“The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.” It is ever so sad to know and even to note how misunderstood prayer is. We never pray when we are supposed to, which is often and always. We tend to keep prayer in check by saying I prayed already, or I’ll pray later, or I am too busy to pray, or what is the use, is anyone really listening, God never answers my prayer. The precious gift of prayer is who God is, how he shares his gracious gifts with us, receives our praises and complaints, provides for our every need in super abundance and sanctifies our lives with his greatest desire which is to be united to us in holy communion and to be united to us in loving prayer. Prayer is so underutilized, neglected and even misused and prayed so incorrectly. As scripture notes and says, “we don’t pray as we ought,” so why not learn how to pray so that your opinion can be heard and God’s voice and loving response can make and save your day. So, what is prayer or rather who is prayer and how do we enter the intimate union prayer provides, initiates, and brings to us poor children left here in exile? To understand prayer, we need to understand God’s ways, his loving intention, the essence of his glory and the reason he loves. He simply is. That is, it. He is. When God declared, “I AM” he simply declared who he is, loving, caring, responsive, sensitive, present, listening, faithful, communion. That is the heart of what and who prayer is. Love, just simply wants to love sacrificially, unconditionally, and faithfully always. Prayer then just simply wants to pray always, sacrificially, unconditionally, and faithfully all the time into eternity. Prayer is the Word of God made flesh. He is an attentive ear, a listening heart, the most faithful of friends. Prayer like love, is constant, always, unceasing, persevering, endures all things and never fails. The depth of prayer navigates through the worst of storms and pierces the darkest of clouds. Prayer soothes the soul and calms our mind and spirit so overwhelmed by worry, anxiousness, fear, sadness, and grief. Prayer penetrates those broken and hard-to-get-to places in our hearts and lives that lack love, wisdom, kindness, understanding and charity and our great need to be heard, nourished and tended to. Prayer cuts through the lies that consume us and the pride that overwhelms us. Prayer always saves the day.
