PRAYER AS ALL OF LIFE

(Bryant Creek -- a favorite place for retreatants to pray)

 

 

PRAYER AS ALL OF LIFE

 

When we think about prayer, we usually regard it as one of the many things we do to live a full and mature Christian life ...  If we are fervent in our conviction that prayer is important, we might even be willing to give a whole hour to prayer every day,   or a whole day every month,  or a whole week every year.   Thus prayer becomes a part, a very important part, of our life.

 

But when the apostle Paul speaks about prayer,  he uses a very different language.  He does not speak about prayer as a part of life, but as all of life.  He does not mention prayer as something we should not forget, but claims it is our ongoing concern.   He does not exhort his readers to pray once in a while, regularly, or often, but without hesitation admonishes them to pray constantly, unceasingly, without interruption.   Paul does not ask us to spend some of every day in prayer.    No,  Paul is much more radical.    He asks us to pray day and night, in joy and in sorrow, at work and at play, without intermissions or breaks.   For Paul, praying is like breathing.  It cannot be interrupted without moral danger.

 

(This quote is by Henri Nouwen and is from his book,  Clowning in Rome,  published in 1979  by Doubleday, a division of Random House.)