“When you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart, you profit more than if you had read many books. Oh, if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 584
How do you pray? Do you pray as if God were right beside you listening and responding or as if He were in some distant “Heaven.”
“Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
There are many good ways to pray. Here are some common ways: attending the Holy Mass or another Liturgy, praying the rosary or other chaplets, reading the Scripture meditatively, reciting beautifully written prayers, sitting in silence before our Lord, falling prostrate before Him especially in the Holy Eucharist, etc.
All these are tremendous ways to pray. Jesus is Immanuel – God With Us – so we should never forget that He is listening when we pray. God is present with us as we pray. He is not in some faraway place listening to voicemail or reading a message afterwards. God already knows what we need to pray for before we pray and before we ask, God knows the best path of our Road of Faith.
Why do we so often overlook praying as a simple conversation with our Lord. The soul will find it a blessing to converse with Jesus, or the Spirit or the Father as if He is right there leaning in to hear our words. You can be assured that God is nearby when you go through your life, all of your concerns, all of your questions and confusions.
Realizing God was right there in the moment we needed to speak to Him or lean upon Him dying those most challenging days brought great peace and trust to my heart. When my daughter saw and spoke with Jesus, passing along His nearness to my wife and I, we could sit back in peace because Jesus had it covered. He is always that near to each of us even if He chooses not to make that proximity to us.
Jesus’ silence in our prayer does not change the fact that He is with us – Jesus IS Immanuel. As we approach the manger, keep this in mind when you pray.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, 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