So, it is that time of the semester when teachers start
piling on all the assignments, all the papers, and all the tests, and everyone
is starting to get a little overwhelmed. In order to keep up with the extra
homework, sometimes the first thing to go is our relationship with God. Now, I
am not saying that instead of spending an hour studying for an A we should all
go to the chapel to pray for an A, but just because our life is starting to get
overwhelming does not mean God should go to the backburner of our lives. This
leads to a dilemma; if we do not have enough minutes in the day just to study
for all our finals coming up, then how can we have enough time to also spend
with God on top of everything else in our hectic schedules?
One time, when I was actually paying attention in Mass, I
heard the bible verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It is only three words out of
the whole bible passage that was read that Sunday, but they stood out to me an excruciating amount. Those three
words were “Pray without ceasing.” When I heard that line I thought to myself, how is that even
possible? At that time in my life, I was on the path of starting to pray more,
but now God wanted me to pray without ever stopping? I had other things in my
life to do other than just sit around and pray all day long. What about all
those people who need jobs to provide for their families? God cannot possibly
expect all of them to quit their jobs to go pray in the chapel all day, can He?
Even priests and nuns cannot possible spend every waking second praying. They must
take a break at some point. Don’t they? These thoughts all ran through my head
when I first heard those three little words because it did not seem feasible.
After contemplating how God could expect everyone to devout every second of
their day to prayer, it hit me. God does not expect us to spend our lives sitting
in a chapel praying all day long, instead He expects us to bring prayer to our
everyday lives. Prayer is not about saying fifty Hail Mary’s and ten Our
Fathers every day, it is about taking time out of your day to talk to God. It
does not matter how you pray as long as you continue to pray though out the day;
or, in other words, pray without ceasing.
So when life seems overwhelming and there is no way to fit a
second of prayer into your busy schedule, approach prayer in a new way. On the
way walking to class is the perfect time to talk to God and thank Him for the
many blessings in your life. Sitting in the classroom waiting for the teacher
to start class, you can say a quick Our Father. During the drive to work, turn
off the radio and spend time in silence listening to the words God wants you to
hear. No matter what is included in your busy schedule, even just taking five
seconds to tell God thank you for this day is a way to begin focusing your life
on praying without ceasing.
The best part about beginning to put prayer into your everyday
life is that the more you start to incorporate prayer into your life in the
little ways, the more naturally it comes to spend time with God in prayer every
day. You start to form habits such as your walk to class every day; it becomes
your “God Time.” You begin to find even more little and big ways to add even
more prayer into your schedule. You start to really value your “God Time” as it
is the little moments throughout the day that you get to be with your best
friend, God.
The awesome thing about God is that He is there ready to
listen to your prayer any second of the day. You do not need to wait until Mass
at 5:05 in order to talk to Him. At three in the morning after your test
cramming melt down, He’s there with arms open wide, ready to hear your prayer
and comfort you. All you need to do is make the effort to start the
conversation. A prayer that I love, called I
Thirst for You, has the line said by Jesus, “You forget Me, and yet I am
seeking you every moment of the day-standing at the door of you heart and
knocking.” This line shows the importance of us praying without ceasing. Jesus
is there with us through it all. Through all the study sessions, through all
the heartaches, through everything we experience. So even though we have a
million and one things to do, let us not forget to take moments out of our day
to open the door to our heart and let Jesus in.
Katherine Theresa Elizabeth Janusa studies elementary education
at Stephen F. Austin University and has enjoyed being able to complete
Practicum I with the first graders at Raguet Elementary this semester. She is
looking forward to her internship next semester at Walt Disney World in Orlando
Florida. She loves being a member of Dancers of the Son and Dancers Against
Cancer where she can use her passion of dance to help others both physically
and spiritually! Her goals in life are to be a teacher as inspiring as her
favorite television teacher Mr. Feeney and a Catholic writer as influential as
her favorite authors Jason and Crystalina Evert.
