One day last June, when I was praying Morning Prayer, I came across this simple three word phrase, "Let us pray." I have to admit that at first I was angry at the phrase. I said out loud, "I was just praying. Why is there a command for 'Let us pray'?" Then, that same week at church before the opening and closing prayer, the priest announces, "Let us pray" and the same thought came to mind, "We are already supposed to be praying, it's Mass."
Now that I have taken the time to think about this seemingly little phrase, the Holy Spirit has blessed me with two new reasons for this small, yet powerful phrase. The first thing that changed my heart about this phrase was the ideas of the faithful asking permission to continue praying. After all, everything in our being and even the ability to take our next breath comes from the gracious gift of the LORD. Recognizing that all is a gift, we should ask again to pray and the LORD will allow us to be in relationship with Him once again.
The other thing that changed my thinking was that we are never really praying alone. Even if we are in our interior room and praising the LORD, we are always surrounded by saints, angels, Mary and the LORD. That phrase reminds us that we are always accompanied on this journey of faith, even in the deepest, darkest periods of our life. We are praying with and for the entire universal church.
I am sure that there are more aspects to this phrase that I have not thought about or been inspired to think about. Maybe more will come. Maybe you will think of one.
May God continue to bless you and your family. You are in my prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment