IV. HOW DO I COMMUNICATE WITH GRACE?

Communication is one of the greatest gifts given to us by God. Can you imagine going throughout life without the means or capacity to communicate with other persons? The consequences would be both painful and devastating. Nearly everyone is aware of the story of Helen Keller as presented in both the stage and movie renditions of The Miracle Worker, which is the dramatic true life of a person totally cut off from the world by the absence of the ability to see and hear. Through the inspiring work of a wonderful teacher and mentor, Anne Sullivan, Helen comes through a long and painful process of overcoming this profound lack of communication. We all can thank God for these gifts of grace, these gifts of communications that we so often take for granted. The freedom to talk to each other “live” or on phones, the freedom to listen to music and to watch a beautiful sunset or a show on television is a fundamental freedom that we feel is a right that we have as part of our lives. But where does this “right” originate? It originates with the One who gave it to us and so our primary daily communication should and indeed must be with Him.

The beginning of our communication with God is an active prayer life. This is a fast-paced and mind-numbing new millennium, a “new age,” in which we attempt to survive, literally, from day to day. We must take advantage of a resource available to us, and that resource is the quiet time of prayer. We have lost sight of the tremendous value of “quiet time.” When is the last time that you turned off stimulants of sight and sound, went to a room by yourself (this could also be your car or truck), and just listened to the silence? Try it. Just sit there for a few minutes with your eyes closed and think about all the “positive things” happening to you in your life. We have become rather good at feeling sorry for ourselves and having “pity parties,” but we are definitely, in general, not very good at dwelling upon the good things we have in our life. Is your life so bad that you cannot think of any good things happening to you? Here are some suggestions…

I woke up this morning….thank You, Lord! I am breathing the air that You created….thank You, Lord! I have loving and giving people in my life who care for me and You gave them existence….thank You, Lord! I have food to eat and water to drink….thank You, Lord! I could go on and on, but do you see how many people, places, and things that we take for granted? What do they all have in common? These were all, without exception, created by God. Nothing has existence except through Him. So, after meditating a few minutes upon this marvelous reality, why not begin your prayer life and just thank God for all of these gifts. It can be very simple, such as “Thank You, Lord, for the air that I breathe, the sun that I feel upon my face, and all the little things that I take for granted.” This form of prayer is called a Prayer of Thanksgiving and is very pleasing to God. It is very pleasing to Him because you have recognized that you have a relationship with Him, and want to then communicate with Him about it. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF YOUR RESPONSE TO GRACE. Not the “ New Age” approach to the transcendent with all its dangers and obstacles, but rather a truly Judeo-Christian personal relationship, one on one, with Our Lord, the Lord of the Universe. I have included in the Appendix some prayers to get you started, prayers which have been a great help to me as I continue along my own personal journey of loving union with Our Lord which culminates at the moment of death when we, by and through His grace, enter into His Kingdom. There are, as I mentioned, various forms of prayer. There is the prayer of Thanksgiving to the All-Powerful Father for all He has given to us.

There is also the prayer of Petition, the greatest example of which was taught by Jesus when he was asked how to pray. Notice how the Our Father actually starts with another fundamental form of prayer, the prayer of Adoration. Jesus begins His beautiful prayer to the Father by saying: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!” So Jesus teaches us to start our own prayer life with adoration of God the Father of us all and to tell Him in a very straightforward way that we desire with all our hearts that His Will be done everywhere, not just in Heaven. The implications of that statement are absolutely awesome! Think about it. Jesus is instructing us to desire that each and every person alive at this moment upon the face of the earth cooperate with God’s Will and to do it, not our own. The union of our individual free will with the Will of God! Ponder, if you will, how this would change the world as we know it in a powerful and superbly beautiful way. All people would be charitable towards each other. There would be no stealing, no murder. Wars would cease because we would not want to covet or take from our neighbors their possessions or property. People would open their hearts to reconciliation with both God and neighbor. Does this all sound like fantasy? It is not fantasy…it is the Will of God, and Jesus told us so in the very beginning of His prayer to the Father.

Then Jesus turns our minds and hearts to a prayer of Petition, actually a series of petitions. He continues with “Give us”….and proceeds with a short list of the essential needs of our human lives. Our Bread…our daily sustenance which we need for energy, our food for the journey. What is more basic than this? Therefore it is the very first thing that Jesus tells us to ask the Father for.12 For a Christian, if you do not have Jesus then, indeed, you have nothing! Then Jesus reminds us that we must petition the Father for Mercy: Forgive us our trespasses….We ask Our dear and loving Father to not remember our sins and to think of us, His creation, His creatures as children who run to their daddy and He takes them in His arms and tells them how much He loves them. But in appreciation for this great love which we obtain through grace we in turn are duty bound to love each other and also forgive. Saint John the Evangelist was always telling his disciples that if you call yourself a Christian, that is to say, a follower of Jesus the Christ, but you do not love, then you are a liar.

There has always been some confusion about the next petition. Lead us not into temptation. Does God lead us into temptation? Of course He doesn’t! By this Jesus is telling us that we must ask the Father to sustain us in sanctifying grace so that we may cooperate with those graces and persevere against the snares of the Evil One. We are always given sufficient graces to obtain salvation, that is to say, the Kingdom of God. However, we always have the free will to refuse those graces and thereby fall into sin. Therefore, the final petition is equally essential to our natural and our supernatural life. Deliver us from the Evil One, deliver us from Satan, who seeks, as Peter says in his First letter, to devour us like a lion would devour his prey. We certainly do not want to be the “willing prey of Satan”!

So we can summarize this section by repeating that the beginning of communication with God is an active prayer life. Prayer must become part of your daily activity in the same manner as you take care of your body each and every day. You would not begin each day without caring for and cleaning your body, and it follows that what is done naturally must also be done supernaturally. Keep your soul clean! Pray and obtain graces which then give you the peace and the joy of spirit which can’t come from the longest shower or the cleanest teeth. Morning prayer is especially efficacious, because it prepares you for the day and you are spiritually armed for whatever may transpire, much of it not under your personal control. Here are some biblical references to the incredible power of prayer!

And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before me; I have consecrated this house which you have built, and put my name there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time (1 Kings 9:3).

Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2).

And the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects (James 5:15-16).

For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those that do evil (1 Peter 3:12).

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours! (Mark 11:24).