Speed and noise seem to be the defining elements of people’s lives today.
When people want something, they often want it now, as in right now.
So we have instant versions of practically everything. No waiting.
Instant coffee. Instant noodles. Instant photos. Instant replay.
Yet it took billions of years to prepare the earth
before it could become a hospitable place for human to live and thrive in.
It takes years for a seed to grow and bear fruits.
It takes nine months for a mother to be blessed with the gift of a new life.
Nature never does things instantly and yet things do get done eventually.
People today also cannot stand silence and being by themselves.
In practically every home, there is often at least one TV set or radio or a component system playing continuously even if no one is really watching or listening.
just to give the semblance or feeling of being with someone else.
It seems to me that people are afraid that in the silence
they would hear just their inner voice.
Prayer is about slowing down and being silent.
Prayer is putting aside for the moment all the wants and desires that drive me daily. Prayer is stilling all the noise outside to listen to the voice within me.
In prayer, I encounter who I truly am and Him who is my source.
In prayers, I come to know the person that I am,
the people who are important and have touched my life,
the gifts that have been given me and the Gift-giver
whose kindness, mercy and generosity knows no bounds.
Prayers is giving voice to my deepest yearnings.
The words with which I pray give form and flesh to my deepest feelings and emotions. When I give words to my joys, sufferings, inspirations and anxieties,
I get to truly own them. And in owning them, I can transform them.
In the process, I become transformed myself.
Through prayers and the words I utter in prayer,
I share in God’s continuing act of creation.
In times primeval, he said: “Let there be light.” and there was light.
To the blind man, Jesus said: “Receive your sight.” and the blind man saw the light.
In prayer, I say with faith: “Lord, that I may see.”
He stays with me and helps me see:
sometimes dimly, sometimes brightly.
This is the reason why I pray.
Daily.
Nay, constantly.