1st Week in OT 2020 - Wednesday - Prayerful listening that we might hear

Prayer is an integral dimension of the Christian life. We profess our faith in our Creed, we celebrate our faith in the liturgy, we conform our lives to Christ through the moral life, but prayer cultivates the vital, personal relationship with the living God.

Prayer, certainly is as St. John Damascene explains, “the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." We speak to God in prayer using the words of the Psalms, or memorized prayers composed by the saints, or from words that spontaneously arise from the depths of our hearts and minds.

While speaking to God is certainly part of Christian prayer, listening to God is just as necessary.

In the first reading, Samuel is in the temple, but he was not accustomed to listening and identifying the voice of God. It takes an elder, Eli, to help Samuel discern whose voice he was hearing. And that’s wonderful—our prayer veterans should assist the young in developing an ear for God.  But it takes Samuel a few attempts to finally hear God clearly.

Prayer involves listening, developing an ear for God. We cannot hear if we do not listen.
Our daily prayer should consist of speaking and listening, just like our breathing entails exhaling and inhaling. Ah, and when we do--when we listen to God, we begin to hear the sound of living water rushing into our souls. The more we listen for God, the more we will hear. So let us cultivate that often neglected dimension of prayer: simple listening.

And when we develop that habit of prayer, we will also begin to hear God’s voice more clearly directing our moral choices, speaking in our liturgical celebrations, even ringing in our profession of faith. We might even hear him speaking using our own voice, when we comfort someone in pain, or explain the Gospel to those of weak faith. We might even hear Him calling us by name to endeavors we once thought impossible.

St. Paul says, “we do not know how to pray as we ought.” So let us become silent in prayer, with our ears turned toward God, that the Holy Spirit may teach us to pray and fill us with the wisdom and life of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.