“Prayer.-A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. …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
Prayer is the key. Prayer unlocks the wisdom of God, prayer opens the soul to growth in the Spirit, prayer leads the soul to trust which leads the soul to know God as the best of Fathers.
I was talking to a friend the other day, he had a lot of stress and fear upon his heart and was having difficulty praying. Part of the difficulty stemmed from the need to ask God a question on his heart for which he didn’t want the answer and the other part was a feeling of fear in this time of Coronavirus. He felt the fear showed a lack of trust, so was somewhat afraid to approach God.
I know this feeling – I suffered through this just a couple years ago when my daughter was in the ICU, she was on a ventilator and the doctors were struggling to keep her stable. I looked at her from the hallway, knowing as her father I needed to pray for her. But, I was afraid to pray because I felt my worry for her health was a lack of trust. I felt a shove from behind that urged me to enter the room. And, there with tears on my cheeks I placed my hands over my daughter and prayed for God’s will to be done. I realized suddenly in that prayer that my worries were not a lack of trust but a show of my love, Love God has given me as a blessing. And peace washed over me,
I told my friend to place his fears and worries at God’s feet then follow Mary’s example from Luke 10:38-42. Sit at Jesus’ knee and be quiet, say nothing, don’t attempt to pray, maybe even ask Him to just sit silently with him and let him rest. God already knows all our questions, fears and stresses. He knows the answers as well.
Sometimes He just wants us to sit with Him, like Mary. To rest in this quiet ‘prayer’ and feel His presence. Nothing more. This is trust. Trust that we know Jesus is present, knows our concerns and how to handle the worst we can imagine. As Jesus told St Faustina, “everything is in My hands”
After that day in the ICU, I found a deeper level of peace in my relationship with Jesus. I find myself enjoying my quiet “prayer” time and as I rest in Him, I feel peace settling over me.
“A noble and delicate soul, even the most simple, but one of delicate sensibilities, sees God in everything, finds Him everywhere, and knows how to find Him in even the most hidden things. It finds all things important, it highly appreciates all things, it thanks God for all things, it draws profit for the soul from all things, and it gives all glory to God. It places its trust in God and is not confused when the time of ordeals comes. It knows that God is always the best of Fathers and makes little of human opinion. It follows faithfully the faintest breath of the Holy Spirit; it rejoices in this Spiritual Guest and holds onto Him like a child to its mother. Where other souls come to a standstill and fear, this soul passes on without fear or difficulty.” Diary #148