Steady On, Friends

by Elizabeth Howe

          The gyms are full the first two weeks of January and resolutions are firm. Invariably resolutions begin to wane, especially when we lose focus. Distractions, pain, busyness, laziness, and discouragement can set in. We can easily fall back into our old bad habits.  What makes us endure? What makes us give up?  Why can’t we be patient with the process?  Why is it so easy to get discouraged?  Ponder these questions.

          We are a society conditioned to expect immediate results, same day deliveries, instant information, and instantaneous gratification.  Anything else is just too much trouble.  We even expect immediate results and answers from God. But life takes time. Relationships take time. It takes time to grow, to perfect a skill, to get in shape, to root out vices and to love well.  Life takes time and little by little, we grow, and we change.1 Try and try again. Practice makes perfect. Everything worth having takes time. These adages are true in life and in prayer.

            For prayer to be fruitful and faithful we must persevere.2 We must spend intimate, quiet, daily time with Jesus, getting to know him, talking to him, and listening to him in Scripture.  Don’t give up too easily on your quiet pondering prayer time.  Please DO give up your expectations and preconceived notions of God, his timing, your performance in prayer and his answers.  Steady, patient, focused practice is required.  As Mother Teresa famously said, “How do we learn to pray? By praying.”

       There are many obstacles to deep, meditative prayer. Time, lack of concentration, a focus on self instead of Jesus, a quiet place, the demands of your life circumstances, despair, confusion, discouragement, and distractions can all hinder prayer.    The list of excuses is long – I know – I’ve used most of them, but Jesus promises he will let himself be found by us.  (…he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Psalm 85:8   For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:8) He does not say that we must have a masters in Scripture studies, be able to speak Greek or have a PHD in Philosophy to hear his WORD or be in relationship with him.  He asks for our heart. He asks us to love him – mind, body, soul, and strength.3 He asks for humility and gratitude, recognizing our need for grace.4

          It is also very easy to get discouraged and distracted by the plethora of spiritual devotions available.  Do I need to read this devotional, pray a Rosary, or listen to this daily podcast to be a good Christian?  All of it? None of it? Some of it? How do I know?  Every day?  Guilt can set in.  Doubt can set in.  Once we compare our spiritual practices to those of other “holy” people, some deep discouragement can set in.  Don’t fall for it!    Who on earth wants to distract you, discourage you, confuse you, keep you in self-pity and keep the noise level so loud in your head you can’t hear the Holy Spirit?  Who could that be who wants to keep you from quietly conversing with your God?  Who? Think about that and don’t let him in.  Steady on with your deep, daily, desire to grow closer to Jesus, to trust him more, to love him more, to serve him more in your daily existence.

          Your prayer life is as unique as YOU are.  The manner of your prayer, your interior disposition, is more important than your method of prayer.  He wants heart, humility,5 docility, and openness to his will not a predetermined formula, one size fits all prayer.  In the introduction to my Ignatius New Testament Study Bible, it says this:

“Perhaps the most important context of all is the interior life of the reader.  What we get out of the Bible will largely depend on how we approach the Bible.  Unless we are living a sustained and disciplined life of prayer, we will never have the reverence, the profound humility, or the grace we need to see the Scriptures for what they really are.  You are approaching the “word of God”. But for thousands of years, since before he knit you in your mother’s womb, the Word of God has been approaching you.” 6

            Jesus wants your heart – all of it.  He wants you to love him first and then the other loves of your life will fall into place.  Your love of spouse, children, family, friends, job, self, material things gets ordered and centered around your love for Jesus.  Giving Jesus your heart channels the fruits of the Holy Spirit7 in the direction of your loves and orders them rightly, according to his will.  Things like peace, gentleness, patience, kindness, generosity, and self-control start showing up in your thoughts, actions and relationships.  These fruits of the Holy Spirit are the barometers, the signs of a healthy, authentic prayer life.8

            Jesus wants you to be good at recognizing and responding to the inspirations of his Holy Spirit in your life.  You learn and perfect this spiritual awareness in your quiet prayer life. It becomes second nature to think with a spiritual mindset.  You build that confident faith, trust, and love of Jesus in your quiet ponderings with him; asking questions, listening in silence, pouring out your heart, hearing him speak directly to you reading Scripture, learning to trust him, learning to surrender your will, learning to cease resisting his love and mercy. The more time you spend meditating on Jesus the more you get to know him personally. The more you know him personally, the easier it becomes to trust him.9 The more you trust him the more you begin to accept the things in your life you cannot change or the circumstances you do not want.  The more you trust and accept, the more your soul stays in a steady state of peace.10 The more you begin to accept his will the more you start to see his power and mercy in your life and the lives of those around you.  You put on a spiritual set of “SON” glasses that helps you process life from a supernatural perspective, based on your relationship with Jesus.  This view turns your life in to a spectacular adventure with Him by your side.  The kind of adventure that is full of faith, love, hope, joy, mercy, and peace.  Jesus promises us an abundant life.11 Start living it now.  Steady on – persevere in your daily, deep, quiet prayer without fear or hesitation. Please let Jesus create a new heart in you,12 little by little let him love you and be found by you13 as you persevere14 and seek him with your heart in prayer.15

10 Quick Tips and Reminders to Remain Steadfast in Prayer

  1. Your “manner” of prayer, your interior disposition is more important (humility, gratitude & docility) than your “method” of prayer.16
  2. Your relationship with Jesus is as unique as you are.17
  3. Find a quiet, private place to pray daily.18
  4. Set an alarm and commit to a regular appointment. This small obedience opens the floodgates of grace.
  5. The goal of prayer is to grow in union and love of Jesus Christ – not necessarily an intellectual or emotional pursuit although both of those can be part of prayer.
  6. You get better with practice at quieting your mind and limiting distractions.
  7. Always ASK the Holy Spirit to help you understand or see the errors in your thoughts or actions.19
  8. Jesus speaks to you personally when you read Scripture. Listen in silence.
  9. Electronics don’t count as personal, quiet prayer with Jesus.
  10. If you are not growing or “hearing” Jesus, check your sins or what you are holding back from God. Be honest with yourself and God. He will reward your vulnerability and humility. Pray for your faith to increase.20

See more Tips & Steps for Meditating on Scripture

Prayer

          Please make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit in me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.  Please strengthen me for all endurance and patience with joy and fill me with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding to lead a life worthy of you. AMEN. [Psalms 25:4-5, Psalms 51:10-12, Colossians 1:9-12]

 

Footnotes & Scripture

1Therefore, you correct little by little those who trespass, and remind and warn them of the things where in they sin, that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O LORD.  Wisdom 12:2

1So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

1And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:9-11

2.…continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving Colossians 4:2

3You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

 4“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

5Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Psalms 85:8

5He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. Psalms 25:9

5But he gives more grace; therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

6The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition. Ignatius Press, 2010, pp. xiv.

7 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26

7Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  Romans 8:26-27

8Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

8And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us[a] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:9-12

 9You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3

9Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones. Wisdom 3:9

10Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

11 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

12A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 

13Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelations 3:20

13For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:8

13.I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me. John 10:14

    14.…provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven. Colossians 1:23

    14My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! Psalms 57:7

    14.Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance… Ephesians 6:18

    14 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

    15Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

    16And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:7

    17Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Philippians 3:12

    18And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35

    19But who can discern his errors?  Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.  Psalms 19:12-13

     20You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:3

    20Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5

    20“I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24

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