How have you renewed your prayer life this Lent? Have you tried to be attentive to God’s voice in your life? Prayer should always start at the beginning.
How should we begin prayer? Most people make a mistake by beginning their prayer with God and not with themselves. This is a mistake. We should always begin prayer by acknowledging who we are, where we are, and what is happening within us. We could call it self-reflection or self-awareness. Jesus speaks of this when he asks his first followers a key question: “What do you seek?” After John the Baptist points to Jesus as the “true lamb of God” some of John's followers begin to follow Jesus. When our Lord notices them He turns around and asks them “What do you seek?” It is with this important question that an encounter with Jesus begins. The Lord is inviting anyone who wishes to follow Him to look within himself/herself and acknowledge his/her desire, realize what is happening in their inner life, what is it that they hope for.
Prayer has to begin with a realization of where I'm at, at the moment I stand before God. The Lord wants to encounter us where we are at, and not where we think we ought to be. It is so easy to leave part of ourselves hidden when we pray, thinking that I must present myself in a certain way before the Lord in order to be accepted. No, we cannot do this. Honesty and sincerity has to be at the basis of my encounter with God. The Lord wants to meet us just the way we are, but this implies that we have to have proper introspection to present ourselves to the Lord just the way we are.
Take the time for silent prayer. Listen to God, calm your mind, your imagination, your concerns. Know that you are in His presence, and know that He is with you.
Fr. Wojtek Kuzma