Most of us believe that prayer is conversation with God. We verbalize our needs and wishes but many times do not listen to God. We tend to talk a lot and listen very rarely.  In other words the conversation is a one way with us doing all the talking.  It takes the practice of quiet meditation --quiet in mind and voice--to listen to God’s message.  We do get messages from God by reading our Scriptures, other spiritual masters and inspirations that come to our minds.

David G. Brenner in his book, Opening to God: Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer also talks of prayer being in communion with God. Communion includes conversation but is much broader. It involves union, not just closeness and connection, it also entails much more intimacy than mere conversation. This is an intimacy based on the reality of a mystical union with Christ in the present moment. This kind of prayer has the power to transform us from the inside out. The good news is that we do not need to be talking to God or even thinking about God to be in prayer. We can simply be with God.  That is the nature of communion.  This is not dependent on constant communication.

Love makes this possible, and it is love that makes prayerful communion so fulfilling and transformational.  Communion with God is the answer to our heart’s deepest longings, because God is Love. Prayer is being in love. Since God is love says St John of the Cross, God can only be known in and through love. St Teresa of Avila says that the important thing in prayer is not to think much but to love much.  The head is not a bad place to start our prayer journey.  But if prayer stays there too long and does not begin to sink to the heart, it will inevitable become arid and frustrating.  When we let our prayer sink into the depths of our being then God can move into those depths. Our heart is our body’s love organ.  That is why we see hearts all over the place on Valentine’s Day. It is a symbol of love. The heart muscle silently sends our life blood through our circulatory system which keeps us breathing and alive by giving us oxygen and nutrients and removes the waste products.  God is much like that love organ.  He gave us life as our creator and through the sufferings and death of His Son Jesus gave us purification from our sinful natures and continues to transform us with His life giving Spirit, our spiritual breath.

Sr Jolene Geier OP
Great Bend KS