow down, relax and begin to shift away from all things other than what God wants to reveal to us. Even if it is only for a short amount of time while we pump gas, are in line at the grocery store or the bank, or sit in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, it is those moments that we would normally give over to distractions that the Lord wants the most and can sometimes do the most with to advance his kingdom.
It is amazing the changes I have seen in myself since I have started practicing his presence. I have learned to revel in the solitude of his presence and find joy there. Again, it takes faith in knowing that he shows up for us to understand that even when we don’t hear his voice in our prayers, we are not alone. Prayer is not a lonely place; he is always with us. I have also learned to stop and ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do here?” before I react in certain situations. In doing so, my reactions have become more thoughtful and calm in stressful or difficult situations.
I also have seen growth in my life in advancing my discipline of the liturgy. In making this more of a priority and practicing that discipline, I am again allowing the Lord to advance his kingdom through me. It really is a beautiful thought that we are able to help advance God's kingdom in real ways every single day just doing what we do when we do it in his presence.
It can be a scary thing to turn our lives over to him and trust his will without knowing where that might lead us. As we slowly become more and more comfortable being in his presence and grow in the faith required to trust in his presence, he teaches us what we need to know to enter his kingdom. So I encourage everyone to practice his presence and to practice the discipline of giving him our little moments of distraction in order to grow closer to him and so that he might use us to advance his kingdom. God bless you, and God bless all of us. Amen.
Community Gathering, November 13, 2016