Devotion and prayer: pray more or pray better?

Do you pray more or pray better?

An always hard misconception to die is that of quantity. Too much pedagogy on prayer still dominates the almost obsessive concern of the number, the doses, the deadlines.

It is natural then that many "religious" people make the clumsy attempt to tip the scale on their side, adding practices, devotions, pious exercises. God is not an accountant!

".. He knew what is in every man .." (Jn 2,25)

Or, according to another translation: "... what man carries inside ...".

God can only see what man "carries inside" when he prays.

A mystic of today, Sister Maria Giuseppina of Jesus Crucified, Discalced Carmelite, warned:

“Give your heart to God in prayer, instead of many words! "

One can and must pray more, without multiplying the prayers.

In our lives, the void of prayer is not filled with quantity, but with the authenticity and intensity of communion.

I pray more when I learn to pray better.

I have to grow in prayer rather than increase the number of prayers.

To love does not mean to pile up the greatest quantity of words, but to stand in front of the Other in the truth and transparency of one's being.

° Pray to the Father

"... When you pray, say: Father ..." (Lk 11,2: XNUMX).

Jesus invites us to use this name exclusively in prayer: Father.

On the contrary: Abbà! (Pope).

"Father" contains all that we can express in prayer. And it also contains "the inexpressible".

We continue to repeat, as in an incessant litany: "Abbà ... abbà ..."

No need to add anything else.

We will feel our confidence growing.

We will feel the demanding presence of an immense number of brothers around us. Above all, we will be gripped by the amazement of being children.

° Pray to the Mother

When you pray also say: “Mother! "

In the fourth gospel, Mary of Nazareth appears to have lost her name. In fact, it is indicated exclusively with the title of "Mother".

The "prayer of the name of Mary" can only be this: "Mum ... mum ..."

Even here there are no limits. The litany, always the same, can go on indefinitely, but certainly the moment arrives when, after the last invocation "mother", we feel the long-awaited yet surprising answer: "Jesus!"

Mary always leads to the Son.

° Prayer as a confidential story

“Sir, I have something to tell you.

But it's a secret between you and me. "

Confidential prayer can start more or less like this and then unfold in the form of a story.

Flat, simple, spontaneous, in a modest shade, without hesitation and even without amplifications.

This type of prayer is very important in our society in the name of appearance, performance, vanity.

Love needs above all humility, modesty.

Love is no longer love without a context of secrecy, without the dimension of confidentiality.

Find, therefore, in prayer, the joy of hiding, of non-flashiness.

I really enlighten if I can hide.

° I want to "quarrel" with God

We are afraid to tell the Lord, or we believe that it is improper, everything that we think, that torments us, that agitates us, everything we do not agree with at all. We pretend to pray "in peace".

And we do not want to take note of the fact that, first, we must cross the storm.

One comes to docility, to obedience, after being tempted by rebellion.

Relations with God become serene, peaceful, only after they have been "stormy".

The whole Bible insistently proposes the theme of man's contention with God.

The Old Testament presents us with a "champion of faith", such as Abraham, who turns to God with a prayer that touches temerity.

Sometimes the prayer of Moses takes on the characteristics of a challenge.

Under certain circumstances, Moses does not hesitate to protest vigorously before God. His prayer demonstrates a familiarity that leaves us puzzled.

Even Jesus, in the moment of the supreme trial, turns to the Father saying: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" (Mk. 15.34).

It almost seems like a reproach.

However, the paradox must be noted: God remains "mine" even if he has abandoned me.

Even a distant, impassive God who does not respond, is not moved and leaves me alone in an impossible situation, is always "mine".

Better to complain than to pretend the resignation.

The tonality of the lament, with dramatic accents, is present in several Psalms.

Two tormenting questions arise:

Because? Until?

The Psalms, precisely because they are an expression of a robust faith, do not hesitate to use these accents, which apparently break the rules of "good manners" in relations with God. Sometimes it is only by opposing for a long time that one is able to fall, finally and happily surrendered, in the arms of God.

° Pray like a stone

You feel cold, arid, listless.

You have nothing to say. A great void inside.

The jammed will, the frozen feelings, the dissolved ideals. You don't even want to protest.

It seems useless to you. You wouldn't even know what to ask the Lord: it's not worth it.

Here, you have to learn to pray like a stone.

Better yet, like a boulder.

Just stay there, as you are, with your emptiness, nausea, despondency, unwillingness to pray.

Praying like a stone simply means keeping the position, not abandoning the "useless" place, being there for no apparent reason.

The Lord, in certain moments that you know and that He knows better than you, is content to see that you are there, inert, in spite of everything.

Important, at least sometimes, not to be elsewhere.

° Pray with tears

It is a silent prayer.

Tears interrupt both the flow of words and that of thoughts, and even that of protests and complaints.

God lets you cry.

It takes your tears seriously. Indeed, he jealously keeps them one by one.

Psalm 56 assures us: "... My tears in the skin of Your collection ..."

Not even one is lost. Not even one is forgotten.

It is your most precious treasure. And it is in good hands.

You will definitely find it again.

Tears denounce that you are sincerely sorry, not for having transgressed a law, but for having betrayed love.

Crying is an expression of repentance, it serves to wash your eyes, to purify your gaze.

After that, you will see more clearly the path to follow.

You will more carefully identify the dangers to avoid.

"... Blessed are you who weep ...." (Lk 7.21).

With tears, you don't demand explanations from God.

I confess to him that you trust!