Anchoring Our Hearts Through Prayer

Prayer can be difficult for us all sometimes and it does us well to remember that it takes an alert attention and much vigilance to exclude bad or idle thoughts when we are presenting ourselves to God in this intimate way. How do we get that 'loving gaze' of our heart's love for God to permeate the mind and heart with understanding? This is where Cassian's words are so helpful from his Conference 10.4. He writes,

Since you ask me to return to it, I will briefly state the means of anchoring our heart. Three things focus a dissipated mind: vigils, meditation and prayer; attentiveness and continual application to these three exercises establishes the soul in an unshakable steadfastness. Nonetheless, this is not acquired unless one still devotes oneself to steady work, not out of greed, but for the sacred needs of the monastery [or life in general if not living in community]; for that is the means of freeing oneself from the anxieties and worries of the present life, and of making it possible to fulfil the Apostle's precept: 'Pray without ceasing.'

He who only prays when he is on his knees, prays little. But he who, on his knees, yields to every distraction, does not pray at all. So, before prayer, we must enter into the frame of mind we wish to have during prayer; for it is an inescapable law that the dispositions of the soul depend on the state that preceded it; and we will see it either rise to the heights of heaven or sink to the earth, following its previous thoughts.

Preparation for prayer is almost as necessary and required before praying as praying itself. I often find my prayers haunted by the business of my life and day ahead of me and I find myself yielding to my distractions. This can be very frustrating but also we should remember that God is faithful and even when our prayers are interrupted by the distractions of this world and we know not what to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us and in us. It is my humble prayer that God would bless all readers this year and that he might give us the grace needed to anchor our hearts to his through prayer! God bless you all!