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The more I learn about Scripture, the better it gets. There have been so many times in my life (and by that I mean like, 98% of the times) when I’ve heard, read, or even prayed over Scripture, and I got nothing. I would read it and think, “That’s a nice story,” or “That didn’t make any sense to me,” or even, “That’s in the Bible?” Cha feel (that’s slang for ’Ya feel me?’ which is slang for ‘You know what I mean?”)?
And although I’ll admit that it still happens, although less and less the more I learn (so like at a 93% now), there are times when I’m like, man, even a seemingly insignificant sentence has a whole lot of meaning behind it. Go read Luke 9:18-24. What stood out to you? Was it the first sentence? Probably not. Not because you weren’t really paying attention, but because if you were going to remember anything from the Gospel, the first sentence probably wouldn’t be it. But that first sentence puts up quite a challenge for us. Ready for it? Here it is: “Once when Jesus was praying by Himself.”
Wait, that’s it? Deepu, where’s the challenge?
Patience, my young Padawan, patience. The challenge is to pray. And not just at church during Mass, or before meals with others, but by yourself, like Jesus. This concept still rocks me. Jesus took time to pray. Jesus. The Son of God. God.
Who was Jesus praying to? He was praying to God. But Jesus is God! Why would Jesus need to pray?! Because even though Jesus is fully divine, He is also fully human, and therefore needs to be in communion with God. Plus, He loves God. And I don’t mean the earthly love like how Jesus loved fish (I mean He must have, right? If you died but then had a chance to come back to earth to eat one last meal, you’d choose your favorite food, wouldn’t you? And what was Jesus frying up when Peter and the crew came ashore? That’s right – fish (was that too much to put within parantheses? Probably since you’ll have to go back to before it to remember what the beginning of the sentence was…whoops).), but the most pure, most devout, most deep love—love beyond imagination. Love enough to create, because it was in that Love that the Holy Spirit proceeded from. Of course Jesus would want to pray.
So what does this say about our love for God? Do we love God enough to yearn to be in communion with Him? How badly is our desire to just talk to God? We can make excuses for why we don’t have time to step away to pray—I know I have—but God knows our hearts. God knows how much we love Him. But it isn’t enough for Him to know that—we have to show it. And, among all the ways we can show God our love (helping others, being compassionate and forgiving, etc.), praying is a big one. And how often when we do pray is our prayer insincere? I’ve caught myself one too many times when I’m just rattling off the prayers (especially at Mass) without really thinking about it. And then instead of refocusing on the prayers, I’m thinking about how much I’m not focusing on the prayers. Cha feel (now you know what it means, don’t you feel hip?)?
But there’s hope! There’s always hope! Because God loves us more than we could ever imagine. More than we deserve. More than we could ever love Him. And when we offer up what little we have to Him, He will take it and multiply it. He will take our prayers, our love, and increase it more than we could have on our own. So stop. Breathe. Pray.
