The knowledge of who we have become in Christ should infuse the prayer of our hearts, our devotional practices, and our prayers with the Christian community. We have become sons and daughters of the Father! His life united with our own should elevate and illuminate all our endeavors (including mopping floors, changing diapers, making our beds, taking out the trash, vacuuming, sitting through dull meetings.) The truth of being God’s children now sets us free and ensures the full, vibrant experience of being human which Jesus came to give us. Prayer keeps our lives engaged with the life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Without prayer, we run the risk of forgetting who we have become, and slowly we begin to feel as if God is distant and uninterested. Prayer also prevents us from hiding from God (like Adam), for through it, we place ourselves before the only one that can perfect us and transform our lives. Every prayer, whether spoken or not, alone or with others, is truly an opportunity to say to Lord, “Fill me with your life. Change me into the person you know me to be.” Just by accepting God’s invitation to be in his presence, we open ourselves to the infinite, giving the Spirit permission to act in the deepest recesses of our being. Moreover, we do so, as St. Thérèse has said, by the simple surge of our hearts to the one that saves us from ourselves. This alone should be reason to pray at all times!
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