The Simple Path
Silence > Prayer > Faith > Love > Service > Peace
Silence > Prayer > Faith > Love > Service > Peace
Of making many books there is no end,
and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:12b
Do not have long discussions on prayer.
Learn from Jesus how to pray,
and allow Him to pray in you and through you.
St. Teresa of Calcutta
and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:12b
Do not have long discussions on prayer.
Learn from Jesus how to pray,
and allow Him to pray in you and through you.
St. Teresa of Calcutta
A Simple Approach
The author of Ecclesiastes was on to something. Not only is there no end to the making of many books, there seems to be no end to the making of books on prayer. There are hundreds of books specifically on prayer, and many more books on other topics that also cover prayer. The problem is that you could spend your entire life reading about prayer, but never actually start praying!
As always, Mother Teresa recommends a very simple approach—instead of spending a lot of time reading about prayer or talking about prayer, just start praying! After all, prayer is just a conversation with God, and God wants to have a relationship with us, so He will help anyone who is sincerely seeking to establish a relationship with Him.
This is why the Lessons on Surrender don't spend a lot of time talking about prayer, but instead present simple prayers that anyone can start praying right away.
Prayer Focus
As covered in the Lessons on Surrender, our focus is on obeying God's commands in the Bible:
- To totally love and trust God.
- To put ourselves completely into His loving hands.
- To seek only His will for His kingdom and His glory.
It’s not easy to do this in our own power--in fact, it's impossible! However, this is what God wants to help us do as He conforms us to His Son Jesus Christ. We need only to give Him permission do this, and state our desire and intention to cooperate with whatever He says, and to do whatever He asks us to do.
Why Do We Pray?
God knew us and loved us from the creation of the universe.
- We don’t pray to draw His attention to us or get Him to love us!
God knows what we are thinking, and what we are about to say before we say it.
- We can’t tell God anything He doesn’t already know!
God knows the plans He has for us, to give us hope and a future.
- We don’t need to tell God what is best for us!
God knows and cares about our weaknesses, our problems and our pains.
- We don’t need to ask Him to pity us!
Jesus says He is standing at the door to our hearts, waiting for us to invite Him in.
- We don’t need to find a path to God...
We Only Need to Open the Door To Our Hearts!
While “the world” is pushing its message of prideful selfish greed, God never forces His message of self-sacrificing love on us. Because He wants us to love Him, He gave us a free will. It is our choice whether we open the door of our hearts to Christ or not.
Pray It Until You Believe It!
"Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi" is a Latin phrase in the Catholic Church that says, "the law of what is prayed, [is] the law of what is believed, [is] the law of what is lived". In other words, our prayer leads to our belief (our faith), which then leads to our actions. When Mother Teresa says that prayer leads to faith, and faith leads to loving service, she is essentially saying the same thing.
It's ok if you don't feel ready to pray a certain prayer yet. It's also ok if the whole idea of surrendering fully to God scares you. As we saw above, God knows everything we are thinking and He knows all our fears, so just acknowledge how scary a prayer seems to you, and ask God to help you overcome your hesitancy or fear. Then start praying the prayer!
Just start praying, and God will take care of the rest through His Holy Spirit that lives within you. The simple act of praying a prayer will help you believe what that prayer says, and through your faith God will then lead you to live according to how you have prayed.
Establishing the Connection
As we learned in the Lessons on Surrender, the first step is to establish a connection with God, and then listen to what He has to say to us. Because God speaks in a “still, small voice” that is easily drowned out by the continuous barrage of noise from the world, we learned in the previous lesson to seek out opportunities for both external and internal silence (See Silence), then in that silence we can gently say to God:
Here I am Lord -
I open the door of my heart to You.
I want to be who You want me to be.
I want to do what You want me to do.
Like Jesus, Joseph, Mary and all the Saints,
I give you my Fiat—I say "Yes" to You!
Consider/Discuss:
- Why do you think we pray?
- Have you opened the door of your heart to God, giving Him permission to conform you to His Son Jesus Christ?
Scripture Memory Verse
But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret;
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Mt 6:6
Let's Pray! - Listening To God (Surrendering Prayer)
The author of Ecclesiastes was on to something. Not only is there no end to the making of many books, there seems to be no end to the making of books on prayer. There are hundreds of books specifically on prayer, and many more books on other topics that also cover prayer. The problem is that you could spend your entire life reading about prayer, but never actually start praying!
As always, Mother Teresa recommends a very simple approach—instead of spending a lot of time reading about prayer or talking about prayer, just start praying! After all, prayer is just a conversation with God, and God wants to have a relationship with us, so He will help anyone who is sincerely seeking to establish a relationship with Him.
This is why the Lessons on Surrender don't spend a lot of time talking about prayer, but instead present simple prayers that anyone can start praying right away.
Prayer Focus
As covered in the Lessons on Surrender, our focus is on obeying God's commands in the Bible:
- To totally love and trust God.
- To put ourselves completely into His loving hands.
- To seek only His will for His kingdom and His glory.
It’s not easy to do this in our own power--in fact, it's impossible! However, this is what God wants to help us do as He conforms us to His Son Jesus Christ. We need only to give Him permission do this, and state our desire and intention to cooperate with whatever He says, and to do whatever He asks us to do.
Why Do We Pray?
God knew us and loved us from the creation of the universe.
- We don’t pray to draw His attention to us or get Him to love us!
God knows what we are thinking, and what we are about to say before we say it.
- We can’t tell God anything He doesn’t already know!
God knows the plans He has for us, to give us hope and a future.
- We don’t need to tell God what is best for us!
God knows and cares about our weaknesses, our problems and our pains.
- We don’t need to ask Him to pity us!
Jesus says He is standing at the door to our hearts, waiting for us to invite Him in.
- We don’t need to find a path to God...
We Only Need to Open the Door To Our Hearts!
While “the world” is pushing its message of prideful selfish greed, God never forces His message of self-sacrificing love on us. Because He wants us to love Him, He gave us a free will. It is our choice whether we open the door of our hearts to Christ or not.
Pray It Until You Believe It!
"Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi" is a Latin phrase in the Catholic Church that says, "the law of what is prayed, [is] the law of what is believed, [is] the law of what is lived". In other words, our prayer leads to our belief (our faith), which then leads to our actions. When Mother Teresa says that prayer leads to faith, and faith leads to loving service, she is essentially saying the same thing.
It's ok if you don't feel ready to pray a certain prayer yet. It's also ok if the whole idea of surrendering fully to God scares you. As we saw above, God knows everything we are thinking and He knows all our fears, so just acknowledge how scary a prayer seems to you, and ask God to help you overcome your hesitancy or fear. Then start praying the prayer!
Just start praying, and God will take care of the rest through His Holy Spirit that lives within you. The simple act of praying a prayer will help you believe what that prayer says, and through your faith God will then lead you to live according to how you have prayed.
Establishing the Connection
As we learned in the Lessons on Surrender, the first step is to establish a connection with God, and then listen to what He has to say to us. Because God speaks in a “still, small voice” that is easily drowned out by the continuous barrage of noise from the world, we learned in the previous lesson to seek out opportunities for both external and internal silence (See Silence), then in that silence we can gently say to God:
Here I am Lord -
I open the door of my heart to You.
I want to be who You want me to be.
I want to do what You want me to do.
Like Jesus, Joseph, Mary and all the Saints,
I give you my Fiat—I say "Yes" to You!
Consider/Discuss:
- Why do you think we pray?
- Have you opened the door of your heart to God, giving Him permission to conform you to His Son Jesus Christ?
Scripture Memory Verse
But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret;
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Mt 6:6
Let's Pray! - Listening To God (Surrendering Prayer)