The benefits of prayer are numerous. The act of prayer lifts us up, enriches our souls, opens our hearts, and brings us back to a conscious relationship with God (whatever you conceive God to be). In her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, St. Therese of Lisieux says: “prayer is an upward leap of the heart, an untroubled glance towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love which I utter from the depths of sorrow as well as from the heights of joy. It has a supernatural grandeur which expands the soul and unites it with God.” When prayer originates from the depths of our hearts, it is an act of love, and all acts of authentic love rejuvenate the spirit.
This is why prayer is so important. It reminds us that we are part of something universal and that we are more than what external circumstances may indicate. In the depths of our inner being, we can encounter God who infuses us with life, breath and spirit, who renews us with His eternal presence. We can experience His divine love by accessing the deep stillness within our own being for “prayer is essentially standing face to face with God, consciously striving to remain collected and absolutely still and attentive in his presence, which means standing with an undivided mind, an undivided heart and an undivided will in the presence of the Lord...” (Living Prayer by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh)
There are as many types of prayers as ways to pray. St. Climacus suggests that we choose any prayer, long or short, and that we repeat the prayer slowly and deliberately, with full attention on every word. As is often the case, when the mind wanders, gently redirect the attention back to the prayer. If the words you are presenting to God are not fully attended, they are not fully possessed by you, and thus, they are not yours to give as a true offering to God. You should offer to God in prayer, only what is genuinely yours.
Thomas Keating in Open Mind Open Heart writes: “prayer is not only the offering of interior acts to God: it is the offering of ourselves, of who and what we are.” In other words, in prayer we offer all that we are to God. We pray not with words alone, but with our entire being. In contemplative prayer, in which “the Spirit prays in us and we consent,” we can experience the essence of all prayers—union with God. At this level of prayer, there is no intermediary, there is no separate will – there is only God or Spirit. The individual in prayer disappears, and it is God praying through us. In this way, God gives to us, transforms us, and deepens our relationship with Him.
In the end, when we pray, we are giving and receiving through an act of pure love. As a result, the mind, soul and spirit are refreshed, renewed, and rejuvenated.
Elaine Yoshikawa, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in Philosophy at ASU, Polytechnic Campus. Her current research interests are: Virtue Ethics, Christian Ethics, Buddhist Ethics, and Happiness.
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