Draw near – prayer

“I do think that God made use of it to show me that a soul in the state of grace need never be afraid of the devil, who is such a coward that even the gaze of a child will frighten him away” St Therese of Lisieux, ‘The Story of a Soul’

“Prayer, for me, is simply a raising of the heart, a simple glace towards Heaven, an expression of love and gratitude in the midst of trial, as well as in times of joy; in a word, it is something noble and supernatural expanding my soul and uniting it with God.  Whenever my soul is so dry that I am incapable of a single good thought, I always say an Our Father or a Hail Mary very slowly, and these prayers cheer me up and nourish my soul with Divine food” St Therese of Lisieux, ‘The Story of a Soul’

Now that the soul has closed portals, evicted the enemy from its corridors and slammed the doors shut, and have set an angel to guard against re-entry, it is time to draw close to God.  As you become a child and open your heart to God’s mercy and love, the devil will flee.  A soul in the state of grace disgusts the enemy.

A good first step is to start up a conversation, prayer.  

The soul may feel the same fear as the prodigal.  Being separated by sin for so long, it is natural to worry about how the Father will accept you after all the soul has done – this is also the continued whispers of the enemy echoing from the Garden of Eden.  First, renounce that thought and bind it in the Precious Blood of Jesus.  This doesn’t need to be a worry.  Like the prodigal father in the parable, our Heavenly Father will come running to YOU and will lift you from the ground into His embrace.  In fact, the Father didn’t wait for you to come up the dusty trail looking for Him, He sent His Son to the ‘pig pen’ to find you and bring you home. 

Some may find it easier to approach Mama in these times then to ‘face’ Father.  Never fear to approach the Father, but the Blessed Mother, OUR mother, will comfort you and talk to the Father first for you if that helps.  Funny, this makes me think of the scene from the Christmas Story.  Ralphie just got in a fight and was throwing cuss words with every punch.  He was terrified of his father’s punishment that evening.  As he heard his dad’s car pull into the driveway, the tears flowed in fear of what was to come.  But, his mom met his dad at the door and took care of the issue, never mentioning the fight.  When dad saw the black eye at dinner, mom mentioned the fight and moved on.  Dad’s wrath was never kindled.  Ralphie knew, like we should, that Mama has our back.  

But, we have something more over Ralphie, we know our Father is Mercy and Love FIRST. 

Just take the time to spend alone time with God.  Shut off the TV, block out distractions and just be with God.  Having trouble finding a starting place?  Follow St. Therese’s advice with prayer, don’t overcomplicate it.  Simply stop, close your eyes and slowly, very slowly, say an Our Father or Hail Mary.  You don’t have to say some huge complicated prayer or think it has to be something worthy of a huge cathedral.  Prayer is the simple conversation with God.  It doesn’t have to be fancy or a lot of words.  Simply be with God. Start there, then as you grow more comfortable in His presence, start talking and listening.  God the Father loves to rest in your simplicity.

Prayer is a great weapon for the soul.  It allows it to raise itself to God, not on its power of course, but by turning itself to the Father and throwing its arms up to be lifted by the Father into His arms.  This is another great teaching of St. Therese.  Think of how easy this is for your child or grandchild, they can just look at you, lift their arms and say, ‘papa’.  And, they find themselves being lifted into your embrace.  See how simple?

As you get to know the Father through prayer, He will start to share with you His wisdom and more importantly, Himself.  At this point, hopefully, the soul will begin to feel a deep peace in His arms.  You may start to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, the seeds of the harvest of His Gifts are planted.  Time to start caring for the newly planted field.  The growth of these seeds can be supported through Scripture reading, reading of saints, for me it is in the diary of St. Faustina and The Divine Mercy.  Prayers like the Holy Rosary and The Chaplet of Divine Mercy are also great tools.

“Prayer.-A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might rise again. There is no soul which is not bound to pray, for every single grace comes to the soul through prayer”  Divine Mercy in my soul # 146