I don’t think of God as a thing, as a commodity to be valued. The presence of God underlies every aspect of my life and there’s no way I could separate Him, draw Him out and pin him to the corkboard for examination or dissemination.  

But at times I am guilty of taking God for granted, treating Him like a vending machine (“Please help me get to work on time so I don’t have to explain to my boss how I missed the train again for the third time this week!!”). Sometimes I don’t even take time to recognize His presence in my life; I’m not big on formal prayer and often forget to say “hello”. But He always finds a way to give me a nudge or a gentle tap on the shoulder, reminding me that I’m not alone.

I went to a talk on Sunday given by a Benedictine nun. She was very cool, very funny and switched on and down to earth. The subject was “Why Pray?” and she managed to get right to the heart of subject; we could have easily ventured into airy-fairy theological territory, but she kept the talk grounded and real and made some excellent points. 

She said prayer doesn’t have a lot to do with us, but everything to do with God. Prayer comes from God, it’s an open line of communication from the Powers That Be to us; like broadband internet, our line to God is always there. waiting for us to go online. And when we pray, we are not initiating anything, merely responding to the call he puts out to our hearts. 

Another reason we pray is to know our own story. To face ourselves as God sees us and to accept ourselves as He does. And in discovering our story, we also see the face of God. God had only one story, and that story is Love. We need to know we are loved. Most of us crave love and yearn for acceptance more than we realize. God fills the holes we never knew were there. 

The final point the sister made was that when we are in a state of “prayerful” living, we’re more likely to recognize the blessings and good things that come our way. See, God doesn’t always send a lightning bolt down from the sky or even a dove – but God shows up nonetheless. He’s in the guy that gets up and offers you a seat on a crowded train. He’s in the sun that breaks through the clouds on a dreary day. But you won’t see him unless you think to look for Him. And you won’t think to look if you’re not including Him as a conscious part of your life.

I really don’t mean to be preachy. And when I talk about God, in my head I always follow the word “God” with “whoever or whatever you envision him or her to be” – it would just take ages to type all that out every single time. But “my” God is one who is there for me, walking beside me every step of the way. And prayer is communicating with and communing with the One who knows me better than anyone else. Whatever I do, I don’t want to close those channels… Guess I’ll practice living prayerfully and see what happens!!