HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRAY?...OR... DO YOU PRAY LIKE THE WOODCUTTER?

One day a woodcutter climbed a tree to cut firewood. He went on climbing and cutting branches until finally he reached the top of the tall tree. When he looked down he saw to his horror that he had cut away all the branches below him. He could not get down and he was terrified.

“Oh God,” he prayed, “if you help me get down safely, I’ll give my cow to the temple.” While he was praying he slipped a little way down the trunk. Seeing that he was not as high as he was a moment ago, he felt a little bolder. “Not the cow Lord,” he corrected himself, “I’ll give you my goat.” By then he had slipped down some more. “Not the goat Lord,” he said, “I’ll give a chicken.” When he looked down, he saw that he had slipped even more. “Not a chicken Lord,” he said, I’ll give an egg.” By now he was only a few feet above the ground. “Oh never mind Lord,” he said, “I’ll get down by myself.” He jumped down, gathered up the firewood he had cut and walked away whistling a merry tune.

For many of us, to just sit and pray is the most difficult job in the world. We experience a great many distractions when we pray. One obstacle after another hits us, and we wonder if trying to pray is even worth it. We may begin to see prayer as something only for mystics or monks, not for us.

Prayer is communication. Without communication we can loose touch with our dear ones, our friends, and even our God. So, on our good days and even bad days we need to communicate and the way we communicate with God is through prayer.

Some of us think of prayer as repeating someone else’s words. We recite sentences like, “do with me what you will, and never let me be separated from you.” But actually we want God to do what we want. We may plead for this and that and then enter into a bargain with God if He grants our request, like lighting a candle or donating money to the church or temple just like in the prayer of the woodcutter.

The reason why we have so many bad prayer days is because we do not pray or talk to God in our own words. We need to throw away the written words and talk to God, person to person. It’s OK to tell God that we are angry at our sister or brother, or that we are worried about how rapidly our parents are aging. It’s OK to tell God we are running out of money and don’t know how we are going to pay our bills. It’s OK to remind God about our children’s problems. As we read in the Bible; “Come to me all you who are burdened and I will refresh you. Cast your worries and problems upon my shoulders, I will carry it for you because I am meek and humble of heart.”

Real communication requires that we listen as well as speak. Prayer needs to be a dialogue, and listening is the most important part. Sometimes prayer at its best involves just sitting silently in God’s presence. We don’t need to be in a church or temple to do this. We can pray sitting in our favorite chair, in our room, or in the yard. Remember, the distractions during our silent prayer are part of our life. It’s as if the mind is like a movie projector parading pictures, people, and places constantly across the screen.

When the apostles asked Jesus how to pray, He told them to ask, to seek, and to knock. He also taught them the simple prayer of “Our Father” which we recite almost everyday. Rabindranath Tagore, one of the brilliant scholars and freedom fighters of India, often joined Mahatma Gandhi in prayer for inspiration and strength as they struggled to obtain freedom for India in 1947. Here is the simple prayer they often prayed:

Day after day, O Lord of my life, shall I stand before thee face to face with folded      hands, O Lord of the universe shall I stand before thee face to face..... And when          my work shall be done in the world, Kind of Kings, alone and speechless shall I stand before thee face to face.

Just pray! Don’t wait ‘til next Sunday. Don’t put it off ‘til vacation is over. Don’t wait until you are sick, preparing for a test, or getting ready for a job interview. Don’t wait until after the parish retreat. Do it now. Do it today!

Fr. Tony Andrade.