Missionary Cenacle Spiritual Exercises

Prayer is a dangerous occupation. Prayer changes us. Prayer transforms us. Prayer is the major instrument which brings about the conversion of attitudes imposed upon us by the gospel. The basic requirement of every prayer is an openness on the part of the one who prays to do the will of God. Behind every prayer should be the willingness to change those things in my life in need of change; the desire to remove any and every impediment which interferes with that oneness with God and the acceptance of His will.

How often in prayer do we find ourselves locked in serious combat feeling the pain of our will competing with God’s? We demand God to do things our way. We want God to follow the process of human reasoning. Our way rather than His. One of the early examples of prayer offered to us in Sacred Scripture appears in the Book of Genesis. It is the story of that contest of wills, when Jacob wrestles with the Lord, God. The struggle went on all night. Prayer is essentially this wrestling with God. It is that difficult at times to yield to the Divine Will. God has endowed us with magnificent gifts; empowered us to be stewards of all creation. God has entrusted us to build the universe according to His plan. Such independence and power are hard to surrender. We are never far from our first parents in our ability to yield to that ancient temptation and see ourselves wiser than God. Jesus faced that same temptation when beginning his public life and, again, when facing his death.