Unceasing prayer

 We all have a normal human growth. Similarly we also need to have a growth in spirituality and life of prayer. Perhaps a time of wonder, curiosity are initially necessary. Perhaps we may be guided or corrected by the fear of a punishment. We cannot remain there. We need to grow to an adolescent infatuation, to a mature romance and a conjugal bond.

A genuine prayer can be there only if there is a true image of God. Does God count the money we put in the temple treasury and give blessings accordingly? Does God act as a judge who denies justice to people or condemn and orders punishment? These prevalent images of God is what Jesus challenged. Of course, it is easy to picture and calculate such an image of God. Relationship of love with God adds responsibility not only towards god but also towards others. Otherwise, religious sacrifices and rituals would suffice for our spirituality and prayer.

Very often we are more conscious of the use and benefits of prayer, in other words, the utility aspect. Do we say, I love or I marry .... in order to get this and that? Is that expression proper? It is not proper in prayer also.

Continuity in prayer is a constancy of a relationship, a conversation in love; there may or may not be words, there may be joy and complains, there may be intimacy and pain of separation. The embrace of love is what underlies prayer. So it is not about the words we use or the methods we follow, but the genuinity of love and trust that guide our life of prayer.