“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” (1 Thes. 5:16-18)
I must confess that I greatly struggle with keeping my prayer schedules. Oftentimes I alternate between periods of rather consistent and varied prayer routines, and times when it is a struggle to just eke out a couple of prayers throughout the day.
Yet I don’t think that I am in a unique situation among my Catholic peers. Especially on a college campus, there are many distractions and cares of the world that pull us away from sticking to some of the, sometimes lofty, plans and agendas we make for ourselves. We shouldn’t, however, despair at this fact, but let us reflect on how we can remedy this situation.
The answer might lie in St. Paul’s seemingly impossible exhortation to, “pray without ceasing.” At first glance, this seems like an impossible standard to meet. How can I possibly live in a state of endless prayer when I sometimes find difficulty even saying the few prayers I set out for myself in a day? The saints and spiritual masters have given a few possible answers to this dilemma.
The most straightforward way is to join the ranks of Eastern Christian mystics and actually strive for this level of contemplation. As one famous story goes, a novice once asked an older monk how to follow St. Paul’s advice. His response was to pray the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”) gradually more each day until, eventually, with every breath he breathed in the word “Jesus,” and with every exhale he said, “mercy.” Although I love the Jesus prayer and would recommend it to everyone, this may need to be applied more symbolically than literally for those who aren’t monks.
On the other hand of the spectrum, St. Augustine invites us to offer up our desire for prayer itself as a prayer. Commenting on this passage from St. Paul, Augustine says in his commentary on the Psalms, “The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.” By this, Augustine calls us to have the love of God ever in our hearts, and by this perpetual love, we will fulfill the scripture’s command. Although I do not dispute this with St. Augustine, there still seems to be a need for this prayer to be in some way active instead of just passive.
I think that the middle ground to be found here consists of the Practice of the Presence of God. The book by this title was a compilation of the sayings and teachings of Brother Lawrence in the 17th century. In it, Brother Lawrence describes this practice as essentially conversing with God in everything that we do. We ought to take joy in doing our tasks, however menial or boring, because they are all ways in which we can demonstrate our love for God.
This type of prayer, once it is practiced consistently, can be applied to any aspect of life. One common example of this, especially for students, is to say a prayer dedicating your studies to God. This can be done at the beginning, end, and any number of times throughout the time you’re working. By doing this, you develop both a habit of deliberate prayer and an interior disposition to consciously think about God throughout your day. This practice can be extended to anything as minor as washing your dishes to as significant as taking an exam or going in for an interview.
Prayer, then, should permeate our day from the beginning to the end. This is not to say that we should get rid of our more formal times for prayer, they have their own irreplaceable importance, but merely that our prayer should not be limited to it. We should desire to pray throughout each day because prayer is how we speak to God, and when we speak with those we love, we do so about everything, both big and small.
James Pritchett is a Sophomore studying History and Classics with a deep affinity for his native land, the Golden State. Despite being the most recent lover of Catholicism on the Torch staff, he is the C101 editor and his main interests consist of reading Dostoyevsky, playing devil’s advocate, and correcting people on niche theological heresies.
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