A Life Grounded in Prayer

Grace before the Meal; Fritz von Uhde (1885)

Alice C. Linsley

Consider the Jewish girl at prayer to whom the Archangel Gabriel appeared with a message that changes everything for her and for all people in all time and space. Then try to convince me there is no power in prayer.

The prayerful Virgin Mother taught us to pray for surely, her Blessed Son learned to pray at her knee as much as in the local synagogue. They teach us to pray for our daily bread, for forgiveness, and for protection from evil.

All life is to be wrapped in prayer. The Lord's Prayer gives us no sense that bread and forgiveness are unrelated or that praying for protection is superstition. That prayer's realistic view of life enhances its potency. 

C.S. Lewis wrote, "What we do when we weed a field is not quite different from what we do when we pray for a good harvest. But there is an important difference all the same." (Work and Prayer)

The day begins with prayer, for we need to clear away the detritus of dreams and the inertia of first light.

Our meals begin with prayer, for we need to be reminded of God's bountiful goodness.

We pray with our children, for they need to learn the words of holy parents.

We pray with our fellow Christians, for we need each other for comfort, strength, and encouragement.

We join in liturgical prayers, giving hardy assent to joint praises and petitions, just as our Jewish Lord did throughout his earthly life.

Those who disdain liturgical prayers as "vain repetition" should count how many times favorite phrases are repeated in the ex tempore prayers of their clergy.

As C.S. Lewis notes, liturgical prayers can set "our devotions free"... and prevent us from "getting too completely eaten up by whatever happens to be the preoccupation of the moment (i.e., war, an election, or what not)."

Lewis notes that in the liturgical prayers of the Church, "The permanent shape of Christianity shows through." (Letters to Malcolm, 1 April 1952) 

Note how that permanent shape is expressed in these liturgical prayers.

Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Antiochian Orthodox)

Heavenly King, Paraclete, Spirit of truth, 

present in all places and filling all things, 

Treasury of good and Master of life; 

come and dwell within us, cleanse us from all stain, and save our souls.

Prayer of Humble Access (Anglican)

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, 

O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, 

but in thy manifold and great mercies. 

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. 

But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: 

Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, 

so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, 

and to drink his blood, 

that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, 

and our souls washed through his most precious blood, 

and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen

Liturgy of Malabar (Oriental Orthodox)

Holy art thou, God, the Father of Truth,

from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named;

holy also is thine Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

by whom all things were made;

holy also is the Spirit, the giver of all truth,

by whom all are sanctified.

Woe to me! Woe to me!

for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips

and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

How terrible is this place today,

wherein the Lord is seen face to face!

Let thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, cleanse our defilement,

sanctify our lips, and let the voices of our foolishness mingle 

with the praises of seraphim and archangels glorifying thy love:

for herein thou hast associated mortal men with spirits.

With these heavenly hosts then,

we, thy poor weak and useless servants, praise thee, My Lord,

because of thy great mercy towards us, 

for which we cannot render thee due thanks.

Related reading: The Dimensions of Prayer; Prayer as a Spiritual Lifeline; Daily and Liturgical Prayers of Judaism; On the Fatherhood of God, by Patrick Henry Reardon